The Future of Blogging in 2024: Will it still be profitable?

With the end of the year coming around the corner inevitably we get to the question: is blogging still worth it? Is it still a medium where you can get traffic and money? In other words, is it still profitable? The short answer is yes, but there are some things you have to keep in mind if you want your new blog to be successful.

In this article, I will discuss the current status of blogging. And in addition, advise what to look out for if you want to choose this as an online marketing platform to make money. I will show the following subjects:

• Blogging is dead, long live blogging!
• Time to adapt
• No more Niche Sites as we know them
• Content should be indepth and helpful
• Go for both keywords with high and low competition
• No more anonymity
• Google will rank your website according to the content of the lowest quality
• Experience and expertise is more important than ever
• The role of AI will keep on growing
• Use other platforms, video especially
• Build an Email-list
• Go for different income streams
• Not every niche has been taken
• Treat blogging like a business and not as a hobby

Update 14th March 2024: The Google March Core Update!

I published this article a couple of weeks ago, just before the Google March Core Update. More information on that big update in this article.

Google’s goal here is to cut back unhelpfull content on the Search Results by a whopping 40%.

Now, if you follow SEO blogs and Youtube channels, you will see many marketing guru’s complaining that there traffic has taken a big nosedive downwards.

I myself work mostly as an freelance marketer/seo consultant and have seen different results for different clients. For instance, the blog of one of my clients has experienced less traffic last week, but this is slowly returning. While at a webshop under my supervision the traffic has remained stable.

So, what does this mean for your blog?

My advice would be to wait and see the rest of the update being rolled further, to await the exact impact to your blog. And in the meantime, follow the tips in this particular blog and Google’s E-E-A-T ranking guidelines.

On with the article!

Blogging is dead, long live blogging!

 Ok, about every year blogging has been pronounced dead, gone, the way of the dodo. But in reality every year this remains a successful and viable way to make money. Or attract visitors to your website at the very least.

Granted, the absolute heydays of blogging are behind us. In the late ‘00s you could expect a large amount of organic traffic just by using a couple of keywords in your writing and posting your articles on social media now and then. That strategy won’t work anymore. But what do you have to focus on if you want to make your blog a success going into 2024?

This is a bit of a long read, so get a nice cup of coffee, put your feet up and enjoy!

Time to adapt

Flexibility and adaptability are two of the most important traits of an online marketer. And certainly of a blogger. 

 The essence: writing valuable and helpful articles, remains the same over the years. But you will always have to adapt to new developments. E.g. changed tastes of your audience, social media algorithms that cause your blog posts to get fewer clicks. New techniques like AI and ChatGPT. Or Google’s requirements and its new updates. 

In short, each year you as a blogger will have to be able to respond to this to ensure that you continue to attract visitors. And earn money with it.

No more Niche Sites as we know them

One of the first conclusions we can draw from the current state of blogging is:

Niche sites are dead. Well, at least as we know them now. According to Jim Harmer at Income School, absolute expert on blogs and YouTube channels, the niche site era has changed the most.

You can no longer get away with focusing a website on 1 very specific niche, posting 30 to 50 articles and a few reviews and then wait for organic traffic.

You will have to do and deliver more. Of course, you don’t have to throw away your current niche website right now. Or stop starting one at all. 

But you will have to put more time into it. And consider leveraging other platforms, such as video or a podcast, to get visitors as well.

However, I would still use a specific audience or topic, short of a niche, as the starting point of your blog.

Content should be indepth and helpful

This should be a given. But is your content of value to your target audience? Is it helping them, or at least entertaining them?

This matters more than ever: make sure you provide depth and value. Filling the wonderful world of websites with massive amounts of hot air purely to create content for its own sake no longer works.

To achieve creating helpful and valuable content focus on the following points:

• Your content be of as high quality as possible
• Demonstrate that you know what you are talking about (be known as an expert)
• If necessary, use sources and quotes in your content
• Help your audience

A good rule of thumb I use in this regard with every piece of content: would I want to read this myself?

Go for both keywords with high and low competition

Many successful niche websites in recent years have mainly used keywords with low competition and low monthly expected traffic. And still get tons of visitors that way on their blog. I would definitely keep doing this, especially if you have a specific niche topic.

But in addition, you now also want to focus more on keywords with high competition and high number of expected traffic.

This amounts to writing more general articles, where you are basically competing with the content of long-established websites.

Why is this? Well, Google wants to know that you’re not just very knowledgeable about your niche. But about the topic in general. Let me give an example to better illustrate this:

Suppose you have a blog about security measures for your E-bike in California. Anti-theft, locks, GPS tracking etc.  This is a fairly focused niche topic. 

Previously, your content would then focus on those topics.

However, from now on you want to write more general articles about E-bikes every now and then as well. For example:

E-bike tips for beginners, what are e-bikes, the best e-bikes of the year. And more of that. 

You will not generate a lot of extra traffic with these general topics, because you will be competing with many other blogs and websites. But you will let Google know that you know what you are talking about. You show that you are an expert in the genre.

No more anonymity

The days when you could start and build your blog in complete anonymity are also sadly over. I myself have no problem signing my blogs with my name and possibly linking to my LinkedIn profile, for example. But I can imagine that with some more sensitive topics you don’t want to be known by name.

However, it is part of Google EEAT guidelines (its quality measurement), among others, that it is clear who is behind certain content. This makes it easier to see if you are indeed an expert and radiate confidence.

In summary: you will have to sign your articles with your own name.

Fortunately, there is a workaround for this: you can also use an Alias if you wish.

Google will rank your website according to the content of the lowest quality

This news took some getting used to. But Google can give your entire website a lower ranking based on a few articles of mediocre or poor quality.
Regardless of whether you also have posts of very high quality on it. So these articles will also suffer from this strict ranking.

Note that this does NOT mean you will get a penalty from Google.

But it does mean that you need to invest more time to optimize your existing content. So use SEO to check which content does and does not resonate with your target audience. Improve your articles where necessary and be prepared to simply delete the least of them.

Experience and expertise is more important than ever

In your content, you need to exude that you know what you’re talking about. That it was written by an expert in the field. This has been a requirement in Google’s EEAT guidelines for some time (more info on that here). But it is becoming even more important.

What does this boil down to? Look, for a blog with medical advice, you expect the content to be written by certified physicians. But how does this work with hobby blogs? Then your content should clearly show that you also pursue this hobby yourself. Take the example for Drones.

If you own a blog about Drones, it should be clear that you yourself partake in using drones as much as possible.

If you lack the needed experience in your niche, you can however hire writers who do have expertise in your subject to help you out.

The role of AI will keep on growing

AI-tools like ChatGTP, Google’s Bard, Koala or Jasper have taken the online marketing/blogging world by storm last year. And this trend will only continue.

Many content creators are using tools like that to flood the web with AI generated articles. Now, I myself am of the opinion that the quality of the written content is not that great yet. Especially in languages other than English.

But AI is absolutely marvelous for helping you with increasing your productivity as a content creator. Or helping you with your research and ideation process. Such as keyword research or finding your niche.

Look for instance at my article on creating a brand from scratch with ChatGPT.

What does Google think of AI generated content? Well, you can find more info on that here. But basically Google looks at AI generated content the same way as it does human generated content: does it offer genuine and helpful value to the reader?

Use other platforms, video especially

Writing and posting blogs alone doesn’t cut it anymore to generate enough traffic. It is highly advisable to employ other platforms as well to gain a following (and traffic).

Now, about 5 to 10 years ago, most bloggers would use Social Media such as Facebook or Twitter (X) to gain additional traffic. That doesn’t work anymore (with maybe the exception of LinkedIn). The algorithms of those platforms work in such a way that they basically have closed down getting many clicks to your content that way.

Gated Content is a term for that.

However, there are plenty of alternatives that do work in 2023 and going into 2024. For example:

• Start a Youtube channel
• Start a Rumble Channel
• Start a podcast
• Use Instagram or Tiktok

Realize that Youtube is the most widely used search engine after Google itself. Especially when it comes to more masculine topics.

Build an Email-list

Email to this day still is and remains an excellent way to connect to your audience. And get more traffic and in the process more income.

So when and if you can, start building an email list. You can let your audience know when a new article is posted on your blog through your newsletter. And sell something now and then as well.

Go for different income streams

Many, if not most, blogs generate some income through online ad platforms, such as Google Ads. 

If you want to make enough money to make blogging your main source of income I would go for different income streams. You can make money through your blog for instance by:

• Ad revenue (you can start with Google Ads, but when you have enough traffic, go for high quality platforms such as Mediavine)
• Affiliate Links
• Partnerships
• Sponsorship deals
• Merchandise
• Selling books
• Selling courses
• Offering coaching and training (either face to face or online)

Not every niche has been taken

Many people  think about getting into blogging but are held back by the mistaken notion that all the good niche topics have already been taken. That there is too much competition.

Of course this is true for the well-known niches like Health & Fitness, Making Money Online or Travel. There the competition is cutthroat.

But there are still bizarrely many topics out there for you to choose from. And can start a successful blog in. Some examples of new niches are:

• Drones
• E-biking
• AI (which I write about)
• Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality(VR and AR)

But even in very crowded markets, you can stand out once you focus on a specific part of it. See this article on how to find your niche.

So don’t let the misguided idea that all the good topics are already taken!

Treat blogging like a business and not as a hobby

And finally, treat your blog as a serious business and not a hobby.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with writing and posting blog articles about your favorite pastime from time to time. But don’t expect it to be successful.

If you want to achieve a successful blog, with thousands or even tens of thousands of visitors every month, you will have to invest time, effort and also a little money in it.

Consider the following:

• Write and post a quality blog at least once a week (preferably at least 2 or 3 times a week)
• Do extensive keyword research
• Optimize your website every so often through SEO
• Analyze the traffic and which articles do and do not perform with your target audience
• Use other platforms (such as Youtube) to generate additional traffic.