Is Blogging Dead? (No, But It Has Changed)
"It's taking a lot of time and energy. We're running out of things to say. What's the point anyway? We've been doing it for months and nobody is signing up. I'm not even sure anyone is reading it."
This is a common sentiment among teams just getting started with blogging. It does take significant time and effort. Coming up with interesting topics is challenging. And if you don't see immediate results, the whole exercise can feel pointless.
Before you bury your blog, consider a few things.
The Misunderstood Timeline
Blogging is a long game. If you're measuring success after three months, you're measuring too early. Most companies need six to twelve months of consistent publishing before they see meaningful results.
That's not because blogging doesn't work. It's because the mechanisms that make it work—search engine authority, audience building, content library development—take time to compound.
The companies that give up after a few months never find out what would have happened if they'd persisted.
The Hidden Benefits
Even before your blog generates significant traffic or leads, it's providing value you might not see:
Clarifying your thinking. Writing about your expertise forces you to organize and articulate your point of view. Even if nobody reads your posts, the process of writing them makes you better at explaining your value in sales calls, presentations, and proposals.
Building a content library. Every post becomes an asset you can use—in email campaigns, sales follow-ups, social media, client communications. A year of blogging gives you 52 pieces of content to deploy strategically.
Signaling activity to search engines. Consistent publishing tells search engines that your site is active and maintained. That signal matters for rankings.
Creating opportunities for keywords. Every post is a chance to rank for terms your audience is searching for. Your homepage can only target so many keywords. Blog posts expand your reach.
What's Changed
Blogging has evolved. What worked a decade ago doesn't necessarily work now.
Quality over quantity. Publishing frequency matters less than it used to. One excellent post per month beats four mediocre posts. Search engines have gotten better at recognizing (and rewarding) genuinely valuable content.
Depth over breadth. Surface-level content gets ignored. Posts that go deep on specific topics—providing real expertise and actionable guidance—perform better than generic overviews.
Readability matters more. Walls of text don't get read. Clear structure, scannable formatting, and concise writing aren't just nice-to-haves—they're requirements.
Distribution is essential. "Publish and pray" doesn't work. A blog post needs a distribution plan: social sharing, email to your list, repurposing for other channels.
The Real Question
The question isn't whether blogging works. It does, demonstrably, for companies that commit to it seriously.
The question is whether you're willing to make that commitment: consistent publishing, genuine quality, patience for results, and honest assessment of what's working.
If the answer is yes, blogging remains one of the most effective long-term marketing investments you can make. If the answer is no, you're right—it probably isn't worth doing poorly.