Is Blogging Worth It? Or Just A Waste of Your Time

Why Blogging Is A Waste of Your Time

Have you been considering becoming a blogger and wonder is blogging worth it?

What is a blog?

What are blogs used for?

We will be looking at those specific questions, and some- To answer the question, is blogging worth it?

Blogging is like any other business.

Before you start a business you do your research to see what kind of return you could expect.

With blogging there will be some specific steps to take in building your online business.

These steps to blogging you should examine before-hand to determine if your efforts will be fruitful.

Looking at many blogs from different niches the common denominator you will find is that they all went through a fundamental routine to create their success.

What is A Blog

According to wikipedia–

“A blog (a truncation of “weblog“) is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts).”

“Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order, so that the most recent post appears first, at the top of the web page.”

That’s a text book definition of what a blog is, and here’s a quick recap in video form

Why Do People Blog

Everyone will have their reasons and you should ask yourself- starting a blog what would be your reasons?

In short what are your goals? We find that most people start a blog for one if not all of the following reason’s.

• As a hobby
• To add exposure to a product or current business
• To start a new career and make more money

Hobby Blog

Creating a hobby blog is a great way to express some creativity and even communicate to your audience.

We can see from the success of social sharing sites like Instagram that sharing your thought’s, concerns, or just ideas can be hugely popular.

Blogging for fun can be very rewarding. Writing about your travels, parenting experiences, or food can be a great way to reach others who share common interests.

Hobby blogging can be about your passion, or your perspective on current events.

There really is an unlimited amount of topics you could blog about.

The great thing about a hobby blog is it can be for pure enjoyment.

No pressure to make money or fit in a specific criteria. You can use your space and get really creative with your writing.

When you embark on this journey you learn skills such as how to build your website, working with social media, and writing.

If you are interested in having a hobby blog there are platforms available that you can blog for free.

Blogger is one platform that’s easy to use and free to get started.

Business Blog/Website

Having a blog can be a great tool for your business.

If you have a brick and mortar business or even a brand, using a blog you can get traffic (awareness).

Using an effective promotion strategy you would be able to create content and market on social media, get discovered by Google search, or even do paid advertising.

Make Money Online

Blogging can be a great way to earn a living or supplement an income.

Whatever you use your blog for the income possibilities will be pretty diverse.

One of the best ways to earn with your website/blog would be with passive income.

You set your blog up and create a product or sign up with an ad network and begin making money.

Using ad networks for example- your income is dependent on the amount of traffic your website has.

More traffic that engages with your content potentially means more income.

This income is automatic or “passive”.

Earning a passive income from your blog can definitely be worth it!

Are Blogs Worth It In 2021

I would say YES! if you do the fundamentals and you’re super passionate about your new venture.

So what are these fundamentals or steps to blogging success?

By the time we finish here you will not only learn the steps to blogging, you will also get the answer to the big question- is blogging dead?

Getting right to it!

Why Blogging Is A Waste of Your time

Looking at the history of blogging you will see that the way we blog today and why people blog today would obviously be different from the early days of blogging.

A statement like that would apply to just about any business we examine.

Things evolve, they get better, technology expands, and we improve.

Let’s apply this insight to blogging and think of your blog from the standpoint of it being a place to journal, or share simple ideas.

Blogging in that situation would be considered dead by a large number of people.

I don’t mean to say if you are a hobby blogger that you can’t have success.

What I would like to suggest is- that blogging today is more about creating content.

The content we create is useful and meaningful to our audience, and they can discover this content that improves a situation for them.

Some of the more successful bloggers give us tools, or how to’s, and even information we can use.

In short that is how we blog today- and as long as you find your self in that business (the content creation business) the question Is blogging dead?- doesn’t apply to you.

Is Blogging Dead 2021

As a side note-micro blogging is a great place to share ideas, journal or even hobbies you may have.

Micro blogging platforms like Instagram for example.

As your reading this understand there is a gray area here.

There are successful hobby blogs online today.

If you want to compete and have a chance to build a blogging business then you want to become a content creator.

Is Blogging Easy

In a word I would say blogging is easy, however you must understand there are some parts of blogging that’s easy.

The blogging process requires time, focus, motivation, and a willingness to put forth the effort to build your project.

If you are looking for something that’s easy I would say this is why blogging is a waist of your time and may not be what you want to do.

Again there a parts of blogging that can be easy, but any worthwhile endeavor you take on, there is going to be some serious upfront work required.

Blogging will definitely require that huge upfront effort.

Is Blogging For Me

I believe for the person willing to put the time in and learn all there is to learn you can create something special and unique.

You will find that your efforts would be rewarded and your content adds value to many people.

How To Blog In 2021

Let’s take a look at other platforms- YouTube, TikTok, and even Instagram are platforms that are super popular and deliver information through videos.

While they are all big platforms a blogger looking to compete for an audience would need to change their game plan up.

Instead of an all text based article spice up your text with video’s and great images.

The old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words is so relevant for bloggers.

These other platforms don’t replace you as a blogger. They help to add value to content.

Blogging is super relevant today and no blogging is not dead!

PRO TIP create great looking professional graphics, and video’s using a free or paid online graphic editing tool.

My favorite’s are Canva and PicMonkey.

I started with the free version of Canva and after learning more about images and how to make them look great I discovered PicMonkey.

You can stick with the free version of Canva to create images for your blog posts,

or you can get a PicMonkey subscription which gives you more functionality and options to create super great looking images.

Is Blogging Still Profitable in 2021

But lets take a look at some quick facts about blogging:

With over 1.8 billion websites on the web, it’s estimated that over 600 million of them have blogs.

When it comes to Content Management Systems (CMS) WordPress seems to have a large share of websites designed on their platform.

This is huge because according to data from W3Techs.com WordPress powers about 38.8% of the websites across the web.

Followed by Joomla at about 3%. Shopify comes in at just over 1.5%. Drupal just over 1.5% and Squarespace at about 1.6%

Check out this live counter from Internet Live Stats showing how many blog posts have been written today!

There is so much room for bloggers on the web to share their unique content.

The potential to make money as a blogger in 2020 is alive and well.

So let’s build your blog, shall we?

How to Start a Profitable Blog

When it comes to blogging you will want to make sure you set yourself up for success from the beginning.

There are many different parts that all work together and when done right you can end up with a successful blog.

Just below will take a look at starting a blog using one of the more popular platforms known as WordPress.org

This platform is designed for someone who has little to no experience in building websites.

You can find template designs that make it easy to create your very own stunning website.

For the website developer WordPress.org is packed with some of the most robust design tools.

The platform can easily be used by professionals building websites for clients.

Ready to start your blog?

The simple steps here should be done in this exact order.

Let’s get it!

• Choose your blog niche
• Choose your blog name
• Setup your hosting
• Design your blog
• Add content
• Grow and promote your blog
• Monetize your blog

Pick a Blog Niche

To niche down or not niche down?

Having a blog niche would be helpful because you will be creating content that is focused.

When you write for your niche you want to determine how you can best serve this niche.

Your audience will be able to find your content and be able to discover useful and meaningful solutions, tips, or ideas.

1. Write down, in a notebook, or whatever app you’re using to take notes, some topics you want to write about.

Do not think about a “niche” at this point, just write ALL the topics you wish to write about in your blog.

Preferably one topic per line.

2. Once you’ve done that look at the list and cross out (or delete) all the topics that you wish to write about, but you have no knowledge of.

You do not need to be an expert to blog about a topic, but you should have some knowledge of it at least.

3. Out of the topics that are left now, try to find a pattern. Is there a way to connect the topics somehow under one umbrella topic?

Try to find a way to somehow package the topics you’re interested in under an umbrella topic, and that umbrella topic is your niche.

Choose Your Blog Name

I am including a link to purchase your domain name in this section.

This will be one of the small but super important and must complete investments in your blog.

Your domain name is like your address to your local shop you’re opening.

In order for customers to visit your brick and mortar business they will need your store/shop, or business address.

A domain name is your virtual address.

Head over to NameCheap to purchase your domain name.

When it comes to blog names, you should pick something easy.

Easy to say, easy to spell, easy to remember. Preferably something that resonates with your audience.

Pick a blog name that says what your audience will learn from your blog.

Examples: blogtips, blogstarter, or passiveincomeideas.

You can use yourself as the face of your blog examples:

Neil Patel.com, taylorstanford, elnacain You can also give your name a creative spin.

For example, whatskatieupto (katie Grazer) The thing about using your own name for your blog is that you’ll be the face of your business.

Which isn’t good or bad, it just depends on how you want your audience to recognize your business.

Start Web Hosting

Have your domain info handy. Starting your hosting with the right company is important.

Your hosting plays a huge part in the performance of your website.

Out of the different hosting companies out there I am recommending you Get hosting from SiteGround 

There are plenty of other hosting companies out there, and every blogger recommends there favorite.

SiteGround is a great choice for bloggers. 

FYI it is possible to get your domain from SiteGround (your hosting company) I don’t recommend that, but it is a choice. 

I recommend- not buying your domain name from your web hosting company.

Its an extra step but I feel more comfortable with that. Of course as you progress in your blogging journey you will be able to decide what method works best for you.

After purchasing your hosting plan you will need to point your Namecheap domain’s nameservers to SiteGround.

If you purchased your domain with SiteGround you do not need to change the nameservers.

You will just need to install WordPress and choose a template for your website/blog. 

Design Your Blog

Here is where you start to create your online identity aka: your branding!

There are tons of places to find FREE and PREMIUM WordPress themes to make your blog look beautiful. 

Having a beautiful, organized, and branded website keeps your readers coming back for more.

Choose a theme that’s clean, easy-to-read, and is customizable for you to change your logo, colors, and other fun things. 

I recommend using sites like BluChic to find some of the most stunning feminine WordPress themes to make your blog look professional! 

BluChic offers premium feminine themes.

You can always start with a free theme, and my definite pick would be Astra.

At some point you may consider investing in a premium theme as you will have more customization and control over how your blog looks.

My favorite BluChic theme would be ISABELLE have a look at the demo

To add functionality and style to your blog you can use plugins.

What is a plugin? A simple answer is-plugins add functionality to your website.

Like downloading an app for your smartphone to take better pictures and have access to smart editing features.

This is my shortlist of some of the more important plugins to add to your website.

• Yoast SEO – With this plugin you can optimize your blog for SEO easily, which will help you boost your search engine rankings and increase traffic to your site. 
• Askimet-spam protection
• Wordfence Security-malicious activity protection
• UpdraftPlus-simple website backups
• WP Fastest Cache-caching for your website

With plugins you can find the tools needed to create the perfect website.

Create Blog Content

Method one: Find your biggest competitors and get content ideas from them.

Method two: Think of teaching something of value and break it up into different parts. This can be done and give you enough content ideas for five-ten posts.

If I asked you to teach your audience something creating 5-10 posts, think of what you will teach them and use that for your topic to write about.

Method three: Make a list of keywords and search for topics related to them.

Promote Your Blog

One thing I learned really quick was having a great looking website ment nothing?

With a new blog nobody knows you exist. Your primary goal at this point is to promote, promote, promote!

Many bloggers drive traffic to their site using Pinterest.

It’s important to utilize this search engine to get your blog posts seen. 

Pinterest is extremely important for bloggers because it’s a visual search engine and not social media.

It’s where you can create pins that have links to your blog posts.

When someone uses Google to search information they enter a term or phrase related to the search and Google gives them the best results.

That’s how Pinterest works so your pins that are optimized for Pinterest search can be found.

Time to monetize Your Blog

There are a number of ways to monetize your blog. The most common ways to make money with a website would be:

• Affiliate Marketing-selling someone else’s product for a commission
• Ad Networks-displaying ads on your website/some networks have minimum pageviews as a requirement
• Selling your own products or services-can be lucrative because you own the product and control costs

For a full in depth look at making money with your website/blog, take a look at the below post.

Related reading:

• 7 Ways to Make Money as A New Blogger
• What are WordPress Plugins
• Why SiteGround Hosting for Your Blog
• How to Start A WordPress Blog

In conclusion

After reading our post we hope you were able to learn more about the subject of starting a blog.

Having your own website is a great way to build your online presence.

The statement “why blogging is a waste of your time”, or the question “Is blogging worth it” has been answered.

YES! and hopefully this post will show you all the possibilities of why you should start blogging.

If you are ready to start your blog you can enroll in our FREE go at your own pace course below.

This is a FREE email course that you have full control over the steps to building your very own stunning website.

Why Blogging Is A Waste of Your time