That is what I keep hearing about blogs. People keep saying that blogs are dead. That the blog era is far behind us and that now, everything is about social media and YouTube, and that Podcast might be the only format to do a comeback.

But the problem is: maybe you want to share your passion and your knowledge, and maybe you’re not really a video person. Maybe you feel unnatural in front of a camera. Maybe the content that you are planning on making cannot really be shared on regular social media sites such as Instagram or Twitter (are people still using Facebook anyway?). Or maybe you are just an awesome writer and so, writing your own blog would be the format that makes the most sense?

So naturally, you started doing research on blogs: what’s the best blogging platform? How to set up Wordpress? How to buy a domain? Is Squarespace worth it? Is Wix better than Squarespace? Is Wordpress free? might be some Google queries that you have actually searched for in the past. And you are finding answers to your questions. But most articles answering these questions are old. They have been published years ago, when blogging was still highly popular and when blogging was still an attractive activity to internet users.

At that point, you are starting to wonder if writing your own blog is the best strategy or not. So you are wondering where your trafic will come from, you are wondering if you should hire an SEO expert or not to make sure your blog ranks highly on Google, you are wondering if doing YouTube videos is a better idea or not… Lots of new complex questions are coming to your mind and being let without an answer nor recent ressources, you are not getting into action and you are not starting your blog. So let’s ask ourself the actual relevant question:

Should you start your own Blog?

Are blogs still relevant in 2019? Do people even read in 2019? Do people even write in 2019?

Those are relevant questions that are worth being asked.

Are you reading as many blogs as you used to? Are you reading blogs at all? Are you consuming any form on reading on the Internet at all?

I am sure that you are not consuming as much blog content as you used to. Because yes, it is true: blogs are less popular than they used to be. Bounce rates are higher and usually, people will be more likely to consume a YouTube video than a 1500 words blog post. But why is that?

Blogs are hard to consume

RSS feeds are dead. Seriously.

It is hard to find a way to keep track of all the blogs that you want to follow. RSS feeds are getting less and less popular, its ergonomics are quite terrible and overall, blogs are getting harder and harder to follow.

Moreover, reading ergonomics really depends on the blog that you’re visiting. While some bloggers really focus on the readability of their articles (by choosing a simple font, by differentiating titles from the rest of the content, by adding images and so on), some others do not.

Overall, we can say that the blog readability experience really varies from one blog to the other.

Is Medium the answer?

Medium is great for so many reasons.

If you are reading this article on Medium right now, there is no need for me to convince you.

But Medium makes reading great for two reasons:

• The content is easily readable: there is no ad, the layout is clear and calming, and fonts are pretty
• The content is all in one place: there is no more need to mess with outdated RSS feeds and other kind of software to keep track of what you need to consume or not. Medium works like a modern platform, like YouTube or any other social media website where you can subscribe to your favourite authors, where you can ‘clap’ when you like an article, and where you can bookmark your favourite content.

Medium is a great all in one place which also supports writers.

So why should you bother creating your own blog?

Because blogging is not only about writing. It is also about creating a community around your content. It is about growing a mailing list. It is about designing your own space. And Medium does not allow any of that.

Medium focuses on the content.

Medium provides the best reading experience online. But Medium will not help you create your own space online. It will not help you grow your mailing list.

Why not do both?

Doing both is, I think, the best thing to do.

You can create your own blog (and do not overthink it, a simple Wordpress with a cool template will do), customise it, ask people to join your list, even see your own products and so on. And you can duplicate your content for Medium.

Lots of readers on Medium do not go on blogs. Writing on Medium can help you reach a new audience and can help you get discovered by people that gave up on blogs or that mostly consume content on Medium.

Medium is a great place for discoverability and for sharing your ideas and writings out there, while your own blog is your own place, you can display your brand and get some leads through a sign up form.

Platforms like Medium are helping the blogging world that was about to disappear a couple years ago when Video became king on the Internet. While blogs are not dead but clearly less popular than they used to be, the biggest challenge nowadays is to raise awareness about your blog, and writing on Medium can totally help with that.

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