Is Blogging dead? Spoiler alert: it isn’t!

“But blogging is dead now, right?”

This is a question we get asked by clients all the time.

The answer is categorically NO, but without understanding why, blogging may still feel like a lot of effort, sometimes with little perceivable return. However, there are a number of really good reasons why a blog should be a key part of your marketing strategy.

So, in this blog post (yup, there is some irony in the fact we’re writing a blog about the importance of blogging) we’ll cover our very own 3 x 3 rule when it comes to blogging.

3 Reasons to Blog

When it comes to blogging, there are plenty of reasons why you should, but we’ve found that these are often wrapped up in convoluted marketing language that actually puts people off giving it a go.

So, here is our no-nonsense list of 3 reasons you should give blogging a go:

1. Blogging helps you gain visibility on search engines and LLMs

Blogging is a great way to add content to your website without bulking out and confusing the main pages of your website.

Whilst the way we search online may be changing, search engines like Google and LLMs like ChatGPT have to find their information somewhere!

The more useful (and unique) information you have on your site for these to crawl for their databases and models, the more visible your site will become – and therefore the more visitors it will attract.

This in itself should be reason enough to give blogging a chance, but here’s another reason if not…

2. Blogs helps you prove you know what you’re talking about

Whatever business you are in, there is no doubt you have some expertise and experience in it (well, at least we hope so).

Writing a regular blog allows you to share that expertise both with new visitors and with your clients.

This also helps with Google as their ‘Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines’ use something called E-E-A-T to check for quality content. E-E-A-T stands for:

Experience – this checks that authors or creators of content have real-world experience of what they are writing about. In the age of AI-created content this is super important, so by sharing your experiences of how things work, rather than just the bland user-manual information is a real winner here.

Expertise – are you qualified in a subject and have real expertise or mastery of a topic? This is what’s important for you to share. For example, as Wix Certified Experts, we can share our expertise on the Wix platform. And, in fact, we’ve seen an increase in visitors from our Do I still need Google Analytics if I have a Wix website? post which was written over 18 months ago and still brings in regular visitors.

Authoritativeness – this is how reputable the website is itself in terms of citations, backlinks, awards, etc. Having links and mentions across the web, rather than just within your own website is imperative. It’s that wider reach that matters.

Trustworthiness – deals with the accuracy of what you post. It’s essential that your posts are factually correct, or at the least make a clear distinction between fact and opinion. With so many false claims and information out there now, finding a trustworthy source is becoming a rarity.

3. Writing a blog creates a central repository of your knowledge

Having all of your posts in one central place is a great way to ensure they remain somewhere you can manage and access.

Unfortunately, we have seen clients who spent years posting religiously on social channels, only to lose everything when they’ve been blocked, or the platform changes. Whilst posting on social media is a big part of digital marketing, relying solely on it as the ‘brain’ for all of your knowledge is dangerous.

Remember, you don’t own your social presence!

It can be almost impossible to find older articles or sort and categorise posts on socials, whereas it’s part of the infrastructure of blogging on every website platform we use.

So, hopefully those are sufficient reasons to encourage you to start blogging, but now what?

3 Things to Blog

Let’s keep this simple and divide what you can blog about into three distinct categories:

1. Blog about your news

Whilst social media is a great place to share updates and short pieces, using your blog to share important company news (like we did with our Good Business Charter Accreditation) can help you show your clients that your company cares about more than just profits.

Just make sure that it’s relevant to your readers and it’s actually newsworthy. For us, our news includes awards we receive, charities we support, and celebrations about our awesome staff. All of which gives clients and insight into our business, rather than just being a faceless organisation.

2. Share information and guides on your blog

Do you ever find yourself being asked the same questions over and over again? We do!

Then why not write a blog post with the answers to one specific question so you can share that in future, rather than repeating yourself?

As an example, when we launch a new website for a client, it’s not unusual to be asked “why isn’t my website on Google yet?” . So, we wrote a blog post: Why your new website won’t rank on Google (and how to fix it) to share with clients via a link rather than repeating the same information and possibly forgetting something!

The bonus us it’s available to organic visitors to the site too!

3. Write blogs with real-world advice

There is already so much noise out in the world and AI is helping content creators churn out an ever-increasing amount of it – much without any personality or new opinion or thought put into it all.

And this is where sharing real-world advice from your experience really stands out from the crowd.

Remember that blog post about Wix v Google Analytics mentioned earlier? That pops up not only in standard searches but also in Google’s AI overview:

It answers a question that people are asking but also gives an opinion – so actually ticks more than one box.

3 Steps to Blogging

All the ideas in the world are great, but quite often it’s the doing part that catches people out! So, here are our three steps to getting that blog of yours started and making a difference:

1. In the words of Nike, “Just Do It”

The best way to start is to begin – just write a post and see how it goes.

It probably won’t be lifechanging, or become a viral success, but everyone has to start somewhere.

The less you overthink it the better. So, leave word counts out of it for the first one and just get some thoughts down. Writing a news piece or an answer to an FAQ is usually the easiest place to start.

2. Share, share, share

Writing a blog post and hitting publish is just the start.

If you leave it there it’s like getting business cards printed, then leaving them in a drawer and hoping people will see them!

Once you’ve posted your blog it’s time to get sharing.

You could:

• Create visuals in Canva

• Write a short post (with your Canva image) and share on social media

• Write a teaser LinkedIn Newsletter or Carousel

• Send an email newsletter to your clients about your post

For all of these, never give the whole article away and include a link to the blog post itself so readers need to visit your website to read the whole thing.

And honestly, isn't the whole point of social media to get people to visit your website and find out more about you?

One blog post can create numerous pieces of valuable social content and save you hours of trying to think of new things to share.

3. Revisit old posts and share them again

This is the final step that so many businesses completely miss.

Instead of trying to create brand new content every month, creating a bank of blog posts gives you reusable content for your social media!

For example, if you write a topical seasonal piece, instead of rewriting something the following year, simply update the original and share it again over on social media. Chances are most people won’t have seen it the first time anyway.

So, what’s next?

If you’re still not sure where to start, you’ll find a great blog post with 50 Blog Post Ideas here on our website so there is plenty of help to get you started with a topic.

And from there?

Well, consistency is key. Plan to write once a month, or even once a quarter if that seems like too much work. This is your blog and you need to make it fit with your business so the key really is not to overthink it and just get something out there.

If you really are stuck, why not book a Power Hour to get you fired up with ideas and the added accountability so you get those first few blog posts up on your website?