Why is blogging so popular?
In 2022, recent statistics showed there are over 600 million blogs.
Are you considering blogging?
If so, you should certainly understand the appeal.
On the other hand, perhaps you are interested in why so many people engage in an activity so time-consuming that many people compare it to a full-time job.
As someone who has been blogging for seven years, and as someone who has recently been awarded the title of Most Outstanding Blogger by the Infinity Blog Awards (2021), I feel qualified to answer the question “Why is blogging so popular?“
By the time you are done reading, you will know why blogging is popular with various demographics. You will also know how bloggers make money through different types of marketing.
Finally, you will see examples weaved into this post of the following forms of marketing:
- Affiliate Marketing
- Content Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
Let’s get started learning the answer to the question, “Why is blogging so popular?“
What Is Blogging?
A blog shares information or raises a discussion on the web.
Blog posts are shared in reverse chronological order with the most recent article appearing first.
Pioneers in the industry such as Arianna Huffington helped make blogging popular. She knew many influencers and recruited them to write articles for her blog, The Huffington Post.
Although Huffington has since stepped down as the head of the Huff Post, her name will forever be synonymous with blogging.
Related Reading: Huffington Post Book Review
A blog was originally called a “weblog.” The first blog post was published in 1999.
Here is a typical day in the life of a blogger:
Source: Types of Content Writing
Looking at the schedule, does it look lackluster? I think so, yet I have happily enjoyed blogging for seven years while taking care of a family and working full-time outside the home.
Why Is Blogging So Popular?
So, why is blogging so popular?
Blogging helps businesses
The primary goal of content creation in the form of articles for sites and blogs is to aid in digital marketing.
It positively affects the audience when you speak about your business frequently, giving thoughts, trends, and updates.
By sharing these industry developments, you look like an expert in your niche. This instills trust in the consumer who remembers your brand at purchasing time.
Content creation enables you to stay active in your industry. It also allows you to communicate your company ideas in a variety of formats and across many platforms.
Therefore, consistently publishing content informs your audience about your business’s vision. It gives your audience information about what you are doing and how you can help them. Hence, this increases people’s interest in your company.
Today, business blogs are no longer an option. They are a must.
Related Reading: Why Blogging Is Good For (Some) Businesses When Done Right, 3 Important Reasons
Blogging helps hobby bloggers
I know many hobby bloggers. In fact, many hobby bloggers follow this blog.
For example, several of my followers share their interesting photos on their blogs. I know another lifestyle blogger who enjoys sharing writing tips.
These hobby bloggers have no interest in actively boosting traffic or income.
Here are the reasons hobby bloggers blog:
First, hobby bloggers blog for fun. Researching, writing, and networking bring them joy. Their dream blogs consist of building a community and sharing mutual interests.
Also, the feeling of purpose that comes with the realization that you are helping people by sharing your tips is truly unsurpassed.
Finally, hobby bloggers can cite the skills they gain through blogging on resumes. They can use these skills toward getting paying jobs. Blogging is one of the best day jobs for writers.
Blogging helps pro bloggers
It will always be helpful to post informative content related to your business on your website. This will attract a good audience and like-minded people to your blog.
In addition, it will make your readers reference and link to your content while talking about your services over time. Your Search Engine Results Page (SERP) rankings might get a boost. This increase in visibility leads to more exposure for you.
When authority blogs link to you, you get seen as an authority in the content niche as well. This also leads to more visibility for you which leads to more subscribers and sales.
Blogging helps travelers
Vacationers record their memories and trip photos online. There, they are kept for posterity. Since it’s a blog, other vacationers can learn from their experiences what they can expect to do and see on their journeys.
Whether travel bloggers blog for posterity or income, travel blogging is a lucrative industry.
Blogging helps parents
When I first started blogging, I was discouraged from being a parent blogger. I was told, “There are enough Mommy Blogs.”
Parenting blogs don’t just help the reader. They help the blogger as well.
When the host blogger shares methods and products that work, readers can share their experiences trying those methods and products.
Many bloggers have changed their positions over time as a result of this networking about parenting tips that occurs in their comment sections.
Blogging helps marketers
Are bloggers getting paid?
Yes!
Bloggers rely on forms of marketing to sell their goods and services.
- Affiliate marketing
- Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing
- Content marketing
- Email marketing
- Social media marketing
Affiliate marketing
Bloggers recommend a product they believe in. The product is used by readers interested in the blogger’s content niche. The blogger becomes an affiliate of the product.
The blogger, now an affiliate marketer, explains the benefits of the product. In other words, they explain how the product will ease the reader’s pain points.
The affiliate marketer has a special link they include with the promotional content. The affiliate gets a percentage of the sale when a purchase is made through that special link.
For instance, I am an affiliate of the TubeBuddy Chrome Extension. The product is an SEO tool for video marketers, a product used in my marketing niche.
Look at my affiliate link: https://www.tubebuddy.com/MostlyBloggingBuddy. Can you tell my affiliate link is personalized for me? Since “Mostly Blogging” is the name of my blog, this affiliate link is easy for me to remember.
Pay Per Click marketing
In contrast to affiliate marketing that pays the marketer when a purchase is made, PPC marketers get paid each time the link is clicked. Hence, the name “Pay Per Click.”
Ads on a blog are an indication that the host blogger is a PPC marketer.
Content marketing
In 2022, a content marketing trend has content marketers mastering the art of subtlety.
Readers go to a blog to discover the answer to a problem or pain point that plagues them.
By discreetly weaving into the content how a product or service can give more intensive help, content marketers can successfully make money blogging.
Naturally, bloggers must answer users’ queries about how to solve their pain points.
Blogging nowadays can turn into profitable content marketing when the blogger is memorable, helpful, and discreet. Naturally, bloggers must answer users’ queries about how to solve their pain points.
Email marketing
Do you have an email list?
If not, consider using one of these email list providers.
In addition to having a way to access your latest blog post publications, your email list subscribers get notified of your latest product launches and discounts.
Black Friday is a typical time when email marketers contact their list members about holiday discounts.
Social media marketing
When bloggers want traffic, they need to promote their latest posts.
Social media sites are free and reach a massive audience.
Although organic reach doesn’t have the effectiveness it once had, I have had a great deal of success promoting to Facebook groups. Some Facebook groups allow daily promotions and some Facebook groups allow weekly promotions.
Make sure you follow the rules of the group to avoid getting labeled a spammer for promoting your sales links.
Instagram:
I received this testimonial about the effectiveness of my blogging tips on Twitter.
I took a screenshot and placed it in an Instagram story.
Do you see the link sticker? I linked to my Blogging Academy as a way of selling blogging courses.
Let’s look at more answers to “Why is blogging so popular?”
Blogging helps readers
Your blog posts will typically be more conversational and engaging than when you are doing other types of writing.
You should sound like you are speaking directly to the reader. For instance, use “you.”
The purpose of the blog post is to teach, entertain, and inspire.
Bloggers use keyword tools to discover what topics interest people.
Some bloggers forget they are writing to answer users’ queries and solve their pain points.
One important point:
The post needs to be written with the reader in mind. Write from the perspective of how to help the reader.
It is perfectly fine to write about topics in your niche that interest you. However, you should use a keyword research tool to ensure people are interested in reading about those topics.
Let’s explore more answers to the question, ”Why is blogging so popular?”
Blogging helps communities
Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist, started a blog to raise awareness of the need for female education.
Malala is best known for raising awareness of this cause.
She wrote another one of her blogs in 2009 at the early age of 11 describing life under Taliban rule.
Blogging helps politicians
When Donald Trump first left the office of the presidency, he started a blog called “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump.”
According to Fortune.com, the purpose of the blog was to find a place on the internet to “speak freely and safely.”
Fortune explained,
“The new site gives Trump an online home after Twitter and Facebook—tools he used with great effectiveness before and during his presidency.”
The blog has since folded.
Here are two more answers to the question, “Why is blogging so popular?”
Blogging helps celebrities
Mayim Bialik, star of Blossom and the Big Bang Theory, runs a blog, MayimBialik.com.
Bialik runs a lifestyle blog. She shares her expertise in the area of science, religion, and motherhood just to name a few of the lifestyle blog topics you can find on her site.
Also, by having a large Instagram following, agencies that represent celebrities see that there is audience interest in the celeb and will be more likely to represent them.
This social media influence is important for celebrities in any niche who want representation:
- Actors
- Models
- Authors
- Reality TV show contestants
Blogging helps writers
Is that redundant? Aren’t bloggers writers?
No. If a blogger is someone who runs a blog, then not all bloggers are writers.
You can write anywhere.
For instance, Medium is a popular content curation site where writers can share their thoughts, knowledge, and opinion without needing a blog and worrying about SEO.
Medium also pays its writers for people who want to make money writing online.
Here is information about the Medium Partner Program.
Why Is Blogging So Popular? Frequently Asked Questions
What are the advantages of blogging?
Blogging helps writers share their passions and expertise. Through blogging, you can network to discover new information. You can monetize without needing an ad budget. You can gain skills and influence you can turn into successful careers.
Why does blogging become popular?
The first blog was launched in 1999. A blog was called a “weblog” then. Through the efforts of pioneers like Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post, blogging was seen as an easy, free way to gain an audience without needing a budget.
Wrapping Up: Why Is Blogging So Popular?
In closing, this article shared 11 compelling reasons blogging is so popular among people in different interest groups.
You also found out the history of blogging and the definition of a blog.
Finally, you discovered five effective ways bloggers make money.
Please share so writers considering blogging learn the answer to the question “Why is blogging so popular?”
I look forward to your views in the comments section. How would you answer the question “Why is blogging so popular?
Janice Wald is the founder of MostlyBlogging.com and co-founder of the Mostly Blogging Academy. She is an ebook author, blogger, blogging coach, blogging judge, freelance writer, and speaker. She won the Best Internet Marketer Award and the Best Blogger Award at the 2021 Infinity Blog Awards. Wald was also nominated as 2019 Best Internet Marketer by the Infinity Blog Awards and in 2017 as the Most Informative Blogger by the London Bloggers Bash. She’s been featured on Small Business Trends, the Huffington Post, and Lifehack.
