Is blogging dead?

[#1]

We've been Hubspot customers for over 5 years, starting with an active blog and we've increased our use of CTAs and landing pages over the years.

We're working with a new website developer who is of the camp that "blogging is dead"; it's old, we don't need anything external to our site, we can post articles/stories directly within our site and receive the same SEO benefits.

I'm skeptical and have been trying to find support to save our HS blog. Can anyone share credible research/articles that might help me make a case to keep our HS blog?

[#2]

Hi @ctarnow

Blogging most certainly isn't dead. But let's remember that blogging is just a name for publishing long-tail optimised content online in a way that supports the SEO both of the content and your website. 

There are pros and cons wherever you decide to blog. Blogging within your main domain makes it easy to maximise the SEO benefits, but blogging elsewhere may give you access to a better toolset for doing it. Only you can decide. 

HubSpot shared this article explaining why they think blogging is still crucial: 10 Reasons Blogging Should be Part of Your 2018 Content Strategy

In your case, I would try to clarify the discussion by separating the act of blogging (creating content) from the technical choices about where to publish it. 

Note: other mediums, like video and audio, and other publishing platforms, like social media, have shown that (depending somewhat on your audience) they can drive great results. But I do not believe that they simply replace blogging. 

Hope this helps.

[#3]

Hi @ctarnow,

Great question. Blogging is most certianly not dead. I'd say it's more about how you approach the blog from a strategic perspecitve that matters to make sure you're getting the most value out of it. 

• I recommend thinking of each blog post as a way to help build subtopic content in support of conversion-focused pages on your website (i.e. pillar pages). Here's a lesson that explains how to use blogging in tandem with conte content strategy: https://academy.hubspot.com/lessons/creating-topic-clusters-and-pillar-pages.
• Here's a helpful article which explains blogging in 2018: https://blog.hubspot.com/customers/10-reasons-blogging-should-be-part-of-your-2018-content-strategy.
• Your blog can be a great way to build relationships with other relevant websites/media outlets. 
  • For example, you can create crowd-sourced content with quotes from industry influencers that in return help you promote the blog post. This can also lead to inbound links, which increases your website authority (very helpful to increasing your website's overall awareness on search engines).
• I'd recommend a 50/50 split between blogging on your own blog and guest blogging. Guest blogging will help acquire more inbound links. This way you can develop topic clusters of content on your blog as well as links coming from other sources that point to a pillar page. 

I hope the above helps. Definitely consider keeping your blog as it's an easy way to produce fresh content on a regualr basis in support of driving traffic to conversion-focused website pages. 

Thanks,

Justin

[#4]

It's alive, it's aliiiive! I think Phil is right on the money when he says "I would try to clarify the discussion by separating the act of blogging (creating content) from the technical choices about where to publish it." What form your content should take and where it should live is a more complex question than it was a few years ago, but the bottom line is that content creation is still a valuable activity for a multitude of reasons -- conversion, brand awareness, trust building, educating leads / prospects / customers, increasing the authority of your site, boosting efficacy of your paid ads, helping you rank for your highest-intent terms, the list goes on ...

I would also recommend checking out this post from Oli Gardner at Unbounce with the very clicky title "Is Content Marketing a Waste of Time and Money? It's an incredibly comprehensive look at the impact content has on a marketing strategy in 2018 -- both obvious and not-so-obvious. 

(PS I'm the manager of the HubSpot Blog team and love to talk about this stuff. Feel free to reach out on Twitter any time @emmajs24).