is blogging dead in 2021

Is Blogging Dead in 2023 or Is it Profitable?

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You’re probably wondering, “Is blogging dead in 2021?”, “Is it too late to start a blog?”, or “Is it worth starting a blog in 2021?”.

Is Blogging Dead?

I’m going to keep this short and sweet. I’ve been blogging since January of 2018, and the first year was tough. I’ll admit I made my fair share of mistakes that first year (like joining random blogging Facebook share groups and applying to the wrong ad network). 

But 2020 was the best year for my blog, and I actually more than doubled my income from 2019! 

 

TL;DR

 

Yes, you can still make money blogging in 2021, and no…it is not over-saturated! Check out my video comparing revenue from YouTube vs blogging ad revenue in 2020.

Blog Ad Revenue 2020

My blog ad revenue was 4x the amount that I earned on YouTube. Here are the specifics:

Perfection Hangover 2020 Income Report Traffic

With 540,853 pageviews, I earned a total of $14,487.39 from Mediavine. My RPM averaged $33.11, which is significantly higher than when I first started the blog placed AdSense ads on the site.

Earlier I mentioned that I stayed with the wrong ad network for far too long when I first started blogging. But I didn’t jump straight into Mediavine from AdSense.

As you may know, Mediavine requires 50,000 sessions in order to apply to become a publisher with its network. Monumetric, however, only requires 10,000 pageviews. 

I reached 10,000 pageviews approximately 4 months prior to applying. I simply didn’t know anything about Monumetric! Now you know, and you should definitely check out Monumetric. It was my first big check from blogging.

Recommended Reading:

Should You Just Start a YouTube Channel Instead?

You might be considering starting a YouTube channel in 2021 instead. I think that if you can find the time, you should do both. 

I’m sure you already know that Google is the #1 search engine. But did you know that YouTube is the second largest search engine? It also happens to be owned by Google, so if you can learn how to leverage one, you can use the other to complement your content. 

Here’s how it looks:

  1. Write a blog post highly optimized with H2 headings and broken down into sub-sections (H3,H4,paragraphs).
  2. Create a YouTube video sharing or demonstrating the same topic on your YouTube channel.
  3. Embed the video simply by copying and pasting the link within your blog post.
  4. Link back to the blog post within your YouTube description.

 

 

How Much I Earned Blogging in 2020

Now you might be wondering, “How do blogs make money?“. There are a few ways bloggers can earn an income:

  1. Ad Revenue – self-explanatory
  2. Affiliate Marketing – sharing links to products and when readers click the link and buy a product, you receive a commission.
  3. Sponsored Posts – companies will pay for traffic and exposure to their products and services.
  4. Digital Products – I haven’t created and sold any digital products as of yet (this is where the 100k+ monthly bloggers earn most of their income).

My total income on this blog (with 40,000ish pageviews per month) totaled over $45,000. To be transparent, $3,730 of that $45k was ad revenue from YouTube. 

Blogging is not dead, and it is still a profitable way to either grow your brand or influence online and earn a decent income. 

If you’d like to learn how to start a blog check out my tutorial here. The best $100 I ever spent was for 3 years of hosting on Perfection Hangover. 

Ready to get started? Get 3 years of hosting for $2.95/month through my special link.

5 thoughts on “Is Blogging Dead in 2023 or Is it Profitable?”

  1. Hi Melissa,

    It was an amazing article! I get asked this question all the time, and several of my friends have asked me if blogging is still profitable, and I think your post addresses all the important conversion and answer the question in the best way possible. Thanks a lot for sharing this amazing article, it was a great read, and I will definitely be sharing this with others in my network. Looking forward to reading more of your amazing articles.

  2. Melissa,
    Thank you for posting this and being so transparent with what your blog makes! I just started my blog in February of this year and was hoping that blogging isn’t dead yet! Anyway, thanks again for the encouraging post. I really appreciate it!

  3. You are absolutely correct and thanks for giving information about thelogging. I loved your blog and thanks for publishing this!! I am really happy to come across this exceptionally well-written content. Thanks for sharing and look for more in the future!!

  4. Thanks for sharing your opinion on blogging in 2021, Melissa. I agree that blogging is not dead. I think the decision to go with YouTube or Blogging depends on your skillset and preferences. Congrats on your blogging success in 2020 and thanks for sharing your progress so transparently. Your RPM is impressive too. Keep it up!

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