Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Start a Blog in 2022.
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Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Start a Blog in 2022.
Blogging isn’t dead, but is it worth it?
It’s getting close to the new year, which means we’re about to be bombarded with a slew of “how to start a blog in 2022" articles and blog posts with a conveniently placed affiliate link to some web-hosting company.
I’m not saying there’s anything inherently wrong with these “start a blog” type articles. Some of them have really good information, but most of them oversimplify the process.
Blogging today is a lot different than it used to be a few years ago. It’s not as easy as most bloggers make it out to be.
I’ve been blogging for over 4 years and I can tell you that starting a self-hosted WordPress blog is probably going to be a massive waste of your time.
So if you’re on the fence, here’s why you shouldn’t start a blog in 2022.
Blogging isn’t quick or easy money.
A lot of people get into blogging because they think it’ll be a lucrative side hustle.
It’s understandable. If you log onto Pinterest right now you’ll find probably hundreds of pins that show bloggers making thousands or tens of thousands of dollars from their blogs.
They make it look easy, but the reality is that most new blogs will take up to 6 months or even a year of solid effort and consistency before turning a profit.
Then there are some bloggers who never make money from their blogs.
If you want to start a blog to make money, don’t. Not unless you’re willing to wait a year or more for results. I blogged for over 4 years and never made money, so that goes to show it doesn’t always work out.
Writing is only a small part of it.
Blogging is probably 20% writing and 80% other stuff.
“Other stuff” includes setting up your domain and hosting (if you’re not tech savvy, you’ll want to have coffee and an Advil on hand for this), designing your website, optimizing your articles for search engines (you’ll want a second cup of coffee for this), and marketing and promoting so that people can actually find your work.
It’s a lot of work. Wearing so many hats can really suck the fun out of writing after a while.
This is why a lot of the big bloggers outsource these other tasks — so they can focus on the writing. As a new blogger, you’re probably not going to want to go into the red hiring people until you’ve decided if blogging is something you want to stick with.
Which means the only option is to do it all yourself.
Blogging is like writing in a vacuum.
It’s really difficult to drive traffic to a new blog. It’s even more difficult to drive meaningful traffic.
By that I mean readers that actually care about what you have to say and will offer their feedback and opinions on your work.
People just don’t really comment on articles on random sites like they do on social media and other platforms. This is a really big problem, especially if you’re a new writer. Without feedback on your work, it’s extremely easy to cement bad writing habits.
It’s also really easy to fall into a routine of working on your blog and never reading other people’s work. You need to hear other voices to cultivate your own. If all you ever read is your own work, your writing voice is never going to improve.
The blogging world isn’t as lively as it once was.
Every year people love to debate whether blogging is dead or not. As long as search engines exist, blogging will never die in my opinion. But the blogging world is a very different place than it once was.
When I started my first blog back in 2017, the community as a whole was super active. There were a ton of engaged blogger groups on social media. Everyone lifted each other up. People were actually excited to read and comment on your posts. Pinterest was an absolute gold mine for traffic.
Things have changed a lot.
The blogging world as I once knew it is on life support. There’s a lot less engagement and comments are much harder to come by. Pinterest’s algorithm has changed and it’s 10x harder to get traffic.
The golden ticket to a successful blog nowadays is SEO. And that’s not very appealing if you want to write to express yourself rather than cater to search engine robots.
To summarize, you shouldn’t start a blog in 2022 because:
Blogging isn’t quick or easy money.
Writing is only a small part of it.
Blogging is like writing in a vacuum.
The blogging world is on life support.
Blogging isn’t dead, but is it worth it in 2022? My take is no. As a content creator, there are so many better ways you can spend your time.
Don’t make the same mistakes that I did.