Reasons you should start a blog

Starting a Blog Is a Good Idea, Yes

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I didn’t know I would become a full-time writer. I don’t even have to think about questions like why starting a blog is a good idea. 

But in 2021, someone introduced me to Search Engine Optimization and its potential. Then I became interested in blogging. 

I started a blog that same year and wrote about 40 articles. I didn’t make a dime before I lost the blog because I didn’t renew the domain name as soon as possible.

So I started a second blog, this one, and I promised to take all the lessons I have learned from the previous ones to this. If this one fails, I will take the lessons from here. 

You might think I am crazy for trying if blogging isn’t worth it like it used to be in the past.

Ask many people why you should start a blog, and they will advise you not to do it.

Yes, I agree: 

Some “experts” will advise you not to start a blog and to focus on using other platforms.

Using other platforms

Do you really have to start a blog?

For instance, you can start creating content on Medium, Reddit, quora, social media, or guest blogging.

This option has advantages and disadvantages. 

Advantages of using other platforms over starting your blog: 

  • First, other platforms already have an existing audience, unlike your blog, which no one knows about.
  • You will know what people enjoy reading because getting feedback in those places is easier.
  • The platform will probably stay in business for a long time. So your content will probably be there even when you stop using the platform unless you delete them or get banned. 
  • You usually don’t have to pay to use other platforms. Most of them are free.

Disadvantages of using other people’s platforms compared to blogging 

  • You can get banned. It means your content and years of hard work will be gone. YouTubers get banned. Search engines like Google can ban your blog, but that doesn’t mean you’ve lost everything. It means your content won’t rank, but people can still find you if they know your website name or bookmark your page.
  •  Other platforms don’t really care about you. Do you know what they care about? Getting people to subscribe or visit their app. So you think YouTube, Medium, or Twitter cares about you as much as they care about making money themselves? No, they are business owners, and it’s their job to do what’s best for them. You are like an employee to them, and you can get fired. Millions of other creators will keep the platform thriving. And that’s one good reason why you should start a blog. Put your content where you have absolute control.
  • There is a limit to how you can handle/change things like design, technical SEO, and understanding your audience. 
  • There is a limit to what you can measure on some platforms. But the options are wider on your blog. You can measure everything from time spent on a page to devices used to how visitors move around your blog to gender and age. 

Despite these facts, you should start a blog. Why? 

9 Reasons Why Starting a Blog Is a Good Idea

I will use the word “can” to describe some points because the possibility differs from automatic success. 

Blogging is a kind of business or a career. You will achieve desired results if you work hard and follow the right process.

You can’t start in 3 months and have a big break in the third month. Of course, if you have succeeded with other blogs or websites as an SEO professional, it might be easier to succeed with a new blog. But that means we need to count your years of experience. 

You didn’t just succeed because you started in three months. You succeed because you know what to do and have been at it for six or more years. It’s like hiring a doctor who has already been practising for 5 years.

But for absolute beginners, blogging is a career. First, you must learn what works and put in the work and the years. 

If you are ready to do that, then you should continue reading. These are 9 reasons why starting a blog is a good idea. 

1. It can make you rich 

I said “Can” because many things go into making money from a blog. In summary, the richest bloggers are excellent marketers.

They have some or all of these skills below:

And they make money through:

  • Affiliate marketing. They sell other people’s products for a commission. 
  • Ads: they sell ads space on their blog
  • Books sales: many of them become authors after a while. Mark Manson, James Clear, and Carl Newport are the best examples of these types of authors. They wrote Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fvck, Atomic Habits, and Deep Work, respectively.
  • Conversions of visitors: they sell their products. If you own a product, blogging is one of the best long-term marketing strategies. Hubspot, Canva, and Ahref Blog are companies that use a blog as a marketing strategy.

2. Blogging brings long-term marketing results 

Are you looking for ways to create awareness about your product? 

You can follow these steps:

  • learn SEO,
  • study marketing,
  • design a website
  • start creating content for your ideal buyers,
  • and apply your knowledge of SEO and marketing. 

After a while, your blog should start getting enough visitors even if you have totally stopped creating content or you are not creating as much as you did in the beginning. 

56% of marketers say blogging is effective, and 48% of companies leverage blogging in their content marketing strategy.

3. It can create opportunities for other businesses 

Blogging can create opportunities for other people. Your blog can get bigger, and you need more hands.

It can be acquired just as Hubspot acquired Hustle and the SEMrush acquired Backlinco.

4. It can build your authority in an industry 

Blogging can develop your expertise on a topic. For example, people like Brian Dean of Backlinco are known for their blogs.

If you write consistently for years and have results to show, people will accept you as an expert on the topic. 

5. It can teach you practical tips in content marketing and inbound marketing

Content marketing is a general name for social media content creation, SEO, paid ads, and more.

Inbound marketing is the process of attracting buyers to your business. Instead of reaching out to them, they come to you.

Starting a blog is like starting a business. People don’t know you exist until you go and tell them. To do that, you will learn — consciously or unconsciously — those marketing strategies. Those are skills people pay a lot to learn. Blogging will teach you (force you, in fact) to master it. And it’s one of the reasons why starting a blog is a good idea.

By the way, using other platforms doesn’t mean you are not applying content marketing skills. It means you’re not doing it to bring traffic to your blog. Instead, you’re probably doing it to bring people to your landing page.  

6. It can improve your communication skills 

You can improve your writing skills if you are committed to the process. You will get better at communicating your ideas with time. 

7. It can serve as a resume or portfolio for a job 

Your blog can improve your resume if you offer some form of service. For instance, I am a freelance SEO content writer, and my blog is part of my portfolio.

8. Blogs usually have limited distractions 

Social media is not meant to serve your business alone. You are one in a million content creators on the platform. So you’re competing against others.

Even when I click on your post or profile, I can see another person with a cute profile picture or an interesting tagline. It can be distracting.

Conversely, a blog has less distraction once you can get the readers to click on it. Of course, they can bounce if they don’t find your content helpful or interesting enough, but that’s how the internet works everywhere you write. So once you can keep them reading, the only distraction would be external (like getting a phone call)  or something you added, such as annoying pop-up ads. They won’t be seeing the profile of another stranger on the sidebar.

9. Blogs require you to show up 

I see. You’re asking me, why is this a good thing? 

Initially, I told you how I started and lost interest in my first blog. I wasn’t working on it and then a year elapsed, and I couldn’t renew the NameCheap subscription. So right now, I know I have to show up, or I would have achieved nothing in another year.

When you start a blog and set things up, you have come to a business mindset. It’s simple but still worth talking about. You show up and make it work. That’s an entrepreneurship mindset. If you don’t show up, you will get nothing. In a year or two, you will have to decide to keep it or let it go.

And that captures the essence of life, too. 

You won’t be here forever. So if you want things to exist, it’s better to start working on that. Have a partner, get it acquired, or create a plan for it.

It’s the same with using other platforms. People will stop caring about your content once you’re not creating new ones. It’s because there are 1 million other people. So stop creating content, and the number of people who read your content will drop. 

That’s why I recommend businesses to write evergreen content.

You Won’t Lose if You Start a Blog

It’s blogging. The potential is great. Even if you don’t make millions, you are still working out the experience as a better person. It changes you — in a good way. So, if you’re asking why starting a blog is a good idea, worry not. The benefits of blogging far outweigh the cons.