Is Blogging Worth It or is Blogging a Waste of Time?

If you’re searching “is blogging worth it?” you’re asking the right question. But you might not like the honest answer.

For most business owners, blogging is a complete waste of time. They publish post after post, month after month, and have nothing to show for it except 20 visitors and a growing sense that maybe blogging is a waste of time after all.

But here’s what’s frustrating: other businesses in similar industries are generating hundreds of leads and thousands in revenue from their blogs.

The difference isn’t luck or some secret SEO magic. It’s strategy.

More specifically, it’s understanding that there are two completely different games you can play with blogging. Most people mix them up, which is why their blogs fail.

The Two Types of Blogging (And Why Most Advice Gets This Wrong)

Let me be clear about something: there are two entirely different approaches to blogging, and the strategies for each are completely different.

Traffic Blogging: The goal is to get as many pageviews as possible to maximize ad revenue, broad affiliate commissions, and sponsored post opportunities. Think lifestyle blogs, entertainment sites, viral content.

Audience Blogging: The goal is to attract your ideal customers and guide them toward your products or services.

Both approaches work. I run both types – my lifestyle blog is pure traffic and ad revenue. But the strategies are totally different.

The problem? Most blogging advice mixes these approaches together, which is a disaster.

If you’re a business owner who wants to use blogging to find customers, you need to ignore 90% of the blogging advice out there. It’s written for traffic bloggers, not audience builders.

What Makes a Blog Successful for Business?

You already know that blogging for ad revenue is not what you need for your business. You want to use your blog as a marketing tool to attract customers, build trust, and establish authority in your industry.

Yes, you can still include affiliate marketing and sponsored posts when they make sense for your audience, but the primary goal is building an audience of people who want your types of digital products or services.

When you follow this approach, you create an audience of True Fans (we call them your Hero). They love your posts, they want your opt-in and they sign up for your mailing list. When you launch your next offer, they’ll want to buy it.

Why Most “Audience Building” Blogs Fail

Here’s what I see business owners doing wrong:

They use traffic blogging strategies for audience building goals.

They write random posts hoping something will go viral. They chase trending topics that have nothing to do with their business. They focus on “engagement” instead of solving problems.

Then they wonder why their blog isn’t bringing in customers.

Spoiler Alert: They have no strategic content planning. We’ll get to that later when we talk about content clusters.

By nature, business owners are stubborn. I don’t know if it’s in their DNA or something but they just are.

I should know because I was a stubborn blogger for the longest time.

I used to be the blogger who would look at the success of other bloggers and start drooling. Then I would get pissed because I knew these bloggers weren’t smarter than me so there was no reason why they should be making more money than me.

What were they doing right that I wasn’t?

I read all of their content and it was good but it wasn’t anything that I didn’t know so what set them apart?

They catered to the problems their audience is experiencing and they gave them solutions.

You might be thinking that every blogger caters to their audience but they really don’t. Here’s what they get wrong:

1. They find a random list of sort of related keywords to write blog posts about. If you aren’t thinking about the person searching for that keyword and WHY they are typing it into google, you might be pulling a mish mosh audience that may or may not be who YOU are looking for.
2. The write one post that covers one topic and hope it works. Google doesn’t care too much about your individual blog post. Google cares about whether your site demonstrates depth and knowledge on specific topics. One random post can’t do that.

It’s About Them (Your Audience)

Writing blog posts that pull in YOUR audience means understanding not just what they are looking for, but why they are looking for it.

Keyword research is really important. It’s the most difficult part of blogging and most people don’t attack it the right way.

There are a million tools that can get you a list of keywords that are related to your business, but what those tools DON’T do is understand what the intention of the person searching for that keyword phrase is.

Examples of Understanding Keyword Intention

I’m going to give you a couple of examples so that this is easier to understand.

Let’s start with this very blog post you’re reading right now. The keyword for this post is “is blogging worth it”. This is a really important keyword for Makers Mob because we offer a blogging service for online business owners.

When we think about the intention of the person searching “is blogging worth it” we can assume a few things about that person:

1. They have some reason to want to attract an audience. That is the purpose of writing a blog. Ideally, for us, that person is someone who has a digital product or service to offer.
2. They are considering blogging but they want to be sure that blogging is worth their time and effort.

If you’ve made it this far into the post you already know that this post is written for that person. Not for the person looking for traffic and ad revenue. That’s what makes “is blogging worth it” a powerful keyword for us.

Now let’s contrast that with another keyword, “best niches for blogging”. This is NOT a great keyword for us at Makers Mob.

Remember, we have a blogging service for online business owners who want to use blogging as a way to build an audience of people who will be interested in their offers.

That person is NOT looking to find out about blogging niches. They already know their niche.

See how easily blogging can become a waste of time when you focus on the wrong keywords? Even keywords that are relevant to your topic can be problematic.

Here’s another example from one of our past clients. We wrote 46 blog posts for her.

The two best performing posts are:

• grocery-budget-family-of-four
• finding-time-for-hobbies

Those two things don’t seem related and you might wonder why they would even be on the same blog.

But, this client sells freezer meal planning guides to really busy moms.

The grocery budget now seems obvious for this audience. Moms who search that phrase or something similar want to save money or stick to a budget on groceries.

They’ll get the answer to their question with the blog post, but they will see the benefit in freezer meal planning when it comes to budgeting for groceries (because our client makes that clear on her sales pages).

Finding time for hobbies might still seem out of place, but, when we think about the person searching that, you’ll see it fits right in.

This person is clearly looking for ways to save time. Their hobbies are important to them, but between work, family, the kids, etc… they just don’t have the time. Freezer meal planning is a way to free up time every day for doing something you love, like your hobby.

While these two problems are seemingly unrelated and I doubt you would find them together if you’re doing keyword research, they are both going to bring in an audience that is potentially interested in freezer meal planning.

The Real Formula for Customer-Generating Blogs

After developing and testing this approach on multiple sites, here’s what actually works:

Build content clusters around problems your people actually have + Make Google notice through basic SEO that actually works + Drive SOME traffic from other sources (like your email list or social media) to your site = A blog that builds the audience you’re looking for

Let me break that down:

Content Clusters, Not Random Posts

Instead of writing one post about “marketing tips” and another about “social media strategy,” you create a cluster of 8-10 related posts that all work together:

• marketing plan for small businesses
• Marketing budget templates for startups
• Common marketing mistakes
• Marketing automation tools
• Best marketing channels for B2B companies
• Marketing metrics
• How to measure marketing ROI
• Marketing strategies for service businesses
• Content marketing for professional services
• best social media platform for small business

All published together. All linking to each other. All demonstrating that you know what you’re talking about when it comes to marketing.

Google sees this as topical authority. Your readers see this as helpful, comprehensive information.

This approach is completely different from the old method of writing one post per week and hoping something sticks.

With clusters, you’re building a comprehensive resource around specific problems your customers face.

It’s what Google wants and it’s what your audience wants, too.

Strategic SEO That Business Owners Can Actually Do

You don’t need to become an SEO wizard. You need to understand basics:

• Look for keywords that represent the problems your audience faces
• Structure content so Google understands what it’s about
• Connect related content together
• Basic WordPress SEO

With AI tools, you can create properly optimized content clusters in days instead of months. The AI handles the initial writing and basic optimization, while you focus on ensuring the content actually helps your audience.

What Makes This Approach Different

1. Authority Building Through Topic Depth

When you publish 10 related posts about project management challenges, Google starts seeing you as a project management authority. When someone searches for “project management software for small teams,” your content has a much better chance of showing up.

This is fundamentally different from hoping your individual blog posts rank. You’re building topical authority that Google recognizes and rewards.

2. A Focus on Search Intent

People who find your content through Google are actively looking for solutions. They’re not mindlessly scrolling – they have a problem they need solved.

That’s why search traffic converts better than social media traffic. Someone searching “how to write blog post titles” is much more likely to become a customer for your blogging service than someone who saw your post in their Instagram feed.

3. Builds Trust Before the Sale

When someone reads 3-4 helpful blog posts before they ever see your offers, they already trust you. They’re not comparing you to 5 other people – they’re ready to work with you.

This pre-qualification process is why successful blogging leads to higher conversion rates and fewer objections.

Here’s an example from one of our blog posts:

Someone landing on our “best-blogs” post, found an answer to what they were looking for and in addition to that, clicked on one of our offers and bought it.

That’s the power of blogging the right way for online businesses. It gets you the right people at the right time for THEM.

The Business Benefits You Actually Care About

Pre-Qualified Prospects

When someone finds your “How to choose the best email marketing platform” post and then contacts you about your digital marketing services, they’re already interested. No cold pitching required.

These prospects have higher conversion rates because they’ve already consumed your content and trust your approach.

Compound Growth Over Time

Social media posts disappear. Blog posts work for years.

That post you publish today can bring in leads every month for the next 3 years with zero additional effort.

Building a Valuable Business Asset

Unlike paid advertising or social media, your blog becomes a business asset that increases in value over time.

Each piece of content builds on the others, creating a comprehensive resource that competitors can’t easily replicate.

A Case Study

It’s easy to say that blogging is worth it, but how about some data to back that up?

Let’s start with the blogging client I mentioned earlier who sells freezer meal planning guides. Four months after we published her content, we went back to check on things.

The Data

• # of posts before we started: 124
• First new posts published: 2/2/2024
• Total new posts published: 46
• Total Clicks to the new posts we created as of 7/31/24 (4 months later): 503

Organic Search Results Before

This is our Freezer Meal Planning clients Google Search Console for the 4 month period before we published her posts (12/1/23 – 3/31/24).

Over 84k impressions a month on average on their content in search results and about 1.3k clicks on average monthly. 

4 Months Later

Here is their Google Search Console for the first 4 months after we published those posts (4/1/24 – 7/31/24).

More impressions. More clicks. Better Clickthrough Rate (CTR). Better Average Position.

After just four months they’d improved to about 99k impressions on average a month (about +15k impressions per month) and about 1.6k clicks a month with 503 of those clicks going to the brand new content.

(Almost) One Year Later

As of the beginning of June 2025, those posts have brought in a total additional 4,113 clicks.

And overall, the sites organic presence continues to improve.

Here’s what the most recent 4 month span looks like: (2/2025 – 5/2025)

That’s an average of 2.2k clicks a month (an increase of ~900 clicks a month compared to a year ago). Impressions are up to an average of 130k a month (compared to 84k before). Click through rate is the same and average position is improved.

And because we strategically chose keywords that would bring in an audience that would be interested in her offer, we know that in this case, yes, blogging IS worth it.

Common Objections (And Why They’re Wrong)

Still not sure about blogging for your business? Here are some things you might be thinking.

“My Customers Don’t Read Blogs”

They may not read “blogs” but they definitely search Google for solutions to their problems.

When they search “how to automate client onboarding” and find your helpful article, they don’t care if it’s called a “blog post”.

“It Takes Too Long”

Writing one post per week for years? Yes, that takes forever.

Creating strategic content clusters with AI assistance? You can publish 10-15 optimized posts in a few days.

The old approach was time-consuming because it was inefficient. The cluster approach frontloads the work but delivers faster results.

“I Don’t Know What to Write About”

You know what problems your customers have. You solve them every day. Those problems are your content topics.

Start with the questions you get asked most frequently. What do prospects want to know before they buy? What mistakes do you see customers making? What tools or strategies do you recommend?

“There’s Too Much Competition”

Competition means there’s demand. If no one else is writing about your topic, that might mean no one cares about it.

The goal isn’t to avoid competition – it’s to provide better, more helpful content than your competitors.

“Won’t AI Replace This?”

AI makes content creation easier, but it can’t replace your specific knowledge and experience. We use AI as a content writer and use our own brains for the editing and enhancements.

The cluster approach we use leverages AI for efficiency while ensuring your knowledge and voice come through in the final content. (whether it’s for ourselves or our clients!)

Reality Check: Timeline & Expectations

Let’s be honest about what success looks like.

If you already have a site that has even just *some* traffic, you’ll see faster results. If you’re sending people to pages or posts on your website from social media or your email list, you’re ahead of the game.

You can expect to see impressions and even your first clicks within weeks, not months.

If you are starting from scratch, no traffic whatsoever, you’re going to want to START sending people to your site and get those blog posts up and written as soon as possible.

Because in that case it’s like the old “When is the best time to plant a tree” thing. The best time would have been years ago, but the next best time is right now.

And if you implement a strategy with clusters and you start sending people from social media or your email list to your site, you’ll have a shorter timeline.

But be cautioned, if you start writing posts and you DON’T start sending people to your site to show Google you have some traffic, you will definitely have a long timeline.

This isn’t an overnight strategy. But compare it to the alternatives:

• Paid ads: Pay for every click forever, with no lasting asset built
• Social media: Create content daily, algorithm owns your audience, posts disappear quickly
• Networking: Limited by your time and desire to network
• Cold outreach: Declining response rates, increasing spam filters

Blogging is the only marketing channel that gets more valuable over time instead of more expensive.

Implementation: Getting Started the Right Way

Step 1: Identify Your Content Clusters

Look at your business and identify 3-5 main problem areas your customers face. Each becomes a content cluster.

For example, if you’re a weight loss coach who helps busy moms, your clusters might be:

• Meal planning and prep for busy families
• Quick workouts for moms with no time
• Mindset and motivation strategies
• Nutrition basics for sustainable weight loss
• Managing stress eating and emotional triggers

Step 2: Plan Your First Cluster

Start with the problem area you get asked about most. Create 8-10 related post topics that cover different aspects of that problem.

Step 3: Create and Optimize

Use AI to help with the writing, but ensure each post reflects your knowledge and approach. Optimize for basic SEO and internal linking.

Step 4: Publish

Publish the entire cluster at once. You can promote the posts strategically either on social media or to your email list to help give Google more signals that this is content people want.

Step 5: Monitor and Improve

Watch Google Search Console for early traction signals, then optimize the most promising posts for better rankings.

So, Is Blogging Worth It?

If you want to build pageviews for ad revenue, there are other strategies that might work better than what I’m talking about here.

But if you want to attract customers for your business? Absolutely worth it.

Here’s what you need to understand: this isn’t about hoping your blog posts go viral. This isn’t about building a massive audience of random people.

This is about consistently showing up in search results when your ideal customers are looking for solutions. It’s about building trust before someone ever talks to you. It’s about creating an asset that works for your business 24/7.

In today’s online world the majority of traffic comes from:

1. Social media
2. Search engines

The problem with social media is that it is temporary. For example, if something blows up on Instagram it will only be big for a couple of days at best.

Then you have to feed the beast again.

You also can’t dive too deep into a topic so that means social media is great for the people at the surface. But what happens when your audience needs a more thoughtful answer like this blog post?

Do you post on TikTok and hope that it’s good enough for them or do you write a well-thought-out blog post and know that it can serve people for years to come?

The question isn’t whether blogging takes time and effort – it does. Yes, even if you are using AI.

The question is: will you invest that time strategically to build an asset that works for your business for years to come, or will you keep chasting traffic that disappears the moment you stop creating?

For business owners who understand the long game, blogging isn’t just worth it – it’s essential.