Each few years, a brand new channel takes heart stage — short-form video, podcasting, or AI-generated content material — and other people begin asking the identical query: “Are blogs useless?”
It is a honest query. In spite of everything, platforms evolve and viewers habits shift. However the concept blogs are irrelevant immediately? That’s a delusion I used to be keen to research.
To get a transparent reply, I turned to entrepreneurs throughout search engine optimization, content material, and digital technique to search out out whether or not running a blog continues to be definitely worth the funding. This is what they stated.
Desk of Contents
Are blogs useless?
In line with entrepreneurs, not even shut.
Blogs aren’t simply alive — they’re evolving. In line with HubSpot’s 2025 State of Running a blog report, half of entrepreneurs say they noticed higher ROI from running a blog in 2024 than the 12 months earlier than. And almost half plan to speculate much more in 2025.
However the way in which we weblog is altering quick. Over 90% of entrepreneurs now use AI instruments someplace of their workflow, and Google’s AI Overviews are already reshaping how — and if — weblog content material will get found.
The bar is larger than it’s ever been, however the payoff continues to be there for these keen to fulfill it.
That stated, “Are blogs useless?” is a query that refuses to go away. Each time a brand new platform will get sizzling — whether or not it’s TikTok, a podcast, or the newest AI development — somebody sounds the alarm for running a blog. It is sensible. Audiences shift, consideration spans shrink, and video continues to dominate. So yeah, I get the place the query comes from.
And simply to degree with you: Search curiosity within the phrase “weblog” has steadily declined over the previous 5 years. In line with Google Tendencies, the time period “weblog” has seen a constant drop in reputation.
And when put next facet by facet with “video,” the distinction is stark. Video content material has dominated consideration spans whereas blogs have quietly carried on within the background. So sure — asking whether or not blogs are useless is a good query.
However the fact is, blogs are nonetheless very a lot alive — and in the proper fingers, they’re making an actual impression.
In line with HubSpot’s newest State of Running a blog report, 65% of entrepreneurs work for firms that preserve blogs, and most publish content material a number of instances every week. Much more telling, 93% of entrepreneurs say running a blog is vital — or essential — to their technique.
And in the case of price range? Almost three-quarters of entrepreneurs put greater than 10% of their advertising spend into blogs. That form of funding speaks volumes.
The worldwide image backs it up, too. In line with Tech Enterprise Information, there at the moment are over 600 million blogs worldwide, contributing to greater than 7 million posts printed each day. That’s loads of phrases — and loads of alternative.
That scale isn’t simply spectacular — it’s efficient. If you need extra proof, Ross Simmonds, a B2B advertising professional and the founding father of the content material advertising company Basis, has spoken about how running a blog has helped his shoppers triple visitors and shut offers quicker — and primarily based on what I’ve seen, that tracks.
“At Basis, running a blog with intent has helped us generate tens of millions of {dollars} within the pipeline for each us and our shoppers,” says Simmonds. “It‘s additionally armed us with the flexibility to raise our model’s place out there and, most significantly, really assist others in our trade study and unlock new alternatives.”
Neil Patel, who’s broadly thought to be one of many world’s main digital entrepreneurs and whose weblog constantly ranks among the many most influential within the trade, places it merely:
“Proudly owning an internet site and rating on Google is among the greatest long-term advertising methods. Beginning a weblog is the best advertising technique in 2025.”
Nonetheless, running a blog immediately isn’t what it was 5 or ten years in the past. Lisa Dahmani, former director of worldwide content material at HubSpot and present CMO at UX Design Institute, says it is not sufficient to only have a weblog these days.
“It’s essential to constantly create content material that’s extra beneficial than your competitors’s content material. It’s essential to be an search engine optimization professional to get your articles rating on web page one among Google, and also you want a distribution technique to advertise your content material throughout all of the channels your viewers likes to eat content material on,” says Dahmani.
“It is much more advanced to win at running a blog now, however in case you can grasp it, it is definitely worth the funding.”
That time actually caught with me, as a result of it is one thing I hear echoed by different consultants, too.
Brian Dean, founding father of Backlinko, summed it up nicely. (He’s been referred to as an “search engine optimization genius” by Entrepreneur and a “good entrepreneur” by Inc. Journal. Forbes even listed Backlinko as a prime weblog to comply with.)
“All in all, immediately, search engine optimization is much less about optimizing your web site to assist Google and extra about being the perfect consequence that deserves to be #1,” says Dean.
That mindset applies to running a blog, too. Hitting publish and hoping for the perfect doesn’t lower it anymore. To get actual outcomes, it is advisable put money into high quality, distribution, and long-term technique.
And in a panorama the place AI-generated content material is all over the place, being the “greatest consequence” means creating one thing unique, useful, and price trusting. That’s what serps, and readers, are rewarding.
So positive — it takes extra work to face out. However in case you’re keen to place within the effort, the payoff is unquestionably nonetheless there, and price it.
And that brings us to the subsequent large query: Even when blogs aren’t useless, how do they stack up towards all the pieces else on the market?
Blogs vs. Different Advertising and marketing Channels
Now that different content material advertising channels — specifically, video and podcasting — have surpassed blogs, will blogs quickly change into redundant?
Nicely, all of it is dependent upon the person personas you are concentrating on. However at the same time as different platforms develop, blogs nonetheless provide many benefits.
“Podcasting shouldn’t be with out its personal set of limitations. There are many discoverability and viewers progress challenges. At this level, blogs have a fairly well-dusted playbook for scaling. That is not true for podcasts,” says Matthew Brown, senior lead producer of YouTube & Podcast at HubSpot.
“An organization can use its probably restricted assets to put money into a weblog that may mainly give constant, simply measurable, and dependable efficiency. Blogs even have a direct line to the corporate’s backside greenback, podcasts don’t.”
Nelson Chacon Guzman, a advertising fellow at HubSpot, highlights that there isn’t any cause to decide on between two platforms in case your group has the bandwidth to sort out each.
If it aligns together with your person personas, you possibly can have interaction your viewers from a number of angles.
“Making a weblog constructed of articles round the advantages of your product will likely be useful. Having a video showcasing its use or tips on how to set up it might be useful on your viewers,” says Chacon Guzman.
He continues, ” Dwelling Depot has achieved a incredible job of doing this. Whereas they inform and educate their clients on their merchandise, additionally they add a fast ‘how-to’ for the extra educated one who simply wants a brief reply defined in a video.”
As for social media, Annabelle Nyst, former senior content material supervisor at HubSpot and present principal social content material supervisor at G-P, says it is onerous to match it to blogs as every platform serves totally different functions.
“Social content material would not all the time have the shelf life or the discoverability of weblog posts,” says Nyst. “It is extra about constantly assembly your viewers the place they’re, in the proper moments, partaking with them one-on-one, and establishing belief by way of neighborhood constructing.”
She provides that social media will be a good way to amplify your weblog posts. And vice versa, weblog posts can function inspiration for social content material.
If utilizing each, Nyst recommends pulling probably the most compelling factors out of your weblog posts, creating social-first content material, and utilizing it to drive visitors again to your weblog.
With all that stated, blogs do not come with out their disadvantages. AJ Beltis, a principal content material advertising supervisor at HubSpot, mentions the excessive drop-off charges usually seen in weblog posts.
“Blogs lack the interactivity that many crave as a result of its nature as written content material,” says Beltis. “This challenges weblog writers to hook their readers in a number of brief sentences with out having the good thing about particular results or audio engineers accessible to their video and podcast creating counterparts.”
What it usually comes all the way down to is your model objectives and which channels will show you how to meet them. Podcasts, for instance, are higher for branding whereas blogs serve higher for top-of-the-funnel engagement.
“Weblog posts are an acquisition juggernaut. There is a clear path that any seasoned marketer can comply with. Podcasts, nonetheless, greatest function a model alternative,” says Brown.
“You would not measure a sequence of weblog posts on their model uplift capacity, similar to you would not measure a podcast present’s lead era. That’s except you want grey hairs and a severe lack of sleep.”
On the finish of the day, the perfect advertising channel is the one which helps your objectives, and I consider blogs nonetheless have loads of runway left.
Why Blogs Are Nonetheless Impactful
From an funding perspective, blogs could also be a greater long-term funding for lead era.
“I might spend $200K to rent a full-time author, search engine optimization professional, and conversion charge optimization (CRO) specialist to work on my weblog. By combining these ability units, I am going to have the ability to create a weblog that drives natural visitors to my web site and converts it into leads for my enterprise all 12 months lengthy,” says Dahmani.
She continues, “Or, I might put the identical $200K into an promoting marketing campaign and possibly get a few thousand leads over the course of the advert marketing campaign. However as soon as the marketing campaign ends, so does my lead move.”
Dahmani provides that almost all of HubSpot’s blog-generated leads come from older weblog posts. Which means that running a blog is usually a nice lead supply lengthy after posts are printed. Aja Frost, senior director of worldwide progress at HubSpot, echoes this sentiment.
“Natural visitors is extra vital than ever. In contrast to paid visitors, which stops coming within the second your price range runs out, natural visitors is generally self-sustaining after you have put within the effort and time to create a weblog submit,” she says.
She provides that almost all content material administration methods (CMS) have search engine optimization instruments built-in into their platforms, which makes it simpler to optimize your posts.
Running a blog will also be beneficial in shaping a model’s product positioning.
“Blogs are nonetheless top-of-the-line channels now we have to create narratives round our product,” says HubSpot Product Advertising and marketing Supervisor Alex Girard. “They provide us the chance to handle traits we see out there, how these traits impression the reader, and the way our product may have the ability to assist them meet that development efficiently. They’re additionally nice for telling buyer success tales.”
He provides that when utilizing your weblog to market your product, the content material would not need to be promotional. If you set up your self as a thought chief and achieve the belief of your viewers, they’ll organically look into your services and products.
With that stated, it is going to take greater than good content material to have a profitable weblog.
“Progress with out a aim is not going to assist your corporation – if 10,000 individuals are studying your weblog, however none of them suit your persona, that is not going to do something on your firm,” says HubSpot’s Director of Content material Advertising and marketing Karla Hesterberg.
“Give attention to one thing attainable, like producing new contacts, and ensure each submit you are placing out has that aim in thoughts.”
She provides that one of many greatest errors manufacturers make is creating content material just for folks on the decision-making stage.
With so many phases between studying a weblog and making a purchase order, entrepreneurs ought to have posts geared at customers in each stage with corresponding affords.
Study extra about that by means of HubSpot’s enterprise running a blog course.
From an search engine optimization perspective, manufacturers can also battle with producing visitors as a result of they’re pondering weblog first, hyperlink constructing second.
“What I usually discover is that entrepreneurs see ‘running a blog’ and ‘hyperlink constructing’ as two totally different disciplines. First, they write the weblog posts, then they give thought to tips on how to earn backlinks to them,” says Irina Nica, former senior product advertising supervisor at HubSpot and present senior product advertising supervisor at SurveyMonkey.
“As an alternative, they need to embody linkable belongings into their common content material calendar, alongside different kinds of articles which might be possibly designed for producing natural or social media visitors.”
Regardless of the numerous advantages we‘ve gone over, running a blog isn’t all the time the perfect technique for each model. Why? Nicely, what in case your very best person persona would not learn blogs? What if they like emails as a substitute?
“Some manufacturers have nice electronic mail communication and workflows the place they supply folks with downloadable affords the place they do not need to go someplace else to get the data, it is simply of their inbox right away,” says Sandra Mpouma, head of digital advertising at Centura (Previously RationalFX) and Xendpay.
“You do not essentially want a weblog so long as you are providing one thing in alternate. I feel the weblog has all the time been: provide one thing at no cost in alternate for that person interplay.”
So, in that case, blogs would not precisely be useless, extra so irrelevant.
Why Advertising and marketing Is not Lifeless
When you‘ve made it this far and also you’re nonetheless questioning whether or not advertising itself is useless — let’s clear that up, too. Regardless of what some headlines counsel, advertising isn’t going wherever.
In actual fact, it is extra influential than ever. And that applies to each conventional methods and digital initiatives.
The worldwide content material advertising trade is experiencing large progress. Just some years in the past, international content material advertising trade income was estimated at roughly $63 billion U.S. {dollars}. At the moment, it’s projected to extend to over $107 billion by 2026, in accordance with Statista.
“There is a cause why Nike and McDonald’s proceed to speculate tens of millions each month in advertising though they’re already family names. There is a cause why the highest musicians and artists nonetheless do promotion previous to their newest album launch,” says Simmonds.
“Advertising and marketing is not to be seen as simply an expense. It is an funding. And in case you make an funding that’s rooted in a strategic plan — that funding ought to return dividends for years (possibly a long time) to return.”
So no, advertising isn’t useless. It‘s simply evolving. And for manufacturers keen to fulfill the second with high quality content material, sensible distribution, and a transparent worth prop — it’s nonetheless one of the vital highly effective progress levers you may have.
Running a blog Is Far From Lifeless
Right here’s the underside line: Not each advertising tactic works for each model, however blogs aren’t going wherever.
They’re nonetheless one of the vital efficient methods to construct belief, drive visitors, and seize leads over time. They’ve advanced, sure. They’re more durable to win with, positive. However they’re removed from useless.
So for now, blogs, you possibly can step off the chopping block.
Editor’s observe: This text was initially printed in January 2022 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.
