In the earliest days of this blog, I wrote a post called “10 Benefits of Blogging Even if Nobody is Reading It.” This was a significant article for me because back in 2009, blogging was all creators had to work with. It still took equipment and effort to produce videos for social media (if you had internet bandwidth to upload them!), and podcasts were a blip on the radar. So blogging was essential. And this was one of my first posts to go viral.
I thought it would be timely to revisit and update the ideas in this post and reimagine the role of blogging in this era of AI, live streaming, and TikTok.
Are there still benefits to blogging … even if nobody is reading it? Here’s a fresh take on blogging, the original content fuel of the creator economy.
The relevance of blogging
First, let me acknowledge the elephant in the room. In an era where short-form video is the rage, does blogging even matter?
Based on the statistical evidence, blogging is actually more important than ever. There are more bloggers than ever, and more blog posts are being published. And this doesn’t count the huge surge in written newsletters being propelled by platforms like Medium, Substack, and LinkedIn.
I think the enduring business case for blogging is simple. Reading is still the preferred way to learn for many people, so blogs will die only when reading dies. A few current stats:
- There are over 600 million blogs. That means that the blogging industry makes up a third of the web.
- People publish 70 million new posts on WordPress.com every month.
- People post over 75 million new comments on WordPress.com blogs every month.
- 22% of bloggers post every single week.
The future of text-based content seems bright because Gen Z loves to read. According to research published by Forbes, 35% say they read more today than they did two years ago, 55% of Gen Z now read every week, and 40% read daily. The difference is that 67% of Gen Zers read on their phones, compared to 51% of older generations, who still savor the feel of paper.
Let’s dissect the benefits of blogging … even if nobody is reading it!
1. Search engine benefits of blogging (maybe)
This may be the most obvious of all the business benefits of blogging. Search engines give preference to websites that have fresh, relevant content. Hubspot research showed that sites with blogs get 55% more traffic than sites without blogs — even if there are no readers!
However, this is a benefit that is under attack. Google is keeping the bulk of search queries in-house and nobody really knows right now how text-based content fits into the AI-based search capabilities. It makes sense that consistent content creation will be recognized and absorbed into AI responses, but clearly this is an emerging field.
Here’s a guess. AI-based search engines will prioritize text-based content because it is easy to process. I am consistently showing up as one of the top ten digital marketing experts, if you ask ChatGPT. Where is that answer coming from? My guess is that ChatGPT is not fueled by my podcast or videos. It has to be from the blog, right?
Perhaps if no have no subscribers, AI is still reading your content!
2. Infinite search life
Several years ago, a reporter researching a story unearthed one of his little-read blog posts and linked to it in a New York Times article. A book publisher happened to click on the link and thought the basis of the old blog post would make a good book. Thus, Atomic Habits was born, a book that sold more than 10 million copies and changed Mr. Clear’s life forever!
And this was a blog post almost nobody had read!
In full disclosure, I have never had a blog post sell 10 million books. If I did, I would be writing this from The Maldives instead of my living room couch. However, I have had many new clients and fans discover me from obscure old posts. Blog posts work forever.
3. Fueling the personal brand
I believe this is the MOST IMPORTANT of all the benefits of blogging.
The only thing that will save us from AI overwhelming our human skills — and even careers — is the personal brand. If you are not working on this, please start.
You must create content to be known in this world and create a lasting emotional connection to people who will help you reach your goals. On this blog, I’ve started to add a badge that says “100% Human Content.” Always has been. Always will be. This is increasingly becoming a point of differentiation!
It doesn’t take millions of readers to succeed with a blog. It takes an emotional connection to the right people who can activate your dreams.
4. The blog writes a book
I do many personal coaching calls with people who dream of writing a book. My number one recommendation is to use blogging strategically to fuel that goal.
Look at it this way. If you outline the direction for a book and then blog an average of 1,000 words each week to support that outline, in 52 weeks, you’ll have 52,000 words. That’s a book … even if nobody is reading your blog.
My blog is the R&D Center for my books. I’ll test controversial ideas on my blog to gauge the response before putting them in a permanent book! I’ve even incorporated blog reader comments into my book.
5. Fuel for the content engine
Your investment in a consistent stream of text-based content can be leveraged in many ways to support a content marketing strategy. I use links from blog posts to answer customer questions, as the basis for speeches, newsletter content, and as reading assignments for my college classes and workshops.
Original ideas first expressed in a blog post often appear later in my Marketing Companion podcast, videos, and answers to questions when I am interviewed. The benefits of blogging show up in my professional life every day.
6. A second landing page
One of the overlooked benefits of blogging is that a post serves as a second landing page for your business. If people share your content, anybody clicking on the link will land on a blog post. Are you using the space around your post to tell visitors what you do? What you sell? Why you’re relevant?
Click on one of my posts shared through social media, and you’ll see invitations to buy my books, attend a class, and register for The Uprising marketing retreat.
I can’t believe how many blog posts are just a blog post. This is your second home page! Use the space around your blog post to connect people to your business.
7. Personal growth
When I started blogging in 2009, I didn’t know anything about blogging.
Seriously, I flailed around for years trying to figure it out.
But I took my few readers along with me on my journey, documenting my wins, failures, and trials. I was teaching myself to blog week by week. And four years later, in 2013, I wrote the all-time bestselling book on blogging.
You don’t have to be an expert in anything to blog. Just take people along with you on your learning journey. Blogging makes you smarter and drives personal growth.
8. Clarity and confidence
One of the biggest benefits of blogging for me personally is achieving clarity.
Let’s say I have an opportunity to take a position on a new development in marketing. Well … what is my position? Writing about it forces me to do the research and develop a logical response.
This shows up in my business in many ways. In the future, I might have to answer a question on this topic in a class, or talk about this new development in an interview. Writing a post helps me become confident that I know every side of a topic and provide a rational response, even if nobody read the original post.
9. Co-created success
I just published the most popular post in the history of this blog (20 Entertaining Uses of ChatGPT You Didn’t Know Were Possible).
Except I didn’t write it.
Well … I wrote MOST of it. But I asked my friends in the RISE community to help me. By tapping into this crowd-sourced expertise, I created something quickly and efficiently, while also providing valuable exposure to my friends.
Could I do this with a YouTube video? A podcast? A short TikTok post? Not with the cut-and-paste ease of blogging!
If nobody is reading your blog, what would happen if a community helped you create something and supported you by sharing the result? I think this crowd-sourced strategy is probably unique to blogging.
10. Physical health
There was a very stressful time in my life when my blood pressure was so high that I was required to take a reading every hour of the day (I documented this dark time in Chapter 1 of my book KNOWN).
To my amazement, there was one activity that lowered my blood pressure back to normal — every time.
Blogging.
This was early in my creator career when nobody was reading my blog yet. When I became immersed in the activity of writing, the rest of the world faded away. I entered a zone of intellectual stimulation, curiosity, and creativity that provides demonstrable health benefits. It still has this impact on me today.
The immersive act of writing is probably similar to meditation or walking in the woods.
So there you have it. The benefits of blogging are still relevant and important … even when nobody is reading it!
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Illustration courtesy Pexels.com