I don't blog as much as I used to, and it's evident in the blogs I own, specifically my main domain at WebGrrrl.net. I only managed to write a new blog post this month by re-purposing my old blog post on using WordPress as a mini site. I've also been doing some housekeeping to get rid of links to expired sites, and I tell you at least 80% of the links to the blogs I posted about are either defunct or haven't been updated for the past 5 years. And 5 years is forever in Internet time.
Many of the blogs that were created since a decade ago existed primarily by those trying to make money online. The blogging for money hype was crazy. The good ones used mainly keyword and link stuffing on as many niche blogs as possible to game the big G's algorithm and make as much AdSense moolah as possible. The not so good ones created personal blogs and talk about their daily lives with no real purpose other than hoping traffic will come their way so that they can use the pay to blog services and spam their posts with sponsored links. I have nothing against those strategies from both sides, I swear. I do both myself. Then, most people from both sides of the camp realized that, damn it, making money online is hard! The lies! And they stopped blogging and let their sites die.
Nothing worth doing is easy. So is blogging.
I'm glad I started to blog for the right reasons. I really do love sharing and writing content, and I've been doing so since 1997, even before it was known as blogging (we called it online journaling during my time). The side benefits of blogging come naturally, like the ad revenue, improved writing skills, search engine optimisation strategies, increased networks both online and offline... the list goes on. The reason why my blogging slowed down tremendously these past several years was because of online social media. It's a shallow experience, once I realise that microblogging created this faux productiveness that is difficult to get out of.
Blogging isn't dead. Blogging is just harder to do now, unlike the 140 characters forced upon you, or copy-and-pasting of links, or simply clicking the Share or Retweet buttons. And people think that it's easier now to make money online via social media, than it is to blog. Nothing worth doing is easy. Neither is making money online via Facebook. Everything takes effort.
It's really about making worthwhile content that people can relate to, and which is yours to own.
I'm going to continue blogging. Why? Because I know for certain that as long as people rely on Google to search for answers, a blog is a surefire way to bringing authentic readers to your website. I strongly agree with Joel Comm on why we should blog, and I truly believe blogging is the most sustainable way to survive online.
Even Steemit agrees with me.
