Are blogs still relevant?

I was recently asked if I still write my blog? I was slightly surprised by the question. Yes, I do. In fact, I have several blogs. I have one for all my photography stuff, I link back to articles and such. I have one for photographic challenges, one for my thoughts which is private and not released into the wild. And, I have one for travel and well, just random stuff. But it did get me thinking, are blogs still relevant in 2022?

Why blog?

Blogging has been around pretty much since the internet was born. People have comments, thoughts and ideas and want to share them. We didn’t have chat rooms and Messenger and such way back then. But we had blogging, in one form or another. Then there was the rise of social media; Netspace, Chatbots, ICQ (oops showing my age here) and so many more. Then came Facebook, Twitter — need I go on? But still in among all of that chatter, there were blogs. I blog about all sorts of things, not just about photography, but yes there is a LOT about photography — and travel.

I can connect with like-minded people, we share community and camaraderie. I read other people’s blog posts for entertainment, to learn, to seek new spots to travel to, or to challenge myself. And I am not alone, over 400 million internet users read on average 20 million blog pages each month.

What to blog

Blogging can be part of a company’s overall marketing strategy, to promote products, people or upcoming events. Or it could be a personal blog; thoughts, musings, travel — anything. But there are a few things to consider when starting a blog. Perhaps you wish to market a new product or create a food blog, or travel, lifestyle, health, fitness, parenting — pretty much any topic you can think of. Whether it’s a business or a personal blog, there is bound to be somebody who wants to read it.

Quality over quantity

Don’t post just because you think you need to (I know I have been guilty of that). If you have nothing to say, then don’t. But if you have a thought, a musing that someone else could relate to, then sure blog. Offer quality content, over how often you post. Some people write lots, while others have deep meaningful posts only now and then. But don’t overshare either. Find a schedule you can work with.

Be unique and be real

The next thing is to try to be unique, but keep it real. Don’t blog about the best way to knit a jumper if it’s something you’ve never done. People will see through it. On the other hand, if you wrote a post about the time you did try to knit a jumper and it was a raging success (or a failure), then sure write about the experience. The best way to be unique is to be true to yourself. Write about real-world experiences or events. You can talk about items, events or classes you have for sale, but don’t necessarily use the blog as a sales platform. It’s more there to explain to possible future customers about the merits of a product, than straight out sales. But many blogs are about an experience rather than sales.

Easy to skim and read

Keep things simple and easy to read, add links to other posts, or articles to back up facts, or provide further explanation. Use headlines to break things down and use bullet points, for key features. Images and video can help tell your story too.

Keep the dialogue going

It takes a while to build up a following, but it is essential to build a rapport with readers, become a part of the community. Often you will find that many people share similar hobbies and interests and will revolve around similar bloggers. You can often be introduced to new bloggers through your followers, expanding the community further. If someone comments on your blog, interact with them. Thank them for their feedback and continue the dialogue, but don’t wear out your welcome by being too interactive.

Deep dive into your topic

Personally, I don’t think there is anything wrong in deep diving into a topic as well, or perhaps writing it over several blog posts to space it out. I don’t cram a whole holiday into one blog post, for example. I would write at least one post per day. Or if I did several exciting things in one day, perhaps one article per adventure. But not everyone wants to read really long articles all the time. Everyone is so busy, more often than not they just want to skim the juicy parts, check out a few pictures and move on.

Just to finish up

I honestly think, especially after the recent events of the past couple of years, people are looking for more. More adventure, more relevant content, more connection and of course, more community. So yes I do think blogs are totally relevant and so do a lot of other people.

Perhaps you’d like to check out some of mine?

• My website — https://www.juliepowellphoto.com/blog
• Still Life, room to breathe — https://stillliferoomtobreathe.wordpress.com/
• Julie Powell, Photographer & Artist — https://juliepowell2014.wordpress.com/