Is blogging still relevant today, especially with the rise of YouTube, podcasting, and TikTok?

That’s a valid question if you’re thinking about using blogging as a part of your book marketing strategy.

What’s not to love about blogging when it has a simple publishing process.

It’s a natural extension for many authors too, particularly the nonfiction authors.

But strangely enough, blogging doesn’t seem to receive a lot of love these days even among the author community.

And if you read my post about the lesson that I learned from blogging for writers, you’ll realize how many times I quit blogging so many times to the point where I lost count.

The reason why I quit blogging so many times?

Instead of blogging, I may as well spend the time writing another book. It feels like a worthless pursuit the more I do it since I don’t see any significant impact on my book sales.

It didn’t even generate any affiliate commissions at all, not even a dollar.

That can be disheartening to hear especially when you hear so many amazing things about content marketing in general.

So, I don’t blame you for doubting the power of blogging despite all the good things that you hear online.

Is blogging still relevant to this day?

To answer that question, let’s take a look at these blogging statistics for 2022 from Ahref.

According to the blogging statistics, there are 77% of users read blogs.

That is still a lot of people considering that there are so many ways for people to consume content these days.

And the most fascinating ones?

This statistic from GrowthBadger where 45% of bloggers earn over $50,000 per year from selling their own products and services.

And also this statistic from Awin where blogs are responsible for 40% of all publisher commissions in the US.

While it’s unfortunate that 33% of bloggers don’t make any money at all from their blogs, it’s amazing to know that it’s still possible to make money from your blog.

And the amount of money that you can make is nothing to scoff at too.

With 77% of people still reading blogs and the fact that 45% of bloggers are generating a huge amount of money from their blogs, it looks to me that blogging is far from dead.

What my fiction author blog is telling me then

Sure, the numbers are all well and good. But the skeptic mind in you says that these blogs have been around for many years already.

So, they have the upper hand when it comes to making money from their blog.

What they’re experiencing isn’t the same as someone who is starting a new blog in this current landscape.

Well, you’re not wrong about that. It’s a lot harder for the new blog to gain traction now than it was many years ago.

But here’s the thing that you don’t know.

Ask them how much money they make from their blog during the first year of blogging and they will tell you that they’re not making much.

Heck, I won’t be surprised at all that they’re not making money at all one year after they start a blog.

It doesn’t matter whether you start a blog recently or twenty years ago. You won’t make that much money at all during the first year of your blog.

That’s what I see in my fiction author blog as well.

My fiction author blog didn’t even make money at all during the first year, be it through affiliate marketing or book sales, especially the direct sales.

It was only after six years of blogging that I finally made money through affiliate marketing.

As for the book sales, I’m not sure if my blogging effort is paying off since retailers never share their sales data with anyone.

But blogging does help with direct sales, though. It’s just that the sales path isn’t that straightforward where people buy my books after they read my blog.

It’s more like they buy my books after they discover my website through the search engine.

There’s no doubt that blogging is one of the reasons that cause my website to rank so well in the search engine.

The key to making blogging work for you

I’ll say it again that consistency is the key to making blogging work for you, hands down.

The reason for that is simple. You’ll get more results the more you do it. And you’ll get better in the process as well.

I doubt that I would make money through affiliate marketing if I’m not consistent with my blogging effort.

Decide on how many times you want to write on your blog and stick with it.

Of course, you need to be sure that you have clarity on what your blog is all about and that it’s also something that your target audience will find interesting.

While that may not be hard to do for nonfiction authors, you can still do the same even if you’re a fiction author.

Sure, it can be a little tricky to figure out what sort of things your audience will find interesting.

But when you blog long enough, you will eventually discover the kind of blog that your audience will enjoy.

Believe me, I didn’t start the blog thinking that I would write about manga, light novels, and nonfiction books that I find interesting.

It was only after years of blogging that I finally come to the conclusion that this is the kind of blog that is sustainable in the long run.

Yes, it took me this long to figure it out. But it’s all worth it.

It sure does change my perspective about blogging

With so many ways to consume information, it’s no surprise why many of us seem to believe that blogging no longer holds the candles like it used to be.

But that doesn’t seem to be the case at all with these statistics and also my blogging experience.

To come back to the question, is blogging still relevant today?

If my fiction author blog is any indication, I will say yes.

P.S Did you know what else blogging can help you with? Your social media profiles, of course.

The reason for that is simple. It’s easier to maintain your social media profiles when you have an active blog. If you’re struggling with not knowing what to say on your social media profiles, just post a link to your latest blog post and you’re good to go.

What’s more, it’s also another traffic source that you can use to drive traffic to your blog.

If you’re using Twitter to connect with your target audience and you’re interested in learning more on how to fully utilize Twitter, you can take a look at my guide, Twitter Marketing For Business.

You can buy the guide right here on my Payhip store:

Buy Twitter Marketing For Business guide on Payhip