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Is blogging worth it?
Is blogging worth it? The short answer is, it depends. If anyone says starting a blog is definitely worth it, they are really saying it was worth it for them.
When I first started my blog I read tons of articles about blogging, and whether or not it was worth it.
Everyone had a resounding “yes” to say, which makes sense considering all of those bloggers were already highly monetized.
Having a highly successful blog means you are no longer tied to the shackles of employment.
You can move about freely without the dreaded deadline of returning to “normal” life.
You can work from anywhere, travel, have interesting experiences and collaborations. You gain a following of devoted readers and never have to answer a boss.
The problem is less than 10 percent of bloggers ever end up making money with their blogs.
There are several reasons for this…..
1. There is no instant gratification with blogging
Starting a blog is an enormous investment of time, and from what I’ve read, most bloggers don’t see any payout for at least a year (usually two).
I started my blog a year ago, and at the time of writing this article have made no money.
I have spent about at least 20 hours a week on my blog, and often more.
Saying that starting a blog is a lot of hard work and dedication is an understatement. Writing a blog is so much more than just posting articles and hoping for something to happen.
Here are a few of the main areas of time spent on the blog…
Pinterest:
Pinterest involves making and posting pins regularly, as well as optimizing keywords to get views. This can get very tedious According to a lot of succesful bloggers, it take about 8 months to gain traction on pinterest if you do everything right.
SEO:
SEO is Learning how to optimize articles for the google search engine.
It involves doing keyword research to find keywords that are popular while still being able to rank given your current domain authority (this is a rank given by google based on several factors). New blogs start with no domain authority.
On page SEO involves writing posts using optimized keywords, using H2 and H3 headings, putting images and outbound links in the blog.
Google search console is used to index articles and monitor page views from searches. However, it is nearly impossible to gauge how well your post is optimized at first because it often takes awhile for google to start ranking new posts.
This can be very stressful for people who need to have an immediate gauge of their progress.
Maintaining a Website:
Maintaining a website involves creating back ups for your site, and making sure plugins are working and the site is moving smoothly. Random technical problems come up often when maintaining a site.
This is not so much of a problem for people with computer and software knowledge.
Legally Protecting your Blog:
If you don’t legal protect your blog you could lose everyhing you worked so hard to build. A blog legally needs a “terms and conditions”, “disclaimer”, and “privacy policy”. This is not always easy to do.
As I had not clue about designing a website in the beggining, I put off dealing with the legal aspect of my blog until I found this bundle of legal templates. It was easy to fill out the forms, but you do still need to know basic website design to put the pages in your footer.
Writing Articles:
Writing articles entails finding subjects that people are interested in reading about. It is important to write quality content as a new blogger. It is also necesary to learn the basics such as H1, H2,H3 heading. You must also use correct grammar and make sure the content is easy to read and understand.
This all take time!
2. There is an investment of Money
It is not completely free to run a blog. While, yes, it is much cheaper than a brick and mortar business, there are costs.
At the time of writing this article I make a full time living as a restaurant server, so even a small amount of money invested is significant.
Here is a Rundown of blogging Costs Accrued so far:
$500- Web developer (I am not computer savvy so I needed to hire a developer to set up my blog and take care of technical issues later on)
$200- Divi Theme (The theme I bought on etsy didn’t work with my site, and the originally theme I installed kept breaking down my website) Divi was a game changer for me because it allowed me to easily design my site with absolutely no technical or software knowledge.
While you can use a free theme at first, I highly recommend doing some research and getting a theme that is easy to navigate.
$200/year- Hosting/Domain: You do need to spend money on hosting and a domain to have your own website.
I use bluehost and have found it to be the most widely recommended service by bloggers. It includes a word press blog (the most popular blogging platform) and the customer service is amazing.
$300- Pinterest/SEO Courses: When you first start out you will most likely not rank on google right away. But I would recommend optimizing your posts in the beginning so that you have a chance of ranking later as your blog matures.
$12.00/month- Keysearch: I use keysearch because it isa lot less expensive to most seo service while offering a comparable service.
$300- Legal Pages: You absolutely must have legal page on your blog if you are running ads, doing affiliate marketting and/or collecting e-mails. I put off getting legal pages for a year because I didn’t even know what it meant (I really had no clue) and then decided to purchase the legal bundle from a self guru.
They were the most likely recommended legal pages from most of the bloggers Ifollowed. It literally took me minutes to put them on my site.
While you don’t need to put them on your page immediately, I recommend doing it as soon as you can, because after all blogging is a business, not just a hobby.
$197- Affiliate Marketting Course: Affiliate marketting is one of the key ways to make money blogging. Without learning affiliate marketting you are leaving money on the table. I consider this one of the necesary costs of blogging.
If you are just getting started blogging an unfamiliar with affiliate marketting you download a free e-book here.
This is a relatively small amount of money compared to most businesses. However, it is important to know that there are costs to starting and running a blog.
What this means is that you will be working and spending money at the same time.
3. No one will Read your Blog at First
Unless you already have a following, it usually takes a really long time before anyone besides your close friends and family actually read your blog. This makes it even harder to keep going.
4. Overwhelment/Frustration
There are many components to writing a blog. I am not a computer person, so it took me a lot of time to just learn the basics of setting up a blog and posting articles.
One night I spent 5 hours trying to embed a tag into my website.
For people with previous computer knowledge this is not so much as an issue, but many people starting blogs are starting from scratch.
It can also be hard to figure out what to write about. I realized very early on that it would be impossible for me to have a single niche.
I knew if I stuck to one subject I would get so bored that I would be forced to quit.
Some bloggers said it was perfectly okay to have a single niche. Some said it would just take longer to take money. Some said it would be nearly impossible.
Everyone is different. For some, it is very easy to stick to a single subject. I have been all over the map with my interests since I was born, and have long since given up trying to be any other way.
So is Starting a Blog actually Worth it?
If you are thinking about a blog and wondering if it is worth it, I think it is important to know how much work it entails.
I am a dedicated and an incredibly hard worker, and adept at learning new skills but I had no idea how much work starting a new blog entailed.
This is only my personal experience. Many people claim to have made money much quicker, and not every blog is the same.
There are, of course, some niches that grow quicker. There is also an element of luck. Of course, it is much easier to grow and monetize a second blog.
It is not my intention to discourage anyone from starting a blog, but to put into perspective how much work it can be to start a blog from scratch with no knowledge or experience in the field.
Blogging is Worth it for me
I personally still believe blogging is worth it for me in 2025. This is mainly because of the potential pay out. It has long been a dream of mine to be able to work anywhere while helping people to be happy and live more fulfilling lives.
Even if I never make a dime on my blog, at least I know I put in an honest effort and don’t have to wonder if I could have been successful at it.
If you have patience, hard work, and are determined to have more freedom in your life, then I think blogging is a path worth pursuing.
It is by no means the only path though. In 2024 there are many paths to financial freedom.
Blogging appeals to me because I love writing and it is a medium to impart wisdom to others. If I didn’t enjoy that aspect of it I would not have been able to come as far as I have.
There is a ton information to learn when you first start blogging, but fortunately you don’t have to learn everything at the same time.
I developed a simple method to avoid information overload when starting your blog.
It is a method I wished I had followed when I first started my own blog. You can download it here for free…
I hope you found this article helpful and happy blogging!
Feel free to e-mail me at aglassofCheri@gmail with any questions.
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