Image source: Blogging is a brilliant business if you want to make it one. Many people blog in order to make a living, but they must have the passion and sincerity that comes with the package.
In addition to this, a blogger also has to remain on the alert for shifting tides and changing blogging trends that could propel their blog to the heights of success.
If utilized and understood properly, these blogging trends could be the making of your blog. If ignored, they could become its downfall.
Hence, if you want to see your blog among the top rankings on Google’s search result, look forward into the future.
The blogging trends that can make your blog stand out from others just may be included below:
1. Daily Posts Are Not the Answer
There was once a time when blogs simply wanted content every single day of the week, month, and year. They would post several shorts blogs at a time, and gain a lot of popularity for their bite-sized, fun pieces.
While this sort of format may still work for sites like Cracked.com, it’s simply not the case for internet or company bloggers anymore.
Hubspot has recently conducted a survey which showed that posting once every two days was more than enough to gain a lot of traffic. Of course, this is assuming that the content is high-quality and in demand.
For instance, you may spend hours working on a piece about an obscure American sitcom. However, this doesn’t mean that it will get much attention, except from a very small niche of Internet users.
2. Content Needs Time
This brings us to the subject of the content itself. The saying goes ‘content is king’, and this will be no different in the coming year.
The rule of thumb for bloggers is fast becoming to post a bit less than daily, but post high-quality when you do.
If the main medium of your blog is writing, remember that this is a craft. If you are hiring content writers, offer a handsome salary in order to guarantee good work.
We mention money here because while writers may be found at very low rates, the quality of their work will most likely reflect those rates.
Even a brilliant writer will not give any kind of content his best effort if he is not being paid well for it. He might instead devote more of his time and effort to higher-paying work, especially if he is a freelancer.
The same can be said for video, audio, and picture content. There needs to be a good amount of time and effort involved in the making, preparation, and editing of any form of content.
In this way, there will be fewer mistakes which can serve to put readers off your blog. The more professional your work seems, the more readerships you retain.
Show a hint of sloppiness, and you’re going to lose a lot of influence in a matter of seconds.
3. The Length Factor
As surprising as it may seem, the era of short and sweet blog posts is also on its way out. This doesn’t mean that we should start typing out huge pages of unbroken text, however.
What it does mean is that we have to be more detailed in what we write. We cannot be vague or confusing; otherwise, our readers have a lot of other options when online.
Long-form content usually consists of around two to three thousand words. Orbit Media’s survey and Neil Patel’s observation both show that the most successful blog posts are around this length.
This may dismay some bloggers, but you can always recycle content if you’re not up to writing huge posts from scratch.
For instance, if you have written four or five blogs on education over the past year, paste them all together. Now give each post a separate heading, and streamline each section to flow into the other.
This way, you can create a long and detailed post that will be easy to read and retain as well.
4. Go for Video
When it comes to blogging trends in 2018, video is never too far from the subject. Simply put; many people are just not that into reading anymore.
Video is the kind of content that is more than a thousand times more likely to get shares and engagement on social media.
We’re not exaggerating here; studies have shown that video content is more shared, liked, and commented on by around 1200% than text or even pictures.
As we all know, social media can take a blogger all the way to the top. When your viewers share your content, you basically get free advertising.
Moreover, the message in a video is more retained by modern Internet users than if the same things were said in black and white. If you’re on YouTube, you have access to the 1.5 million people that log in monthly.
Like it or not, this medium is here to say, at least until something better comes along. For this, we may have to wait until holograms become mainstream!
5. Blogging Trends 2018: Live Streaming
Live streaming is also a form of video, but it definitely deserves a spot all its own. This is because regular videos are edited, have several takes, and can generally be tweaked to whatever the blogger wants it to be.
However, live streaming (especially on social media), is a way for your viewership to see you in raw form. It is very hard, almost impossible, to fool anyone when filming a live video.
Hence, if you endorse a blog on a live stream video, viewers will be much more likely to believe you and be influenced by your endorsement.
This is especially true of things like makeup, kitchen aids, and many other such practical products.
Plus, live stream videos and social media stories are two forms of ephemeral content. This means that they won’t always be around for viewing.
For the most part, live stream videos are available for around 24 hours after they are recorded – and no more then that. Hence, viewers have to rush and watch the videos before time runs out.
This creates a now-or-never mode, where viewing the video becomes something special and not to be missed. The live feature also means that you can hold giveaways, contests, and hold Q&A sessions without much effort.
Hence, you could become much more of an Influencer in 2018 if you make proper use of this blogging trend.
Wrap-Up…
A blogger may not be comfortable with all these blogging trends. This is understandable, as everyone has their own personality and their own preferred way of making and marketing content.
At the same time, however, bloggers need to update themselves in order to stay relevant. For instance, you may be too shy to do videos, but your audience wants to see you!
You can compromise by doing a live session every now and then. Or get a host to convey your content through the spoken word.
Of course, the applicable trends will only be most beneficial if the blog itself is relevant to these blogging trends.
For example, you might have a company blog that doesn’t require more than a couple of updates a month; nor does it need to have long posts on technical matters.
Ideally, you should look at the blog you want to promote and come up with the best way to utilize the upcoming blogging trends accordingly.
Author Bio
Teresia Clark is a passionate Blogger, and an Educator. As an Educator, she also provides assignment help for students who want to complete their academic papers. She is an amateur golfer who spends her holidays playing the sport.
