Sharpen Your Pencils ~ Blogging Has Entered A New Era!

By Cheryl Oreglia

I know ~ news flash! Right? 

We’ve seen it coming for years, ever since blogging made its debut in the 90s, it infiltrated the world as if a virus, then we flattened the curve with a herd mentality if you will, and today it seems to be controlled by a new vaccine, A.I., and we need to decide if we’re up for the new challenges solopreneurship blogs will be facing or be put out to pasture.

At the height of blogging it was easy to get ranked, one little focused keyword, and your blog shot to the top of Google’s search engines. Booyah. Remember when our posts enjoyed thousands of hits week after week? 

Those were the good old days.

The competition is stiff. To succeed in the future of blogging, we’ll need to produce top-quality content, demonstrate niche authority, establish a strong brand, and employ multimedia as well as a multi-channel approach says Akshay Hallur.

There’s a lot of false news out there claiming, “Blogging is dead,” but I believe these are simply scare tactics. Blogging is here to stay but those who plan on prospering in the next decade will need to sharpen their pencils and invest in some new skills. 

Here’s what the market is predicting for the future of blogging.

Google favors what favors Google. Duh.

According to Akshay Hallur, this means the SERPs will be dominated with content by big brands and corporate-owned sites like YouTube, Linkedin, Medium, etc. This creates a lot of tough competition for small bloggers. 

Hallur also says Google recently incorporated A.I. and machine learning to its search in the form of Rankbrain algorithm. It now has the ability to fully comprehend the content in seconds and rank quality content without human intervention. That is crazy. 

What does this mean for us?

Our content needs to dazzle not only our readers but Google Rankbrain according to SEJ. Shit. It’s one of the top 3 ranking factors of Google today. 

Our readers have a lot of options. Why would they choose us?

There’s a thing called information overload out there, people like to follow only a couple of blogs in their niche unless they are related to us and feel obligated to read. The current reality demands that we create captivating content, build our blog as an authority in our niche, have solid branding, or get ditched.

We need to continue to entice subscribers who read our content regularly. 

Content marketing is booming according to Akshay Hallur. Creating content that educates our readers to make decisions on future purchases, life choices, healthy living, travel, music, art, food, etc. is the future for bloggers.

In simple words, creating content in order to educate prospective customers and sell a product is booming says Akshay Hallur.

Next to Google, YouTube is the next most used search engine. We all know this and yet most bloggers completely ignore the opportunities YouTube has to offer. Apparently, people like to view content instead of reading it. It’s easier. This allows our multi-tasking culture to do things simultaneously like cooking and viewing interesting material.

Many blogs have moved to posting a link to a YouTube version of their post. It’s a skill to consider when we invite new writers to join our community.

Bloggers are able to extend their reach to new audiences by posting their content on other mediums like SlideShare, Medium, Pinterest, and Linkedin. 

People who are in need of quick information don’t always have the time to watch a video or listen to a podcast. The blog posts remain the single-best format for quick content consumption claims Akshay Hallur.

Good content writers are in demand in almost every industry. Big blogs are hiring content writers for their business, and it appears this employment model will continue to grow. 

I do not believe blogging will ever be dead but I believe solopreneurship will become a rarity in the future unless you have established your authority in your niche and your brand is well known.

It’s our new reality!

As technological advances continue to invade the blogging spear new opportunities will be unveiled. We just need to hang on to the kite’s tail so to speak and ride this trend into the future. 

What are your thoughts on the future of blogging?

When I'm not writing for Across the Board, I'm Living in the Gap, drop by anytime.