Blogging is dead? Pulease! So is email then.

I've only heard this meme a few times and I'm already sick of it, blogging is dead. Give me a break. Blogging is no more dead than email, which has also had its share of doomsayers. Blogging is not dead, it has merely found its place in the grand scheme of all things social media.

A little history lesson. In 2003, the year I started blogging, it was about the only game in town social media speaking, at least where business was concerned. And it wasn't until 2005 when Business Week did their cover story on blogging that the business world really even took note. Up to that point, it was a curiosity that only early adopters were making use of, more or less.

You have only to read the books on blogging published around that time to see what I mean. (Note: Until 2005 there were none that dealt strictly with business applications.)

So, tell me, how only three years later, does anyone have the temerity to say that blogging's future is dismal and that, rather than start a blog, one should invest their time on Facebook, Twitter and other social applications? *Balderdash!

(A word about email. It's still the #1 Internet activity and marketers spend more on email marketing than any other form. And those numbers continue to rise. Email dead. Yea, right.)

Here are a list of good reasons why blogging's future is bright.

Blogs, though old (relatively speaking) are new again. They have morphed into: a) Lightweight CMS platforms, are b) Social media headquarters, c) serve as vehicles for content marketing, d) are great niche market penetration tools, and e) search engine magnets.

CMS platform

Look at what's happening with WordPress. The latest themes extend the reach of the platform well beyond what we typically think of as a blog and into more of what we'd consider a traditional website. Unless you're really a student of the WordPress environment, you'd be hard-pressed to identify some of the new sites as belonging to that platform.

One of the members of the LinkedIn Bloggers group, Bill Austin, said, "If I use a free, easy to configure, open source content management system for developing client websites with integrated blogs, I can turn the entire site over to them and they can write, copy, paste, publish, edit, delete, and otherwise manage their content to their hearts' content."

Social media headquarters

With things like Google Friend Connect, socially-oriented widgets and plugins, blogs are beginning to serve as a social media base of operations. For example, I just added Friend Connect widgets to this blog. Though far from perfect, in principle they stretch the boundaries of my blog so that it functions more like an online community.

Content marketing

I think, more than ever, "content is king."

I often refer to a term coined by Brian Clark of Copyblogger fame in his own polemic on the so-called death of blogging. His term, "value blogging."

"In truth, the real opportunities for building authority and buzz through social media have only just begun. You simply have to look and see where things are going instead of where they’ve been.

"Value will always be key. And you’ll find that the migration of pure social chatter off of blogs and onto social networking applications is a good thing for the rest of us who are looking to build businesses powered in whole or in part by blogs."

Niche market penetration

Blogs are great for penetrating a partially-filled or unfilled niche. With them, you can hit a topic over and over and over again until you become the defacto authority on the subject. I know, I've seen it happen and even experienced a bit of that myself.

The more tightly defined the niche, the better. Heck, I know of a guy who blogs about single serve coffee makers for Pete's sake. That's about a tight a niche as you can define.

Search engine magnets

If you've read my blogs over the years, you've heard me say blogs are their own form of search engine optimization. Someone even said the word blog stands for Better Listings On Google. I believe it.

Blogs provide search engines with everything they need to rank highly: Text, lean code, post titles as title tags and permalinks. Add to that a blogger who understands the need to write frequently updated, keyword-optimized, thematically-relevant posts, and you've got a force to be reckoned with.

Now, if you're trying to rank highly for the term "real estate" or some such foolishness, well, more power to you. Remember what I said about defining a niche and filling it. Try "real estate, Tucker, GA" and you're much more likely to get front page SERPs.

Regardless, blogs have proven themselves to have lots of muscle where search engines are concerned.

Many more reasons

There are a number of reasons why blogs are still relevant. They are the one place you can truly set yourself apart from your competitors and establish yourself as a thought-leader, knowledgeable expert, influencer or pundit.

Imagine where Chris Brogan or Dave Taylor would be without a blog and you see what I mean. Both have established a beachhead with their blogs and gained ground that, more than likely, they never could otherwise...not as easily at least.  Look at the commitment each has made to their respective blogs and my argument is made.

Even if none of the above reasons were extant, blogs still serve a good and useful purpose. They used to be the "whole kielbasa," now they're part of a rich smorgasbord. Still mighty tasty either way.

Speaking for myself, I'm more commited than ever to blogging and to helping others learn the ins/outs. And there are a whole lot of folks just now getting into blogging, lo these many years later. It's up to people like you and me to show them the ropes and help them along the path...no matter the death-knells the naysayers may ring.

*=Regarding the investment of time, it should be both on the blog and via other forms of social media. It's a both/and, not either/or.

(Just for grins, I found a post dated November 2004 by Paul Woodhouse, author of the Tinbasher blog, which referenced the "blogging is dead" meme and something I said regarding blog evangelism. You could tell I had drank the kool-aid even then!)

Comments

[Stephanie Edwards-Musa]

Hi Paul,

Interesting, this makes me think. In a way, it is almost like ones blog is the branding behind their other social network sites. IMO. I don't think blogging will die, it will just transform like everything else has.

I can't imagine marketing through social media without it. It's kind of fun to sit on the sidelines and watch it all :)and I totally agree about niche marketing. I think it's near impossible to market to the masses now unless you have the money of Exxon, Coca Cola or Walmart- and why would most brands want to?

[Paul Chaney]

It is exactly that Stephanie, and thanks for making that point considering the fact I failed to.

Blogging will either transform or die and, based on at least one of the points make above, I believe the former is the case.

[LisaW]

I'll refrain from a tirade. My new goal is "let it go and just get going." But I agree with you wholeheartedly.

Both support relationships and conversation. But one is a snapshot in time - instant gratification, if you will.

The blog is a big picture - the place you come it sit and visit a bit. If there is a casual and/or renewed relationship from the micro stage, that's more likely to happen.

Drive-bys don't build the relationships we are looking for.

Take the cocktail party analogy, again. Once we've been introduced and found a common ground, the relationship grows in different venues - lunches, dinners, joint (ad)ventures,a sharing of ideas, becoming mutual sounding boards.

As in life, sometimes you need more than 140 characters. Sure, you can do that on Facebook and LinkedIn, but they don't have the powerful flexibility a CMS-like blog does.

And when it comes to marketing, as a consumer, I may find you via FB, LI, or Twitter - but I'm looking for your credibility and value on your blog baby.

It is both/and not either/or.

[Jim Turner]

Paul the title of this article was pricdeless. I liken it to my kids arguing. "Oh yeah well if I'm dead then so are you!"

Actually loved this piece. My blog has established be as an expert in my niche. People find me through Google. They look for someone in my area, and since my blog comes up first in most results for my area of practice, they equate that to being a leader in the industry. Whether that be true or not, it is reality, and to many customers, that perception is reality.

[Paul Chaney]

I'm 100% in agreement with you Jim, including the part about you being a leader in the industry. You are indeed!

[Paul Chaney]

Great analogies all around Lisa. "snapshot," "big picture," "drive-bys"...you put it much better than I. Thanks.