Before blogging became a money-making phenomenon, it was simply a way for an individual to express his or her thoughts and opinions to others. It turned out, of course, that internet users loved reading blogging content. Today, 6.7 million people are blogging globally, and many have transitioned from basic online journals to lucrative online publications.
Two of the biggest changes since the start of blogging until now is the rise of social media sites and video blogging. Implementing strong strategies for both can catapult a blog to internet stardom. Here’s a closer look at how basic blogging benefits from video blogging and social media popularity:
Social Media
Back when blogging started, the only real way to drive traffic to a blog site was by doing a search on the internet. This meant readers had to know what it was they wanted to read about, or your specific blog name. When social media exploded, this gave bloggers a tremendous opportunity to drive traffic to their sites based on items that popped up in user feeds. Instead of waiting for a user to arrive at a blog, the blog owners could make reading suggestions.
Blogging.org reports that 12 million people globally blog through social media networks. Search engines are still a leading traffic referrer for many blogs but social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter can add hundreds to thousands of hits when done correctly. The trick with posting blog content to social media is to add content consistently to keep readers engaged with your material.
Social media has also significantly impacted how bloggers interact with their followers. It has allowed bloggers to engage their followers in a more personal way by being able to respond to posts on their social accounts. It also makes it easier for followers to “like” and share blogs they’ve read with a few simple clicks.
Video Blogging
Known to the blogging world as “vlogging,” using video has become a must to reach a high number of followers. This is because readers want to make a connection to the person behind the articles they are reading. By being able to see your face, it makes it easier for them to make that connection. If bloggers choose not to use video, they greatly diminish their chance of getting new followers to find their page. For example, YouTube is the second largest search engine (the largest is Google, YouTube’s parent company). It doesn’t make sense to spend a lot of time optimizing your blog for Google, but then no time adding YouTube-friendly content. If a blogger is serious about increasing followers and awareness of their blog, the video is imperative.
Blogs are ever changing, as are social media trends and reader interests. Much like professional gamblers know there are different roulette wheels so they must place their bets accordingly, bloggers must know their different audiences and adjust their blogging strategies to keep up with the latest trends. Today, this means using video when blogging and keeping a strong presence on social media accounts to continuously attract new and loyal followers.
