Why blog in 2023?

It’s 2023 and apparently “blogging is dead.”

I’ve loved the blogging community since I first started my photography business back in early 2016, but with each passing year, I see bloggers and business owners drop off the face of the internet and turn to podcasts and Instagram.

And while I believe that a creative should only maintain a blog if they actually love it, I also know that creatives aren’t blogging anymore because they believe there isn’t a market for it anymore.

But I disagree. Big time.

I believe blogging is more important in 2023 than ever before and creating helpful and niche-driven content – whether it be educational, inspiring or humorous –  is still relevant today, thanks to Google. In fact, all of my freelance work, consultations, magazine publications and connections have been made from people finding my website and blog on Google.

In my 4 years as a freelance content creator and business owner, I’ve booked over 900 clients from Google search engine and 50 from Instagram.

If this hasn’t got you thinking, here’s more…

Why Blog in 2023?

Blogging is not dead in 2023. In fact, we are still in the beginning stages of it.

While people don’t check their favorite blogs every day as I do using BlogLovin’ or Feedly (hey – I’m old school!), we are still using Google every day to answer our questions and give us tips on subjects. We are still searching online for unique services and products in our area.

Where do people go when they have a question? Where do people turn to when they hear something new and they want to do some research on it?

Google.

And unlike TikTok, Google is definitely not going anywhere.

In 2023, if you only have the time to maintain one, make it the blog, and then copy and share what you’ve written on social media, specifically Instagram Reels. 

Prioritize Search Engines

Google is a search engine. Pinterest and Youtube are also very powerful search engines – Youtube being the 2nd biggest search engine online – and should also be utilized. Pinterest is 3rd. If you only have time for one, make it the good ol’ Google.

Why You Should Have a Blog in 2023

For creatives and business owners hoping to earn a living on their art, sharing on social media is important.

But when a social networking app fades with time, as they all eventually do, having your work recorded on an actual blog that you own is just as important, if not more. 

I believe maintaining a blog – if you joyfully feel called to – is necessary and important for these reasons below.

I’m sharing my top 5 reasons on why I still maintain an active blog.

A Place to Safely Express

There is nothing I love more than creative self-expression. And as a Leo Moon, I definitely love to share and express myself to someone…other than my husband. While I still don’t make it a habit of checking my reader stats every week, I do generally know that I have a steady readership (as I receive emails and bookings from the contact form all the time from people who have found me doing a Google search), and that gives me a lot of encouragement to continue expressing myself through blogging. But even if I never had a single reader ever again, expressing myself through any sort of creative medium brings me an intense amount of joy, peace, and personal fulfillment. Without writing and photography as an outlet for my voice, I know that life would be a tiny bit more mundane with a little less vibrancy. My blog is my safe space to express, reflect and share.

Social media isn’t the safest place to express your opinions and artistic expression anymore, but your blog will always be safe because it’s yours. You own it. 

Improve My Skills

I’ve had dreams to write a book of short stories since I was very young. And while the idea of writing a book in this particular chapter of my life doesn’t sound appealing, I know that I will pursue it at a time when I am older and a little bit wiser. This blog is a place for me to hone and practice my writing skills daily, to help clarify my thoughts and articulate them clearly to readers. What fantastic schooling! What a joyful classroom for independent study, focused self-discipline and to improve my communication skills!

Not only am I constantly practicing my writing skills, but I also read a lot of books and blogs, which also further enhances my growth in these areas. I love to consume, just as much as I love to create.

Keeps Me Learning

As a blogger, I find that absorbing content and self-reflection is equally important in the writing process. Maintaining an active blog requires that I keep up with the blogging community, reading and commenting on other inspiring blogs, and reading reading reading. Whether it’s a self-help book, a spiritually enlightened text or a photography biography, I love keeping updated in the community. More importantly, I love learning. Running an active blog keeps me actively learning, seeking and discovering. I know that every week, I am growing.

And isn’t progress our great life’s purpose?

SEO Building

It goes without saying that running an active blog every week helps my SEO (Search Engine Optimization) immensely. Since launching my blog three years ago, I’ve had so many photography clients, magazines, fellow expats, travelers visiting my city in France, and even brands and sponsorship deals reach out to me from finding a blog post of mine on Google. The internet and Google is not going anywhere. As a small business owner, my blog shows that my store’s lights are turned on, and that I am actively working. 

More importantly, it tells Google and my clients that I am in business.

There is nothing worse than going to a store and seeing they are closed during operating hours

I Own My Blog

This website is my purchased house, and unlike social media – which is rented space that is vastly unreliable – I own my blog and this purchased slice and domain on the internet. This fact alone is more important than ever as a small business owner, because Instagram can change its algorithm or decide to only promote paid posts at any time, just as we’ve all seen Facebook do over time. It’s more important to run an actual blog and email list, on top of your social media posts. If you don’t believe me, check out these stats!

Why You Should Blog in 2023

Less than 6% of your followers actually see your posts.

A Message is 5x more likely to be seen in email than via Facebook

With Tik Tok on the possible decline, the removal of the Instagram “like” feature and the steady stream of disheartening Instagram algorithm updates in 2023, the future of Instagram in 2023 looks bleak.

Take a second to open up your App store on your phone and peruse the top 150 apps – there are social networking apps coming out left and right. Just like Myspace and now with Facebook beginning to die out, Instagram is just a few years away from beginning to teeter out.

With the plethora of ads and influencers, paid sponsored posts and the annoying non-chronological feed that seems to favor popular and trending posts, we are hardly seeing our friend’s personal documentation anymore. 

For me personally, I use Instagram as a place to share my artistic photography work, to inspire and reflect joy and also as a place to document the happenings of my life. I love to record the REAL growth and transformation – the hardships and the gratitude.

But I also recognize how more important Google and SEO is in 2023. As a creative and entrepreneur, I’m in this for the long-term not the immediate. Which is why having Google on my side is a game changer.

And like I said before, the vast majority of my income, new clients, publications and blog visitors come from Google, followed by Youtube and Pinterest, in that order. Not Instagram. 

After Google, Youtube is the second biggest traffic source for my blog and website. 

How to Use Instagram in 2020 Before it Dies

Now is the time to be on Instagram to connect and get your followers off of the app and onto your website. 

Build friendships and a real community, form relationships and collaborate and get your services/ products on those local location hashtags.

It is more important than ever to build your newsletter list and to share your beautifully designed website.  Thanks to website builders like Showit and Squarespace, it’s so easy in 2023 to build gorgeous, custom websites.

We may not be able to control whether our posts and stories get seen on Instagram, but we can control how we guide others through our website, onto our newsletter sign up opt-ins, and onto our blogs.

Helena 🙂

You can connect with me on Instagram here or follow my Youtube channel. I love to talk about slow living, the slow life in France and the importance celebrating the simple joys of daily life! Subscribe here!

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