To Blog or Not To Blog, The Pros and Cons

To blog or not to blog. The pros and cons of blogging

There is a plethora of blogs on every topic imaginable for your perusal on the internet. To have a blog you just need two items, something to say and a place to put it. You may want a stand alone blog or enhance a static website. There are a lot of good reasons to create a blog, there are drawbacks as well. Here are some of the pros and cons of blogging.

First, we’ll start with some of the pros. There are many, these are just a few of the major ones. The first four will also enhance search engine optimization.

1. Fresh and new relevant content being added.

Your audience and the search engines will like consistent and fresh content. For the most bang, visitors will expect high quality and relevant content, otherwise they’ll go elsewhere.

2. Reduced bounce rate.

If your visitors are greeted with low quality or spammy content, they will be likely to hit the back button. If your posts grab their attention and keep them engaged, they will likely stick around awhile and come back for more,

3. More likely to have inbound links.

Quality blog posts are more likely to be shared on social media than static pages. Search engines will also see such websites as more credible.

4. More long tail keywords.

Long tail keywords or phrases tend to be more specific, but have lower search volumes than short or root keywords. Suppose your website is about cats. Using the keyword “cat” will return many more results than the phrase “cat breed lifespans”. the latter will be much easier to rank higher, while short, generic keyword will be virtually impossible for a high ranking.

5. An income stream

While the blog can help potential clients reach your website. It can provide a stream of income itself by placing ads or affiliate links on it. However, these should be used sparingly and only on the blog and not the main webpage. These should also be labeled, so the user knows it is an ad or affiliate link.

Nothing is perfect, including blogging. here are some of the downsides of blogging

1. Time consuming

Trying to come up with fresh ideas consistently can be a long and tedious process. Although, many will argue on how often you should post, quality is always better than quantity. It is better to have one high quality post per month than 10 low quality posts.

2. No guarantee of success.

Any blog has the potential to be very rewarding, if it is done right. What is the right way to do a blog? There is no black and white answer to this. In other words, it depends. Most successful bloggers will agree that quality content, regular posting and patience are the key ingredients to success.

3. Many pitfalls.

  1. Time consuming
  2. No guarantee of success.
  3. Many pitfalls
  4. Subject to criticism
  5. Sluggish beginning