Do you find your blog to be still relevant, esp regarding reader engagement?
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My question comes from a recent article on JSTOR Daily: “The Rise and Fall of the Blog”: https://daily.jstor.org/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-blog/. One paragraph:
“Today, writers lament the irrelevance of blogs not just because there’s too many of them; but because not enough people are engaging with even the more popular ones. Blogs are still important to those invested in their specific subjects, but not to a more general audience, who are more likely to turn to Twitter or Facebook for a quick news fix or take on current events.”
Interestingly, an author quoted in the piece suggests in her linked-to article on Medium that blogging energies are better spent developing “deep interest networks,” (http://try.mightynetworks.com/better_than_a_blog/), which appear to be very similar to what Sean is doing here.
But I’m wondering whether those of you with active blogs have noticed any trends in the past year – up or down – in visitors or engagement?
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I don’t have much visitor engagement probably because there aren’t many visitors; but in a way that’s not the reason I have a blog.
It’s there because it gives me a platform that I control where I can demonstrate my expertise.
The NYT blogger who decided to shut his down has other, more influential, platforms. And so, for him, his blog is redundant. But that doesn’t mean that all blogs are.
The author of the article which you referred to mentions that places like Twitter and Facebook have vastly more visitors, and it’s true: They do. But a) not all of those visitors read your content, and b) those places are as noisy as the Internet as a whole.
On top of that, you don’t control those platforms. Facebook, for example, is constantly changing how and where content appears. Just as you “optimize” for one format, they change it, making all your work irrelevant.
You need to have one central platform on the Internet that you control; and that needs to be the place where all other avenues lead. Social media will never give that to you.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
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Good points, Bruce, and I tend to agree with you – especially regarding the loss of control over one’s social media content – it’s definitely “renting” space (and to ever-mind-changing landlords) rather than owning it. But I think there may be something to the general vs specific content mentioned. Perhaps discussing specific angles to topics – rather than generalizing the topic – might improve relevant traffic and engagement, and thus enhance one’s platform.
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Articles/posts that are deep, thought-provoking, and express an opinion are always better than the run-of-the-mill-regurgitation of information that’s ubiquitous. The former shows that you’ve thought about your topic. The latter proves that you’re just like everyone else.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
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Bruce, I agree that copycat content that is superficial may not serve you well, but I think the content you post has to dovetail with your target audience. If your target audience isn’t comprised of deep thinkers (and I can think of several who fit that description, but will still spend money), then “deep” content won’t serve you well either. Making sure your content matches your target audience’s appetite is absolutely key if you are to benefit from its creation
That also goes for length. Having taught for 15 years at the college level, I know the attention span of many is not what it used to be. Someone I respect called it the “feed mentality,” that they are used to scanning social media feeds. Add to that the gaming mentality, always expecting the next “thrill” to come quickly. I think you need to create content for your audience here too. In fact, creating good content in short bursts can be tough, because you don’t have the luxury of time to get your important points across to your audiences.
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I think it was Geothe who said something to the effect that if you treat people as you want them to be that they’ll rise to the challenge.
You’re right, Jan. If people aren’t accustomed to getting deep content, then they might shy away from you; but if that’s what they’ve been getting from the beginning and they’re still on your list, then I see no reason to lower the bar just to please them.
Instead, by keeping it high, you simply attract a different group.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
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I agree totally with Bruce who I think is basically saying ‘blogs are still relevant unless you have something better’….which very few people actually have access to.
Another point to notice is that the URL of the author you mentioned who wrote an article about Deep Interest Networks being better than blogs. I thought it interesting that the author is all about Networks rather than blogs so pushes that in the article. All that means is that you have to take what that article says with a grain of salt.
I think blogs are just as relevant as ever as long as you have a topic that interests people and write in a way that is interesting and market it to those people.If you're looking for a someone to bounce things off of in the IM world, I'm your guy and I really would love to help you out. Helping others is just who I am!
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Good point, Steve. Thanks.
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so here’s something interesting to think about . . .
what if we navigate away from the idea of a blog, and instead think of it as a website . . .
yes, a small distinction . . .
but if you have a blog with 1000 posts
or a website with a 1000 posts . . .
it’s really all about the content actually changing lives, having ideas within it that change minds.
I think about the blogs, websites, emails I read regularly . . . and they are the ones that I learn something from, that personally engage ME.
of course, not everyone would be engaged by the same things that interest me, but that’s the idea.
A blog is driven by the engagement of readers . . . and that engagement is driven by the “interestingness” of the content in the blog, to the intended audience.
So when the content is more interesting to the audience, there will be more likelihood of engagement and virality, but when the content is “same old, same old” rehashed or repeated, then engagement goes down.
Sean
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Sean
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I agree with the comments above, especially the fact that regardless how much time we spend on social media, we do not own the platforms. They’re all like little cottages we would rent to spend some time. And it can be really useful quality time, but they’re not ours. We don’t own them. Our home on internet is our own hosted website and our blog allows visitors a place to enjoy getting to know us, ask us questions – engage with us. We get an opportunity to educate them, provide value, possibly transform their lives and also learn from the responses they give us.
Blog circles are great to form as participants comment on content, share links and generally help to increase engagement, but it’s time-consuming. There are also groups on Facebook, for example, that have specific days you can share your blog content and at times several members will comment on and share your Links.
One of the things I discovered is that more people visit my blog than leave comments. An example of this is just two days ago someone thanked me on Facebook for reminding her of the importance of focus, which she read on my blog. I would not have known as she did not leave a comment. We just never know who we’ll have an impact on.
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I have a blog, but I’m using it to link to content I’m creating on other sites. I’m finding it much easier when they are generating my traffic for me. They are helping me build my visibility in the market, and I love that leverage and the implied credibility they add. I’m keeping the original content in case I ever have to re-create the postings on my blog, but so far, this is working. And I’m using multiple formats of the same content so that if I lose content on one site, I’ll still have it on others.
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Excellent strategy to repurpose your blog content, Jan. Not only to be sure it sticks up there somewhere no matter what the platform owners decide, but also to “run into” more and different people
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One real key here is that you must have people coming to your site and engaging . . .
just putting content on the site won’t create engagement – even if it’s good.
So there has to be a combination of inviting folks to your site from where they are online (facebook, other forums, other sites) AND writing content (or creating videos) that they like.
Sean
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Sean
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