In the world of fast paced social media, one can be forgiven for thinking that blogging is antiquated. Almost everyone, from your Gran to your potential business partner, is on Facebook- and Twitter has become arguably the most important platform in our modern age thanks, in part to important people like Donald Trump utilising the platform religiously. This has come to such an advanced stage that the Modern Language Association have published guidelines for how to reference tweets in an academic paper.Nevertheless, I maintain that blogging still has its part to play, not least because the popularity of these social media platforms is also one of its foibles.
Facebook is extremely overcrowded, and while paid ads can make a difference, beating the algorithm and rising to the top of news feeds is a constant struggle. This is before you even consider the jungle that is Twitter, where getting a tweet noticed can seem like an uphill battle. This is before you even consider the fact that people are much more reluctant to interact with long form text on these platforms, and the preference of algorithms for images and videos, rather than text.For these reasons, if you want to write original content posts, particularly in long form, blogging is almost always your best option.For businesses, a blog serves as both a platform for original content and a series of continuous demonstrations of your services. Potential customers are more likely to trust a business which engages with its audience directly through blogging, and a blog can keep established customers abreast of new information and developments in the service.
Not only does this increase your visibility in the marketplace, but also provides a better approach to customer care, which should always be your top priority. For individuals, blogs are a great way to share the state of your personal journey, and build your personal brand. This beats social media because, for a start, your blog posts are more easily found using a search engine, meaning someone under similar circumstances to you is more likely to discover your story online. In addition your blogs are hosted on one place unique to you, which makes it much easier for followers to access your other work and read similar posts. It is recommended that you still share blog entries on social media to encourage engagement, but blogs are a superior platform for sharing your stories.For charities and non-profits, blogging is an inexpensive way to increase interest in your cause and feature case-studies and success stories from the people you’ve helped. Encouraging employees, volunteers and people helped by your organisation to write guest blogs can also serve to drive up engagement, as their friends are more likely to read something if written by someone they know.
In addition, blog hosting is usually free, with potential for paid expansions, such as fully fledged websites and custom email domains. Finally, if you’re writing about something with which you’re familiar, the whole process is easy! To write a good blog you don’t need to be a professional writer or a journalist, you just have to be enthusiastic about the topic and write in your own voice.
