Are blogs worth it?

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   LittleFairyposted 12 years ago

   How many of you have blogs and are they affected by google's new algorithm? Is it worth it having a blog and how do you make time for it along with hubpages?

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      Sophia Angeliqueposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Google's new algorithm pushed their own blog up so that it is receiving more traffic than it used to. That said, I seldom read blogs.

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         LittleFairyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Okay, so basically blogs are no longer getting as much traffic as they used to.

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            Sophia Angeliqueposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            No... Google blogs are getting more traffic!

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               LittleFairyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Oh, okay!

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               Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Do you have a reference to support that?
               
               Pre-Panda there was this myth that if you wrote on Blogger, you'd get more traffic than blogging elsewhere because it's owned by Google.  It is just a myth.
               
               I can't see why Panda would have changed that.  It appears that blogs and websites in general are doing better than article-writing sites, but it really doesn't matter whether you're using Blogger, Wordpress.com or self-hosting.

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                  Sophia Angeliqueposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Yes, I have a reference to support that. If you want to go through all my posts, I give a link to the sites that gained and the sites that lost as a \result of Panda. However, I don't have time to go and find it. It was a post that I started and it was about the topic...

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                     Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     I've seen several reports like that, about the sites that gained and lost.
                     
                     I didn't see anything to suggest that .blogspot blogs had gained any advantage?

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                        Sophia Angeliqueposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        Okay, I cannot account for what you saw and what you didn't see. The fact that you didn't see it doesn't mean that a report wasn't written. And, if by implication, you mean that because you didn't see it, it doesn't exist (otherwise I don't see the point of your comment), well, you need to think that through. The topic came up about a month ago. I'm honestly not going to search my forum posts to prove something to you. If you don't think that's true, I don't care. Somebody asked. I answered them. What they do with the information is up to them. Personally, I will be opening a blospot because according to the figures, they had a twenty six percent gain.

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                           Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                           I've just been searching and googling and can't find any mention of this anywhere.  If you happen to stumble across it again, please post a link here as I'd be interested to know more.

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                              Sophia Angeliqueposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                              Marisa, there is a link in one of the posts I started. All you have to do is do a search for my posts, check which one talks about the topic, and you'll find the link.

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                                 Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                 Thanks Sophie. HubPages search is a pain and I couldn't find your posts - but MrVoodoo gave me the information.
                                 
                                 Blogger as a whole gained over 20% extra traffic, but that tells you nothing.  You would need to gather together all the Wordpress.org blogs and measure their increase in traffic, to know whether Blogger blogs were doing better than Wordpress blogs.  And that's impossible, since all self-hosted blogs are independent.

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                                    Sophia Angeliqueposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                    Marisa, the research taken by an independent organisation showed that the only blogging site that gained was Blogger.

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                                       Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                       Yes, but the other major blogging platform is not Wordpress.com, it is Wordpress.org - and it is not one single site.  Each Wordpress.org owner is an independent blog owner. 
                                       
                                       So it's entirely possible that if you took all the Wordpress.org site owners and checked their traffic, it might have gone up just as much.  Or not. We don't know.

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                                       Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                       Sophia, I replied to your email but I want to add a clarification here, too.
                                       
                                       The most common comparison we see on the forums is "Which is better - Blogger or Wordpress?"
                                       
                                       In this context, the questioner usually means a self-hosted Wordpress blog,not Wordpress.com, because most Hubbers are looking to make money (and wordpress.com can't be monetized).
                                       
                                       So for me, when I hear the statement "Blogger is better than other blogging platforms", I immediately see a comparison implied with Wordpress self-hosted blogging.
                                       
                                       Therefore all I'm saying is - yes, Blogger has done better than the other big blogging sites covered in the report.  But that doesn't tell us anything about how individual Blogger blogs have fared compared with equivalent blogs self-hosted.
                                       
                                       If people want to blog on a free platform, I would always recommend Blogger.  Google is likely to be there for the long haul, but other companies could go broke or sell up any time - Today.com, for instance.  Also, many free blogging sites make it difficult or impossible to export your content so you can move your blog elsewhere, so you're stuck with them even if they change the rules.  Finally, you can monetize Blogger better than most.
                                       
                                       But it's important people don't forget there is another alternative - a self-hosted Wordpress blog - and that despite what the statistics may appear to say, Blogger isn't necessarily "the best" - because the traffic of millions of Wordpress.org blogs can't be measured as a whole.

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                                          Lissieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                          The problem with blogger is the same problem as hubpages- your blog can be taken down at any time - its happened - and its happened to blogs that made lots of money too - blogger is a great place for social blogs and "useful" blogs that give backlinks - but the minimal cost of having yoru own domain is well worth it if you are building a business

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                                    Sophia Angeliqueposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                    Marisa, thank you for explaining that. I answered the OP's question. it was not about a comparison of blogs.
                                    
                                    I know nothing about blogs as I don't read them and haven't been interested to date. So, I know nothing about Word Press except that I find them irritatingly complicated and avoid them like poison. For instance, the South African Libertarian Society has a blog on Word press and I don't interact precisely because it's on that site.

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                                       Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                       I do understand that, I just wanted to add the clarification because some readers could have made that comparison.
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       That's a shame, because Wordpress software is very powerful.  I had a look at the Libertarian society - do you mean you find navigation difficult as a user (which isn't Wordpress's fault, it's whoever set up the blog), or do you mean it's complicated to set up/post?

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      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I have several blogs. 
      
      If you have an old-style blog, like an online diary, or a site where you write posts about anything and everything, it's highly unlikely you'll get any readers.
      
      If there's something you're passionate about and you're able to write really good content about that subject, you might do well.

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         LittleFairyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, I now understand the whole picture. For now, I am good at various topics not one particular subject so it might be hard to attract traffic. I think I should stick around hubpages and just write here.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            HubPages is a good place to try out ideas.  You can get a feel for what you like to write about - and when one of your Hubs suddenly starts getting a lot of traffic or making good income, you'll know you've hit on a good subject for your blog.

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               LittleFairyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks Marissa, I will definately try that

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      kschangposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Blogs are good for small updates that does't belong in a hub.  You can fold in the updates later into the hub, but for small updates I put them in blog firs,t and put the RSS feed in the hub and point the readers at it. Then the blog will point back to more hubs.

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         wheelinalloverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I have used my blog to send anyone who reads to another hubbers hub. I thought with panda it was a really cool idea to help get readership up.
         My blogs do not earn money other than from anyone who goes to my profile and clicks to one of my web pages. I write on only one subject which lead to either (Hub pages) or any of the other sites the corporation owns.
         My blogs take longer to write and are longer than most of my hubs. They are advertising so more time is necessary, and they contain more content to cover the subject well.
         I have found that my niche is overcrowded so really need to find a new one which is less saturated.
         Hub pages however is my "blog" about what my life was like before, for the most part.
         To make money anywhere on the internet you need to come off as an expert in your field, showing this expertise is what gains readership. Choice of keywords is way more important than most people think, if they want readership from beyond the other writers here.

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         LittleFairyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         @kschang & wheelinallover,
         
         Thanks guys, your tips are very helpful

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   mdlawyerposted 12 years ago

   New algorithm has affected blogs and sites alike.

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      LittleFairyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, i understand that now, thanks

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   LittleFairyposted 12 years ago

   I made an account at tumblr so I am going to start blogging there from time to time. Lets see what comes out of it

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   Peter Hogganposted 12 years ago

   It makes no difference whether it’s a site or a blog, what matters is the subject you are writing about, how many people are interested in it  and how well you promote it.

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      LittleFairyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, you are right. Now I just have to find a niche that is both interesting for me and some people out there.

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      rebekahELLEposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      yes, very true. I think some of the top sites are blogs.
      
      OP, probably the best way to learn about them is to 'read/study' the top blogs in different categories. If you google search "top blogs", a nice directory site pops up with a categorized list of blogs.
      One of my favorites is ProBlogger.net. It has a lot of helpful content.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I think the line between a blog and a website is blurring.
         
         None of the "top blogs" are blogs in the original sense of the word, which is an "online diary".  The posts are all short articles on a particular topic.  You could just as easily arrange those on a website! 
         
         The main difference between a website and a blog, I think, is that a website has more static content whereas a blog is constantly having new material added.

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   tamronposted 12 years ago

   I have several blogs!  I use my blogs for back links.  I blog at blogger because blogger is easy to use.  I blog 2 different ways by category and I blog about my interest.  If my hubs or any of my hub friends match any of my categories or interest I blog it or if I am surfing I find something great I blog it.  Blogging is a great way to find you niche.  I have 3 blogs that are performing quite well.

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      LittleFairyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks! you gave me quite some helpful ideas, I like what you said about blogging by category and interests, I might be able to do that.

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      Rosie2010posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks tamron, this helps me too.

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   Karen Banesposted 12 years ago

   My (wordpress) blog is still getting the same amount of traffic BUT it doesn't earn much from adsense. I think the question is too broad. Blogging can be 'worth it' for many hubbers for lots of different reason. Profit, promotion, backlinks, affiliate marketing - my main advice is always pick something you really love to blog about. The hardest part is just producing regular content on the same subject month after month.

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      LittleFairyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Okay! Thanks for the advice, it was very helpful

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   Bill Manningposted 12 years ago

   I make all my income from my wordpress blog software. Meaning some sites are full websites plus a blog.
   
   These days the line between what is a blog and what is a website is very blurry.

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      LittleFairyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks!

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   kimberlyslyricsposted 12 years ago

   I've had good response on my blog but you hit it - time, there just isnt enough
   

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      LittleFairyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, time is very scarce for us writers, but hopefully  we can move along slowly

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         lyricsingray.posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         nice to meet you gal
         xo
         
         
         
         welcome, glad your here

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   lorlie6posted 12 years ago

   "Hyperbole and a Half" is one rare blog.  It is an amazing cartoonish blog with fabulous drawings...I try NEVER to miss it, though Allie, the author doesn't post often.
   She's worth a look-really!!

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      Baileybearposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      what a hilarious blog!

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      LittleFairyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      ok! I will definitely have a look, I love these types of blogs

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    lorlie6posted 12 years ago

    Allie is sooooooo talented!   And I think I have
    'Simple Dog'here at home...Though I've never seen 'shapes' in clouds and such confusion.  Poor, Poor Dog.
    I wish she'd post more often...

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    psycheskinnerposted 12 years ago

    My blogs (I have about 20) all saw an increase in traffic after Panda.

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