Social networks are constantly evolving, content has to be consumed faster and faster, videos are the new thing. Is it still worth writing a blog at all? It's actually funny that we should address this question in a blog article - but for us at Flanke 7, the blog continues to work very well. But it's not just us who write a blog, other companies continue to do so too. And this despite the fact that blogs have been on the Internet for a long time, even longer than social media. So the question is probably justified: is it worth all the effort?

Top Statistics about blogs 

Even if it is worthwhile for us as an agency and we see the long-term growth through content marketing that we had hoped for, we as a company cannot of course speak for other companies. But: We have done some research and there are other people who are asking and answering this question. Here are a few figures: 

• There are over 600 million blogs worldwide, accounting for almost a third of all websites. 

• In 2020, 89% of online companies used blogs as part of their content strategy. 

• 77% of internet users read blogs regularly, with 73% of all consumers stating that they only skim the content.

• 68% of respondents say that blogs give a website more credibility

• Over 50% of marketers with a blog consider it to be effective and around 10% state that the blog achieves the highest ROI. 

• Of course, it is also interesting to know which type is most effective: 

  • Guides and ebooks with around 35%

  • Gated content with around 35% as well

  • Infographics with around 33% 

  • Summaries with 32% 

  • Interviews with 30%

These are all very promising figures, but despite everything, the question remains as to whether the effort is worth it, because a blog article is not written in 5 minutes. Good research is important, as is grammatical correctness and questions from SEO experts, and then of course the E-E-A-T rule.

What does Chat GPT say about this? 

Anyone who wants to produce a lot of text quickly since 2022/2023 knows and loves Chat GPT and runs riot with a wide variety of prompts. That's why we asked the fastest writer in the world whether blogs are still worthwhile. We quote him here: 

"Yes, blog articles can definitely still be worthwhile, especially if they are well researched, informative and engagingly written. Here are some reasons why blog articles can still be a worthwhile investment:

• SEO benefits: Quality blog articles that target relevant keywords can help improve your website's visibility in search engines and attract more organic traffic.

• Expertise-building: By regularly publishing blog articles on topics in your area of expertise, you can position yourself as an expert and gain the trust of your readers.

• Lead generation: Well-written blog articles can attract potential customers and make them want to learn more about your products or services. This can lead to qualified leads.

• Brand awareness: By providing relevant and informative content, you can increase brand awareness and reach your target audience.

• Long-term impact: Unlike social media posts or paid advertising, blog articles can generate long-term traffic as they can continue to be found online even after they have been published.

Of course, it's important to understand the needs of your target audience and ensure that your blog articles offer them added value. If you create relevant, interesting and well-optimized content, blog articles can still be a worthwhile investment today."

That should have answered the question, at least through Chat GPT, of whether it's still worth writing a blog in 2024.

What other reasons are there for having a blog? 

Yes, Chat GPT seems like a miracle cure and you just want to believe everything that is spit out. In this case, the reasons listed are indeed correct and according to our assessment - and extensive research - we can find similar opinions. Whether they were all generated by Chat GPT - we'll never know 😀

But there are still people out there who type diligently themselves (like us) and think about what makes sense for readers they want to entertain and inspire.

A few reasons why a blog will still be worthwhile in content marketing in 2024: 

• Your communication skills can go through the roof with it. In other words, your writing voice and style will naturally improve the more you write. So if a blog is also a bit of practice, you can adapt the style to your target group better and better by measuring which articles are read and how often. 

• You can position yourself as an expert. Yes, that's obvious, because you can present your own use cases and also report on your work. That alone shows your expertise and whether you know what you're writing about. 

• Recycling is not only good for the environment, but also for content marketing. If you regularly write blog articles, you create a good basis for your own content marketing to reuse them or to critically scrutinize them after a while. 

• People buy from people - and that's exactly what you can use a blog for. Write in a nice, appealing way and use the power of entertainment to create a good feeling when reading or "that warm gut feeling", the sympathy factor or whatever you want to call it.

So we definitely believe that blogs will still be worthwhile in 2024 and even in 2025. Of course, you shouldn't put yourself under pressure. Nobody has to deliver content in the form of well-researched articles several times a week. We are happy to leave this job to journalists. Publishing a new article every two weeks is also a good way to keep your target group happy. 
⁠Take a look at "The world in your words" - a blog that also writes about why blogs are actually useful and, of course, still up to date. 

By the way: the most popular blogs are from the "food, lifestyle, travel and arts and crafts" niches.

Summary 

There may be some people, who share the opinion, that blogs are no longer up to date in 2024 and that it would be much more effective to concentrate on your TikTok account. We share the opinion so far, that it is always better to have one account that you put your resources in, than having 10 and not taking care of them. 

However, blogs are still a thing - maybe we will have a future with a great mix of blogging and videos via TikTok. Maybe we will have a time that you can consume the summary via TikTok and you get a link to read more on the blog on a website. GenZ could be in to ist and there would also be content in search engines. 
⁠If blogs are still a thing is a question you can’t answer once and for all. For now we can say: Yes, it can be worth it to have a blog. What will happen in the next few years - we will see.  

Looking to pass a little time, until we know what will happen? Amazing, you can read some of our F7 articles.