Where Tech is Pointing the Future of Blogging
Blogs have come a long way since their earliest days, when they were more or less people's personal diaries, put online for the world to see. These days, bloggers can be as famous as traditional celebrities and are likely to have launched their own lifestyle brands and products. Businesses have gotten in on the blogging game, and many companies write their own blogs or hire someone else to do so.
Ever changing technology has played a part in the evolution of blogs as well. Take a look at where new technological developments are directing the future of blogging.
More Mobile
More people browse the web and read blogs using a mobile device than a traditional laptop or desktop nowadays. In response to the rise of mobile, Google has shifted the way its search algorithm works.
The search engine giant will now look at how mobile responsive your blog pages are when deciding how to rank that site. That means that blogs that are mobile optimized are going to rank higher in the results than those that don't have a mobile site.
A technology known as accelerated mobile pages (AMP) is also helping out blogs. Pages load superfast with AMP, making the experience of reading a blog on a mobile device much more enjoyable.
More Quality
High quality blogs will always rank higher in search results compared to those that are keyword stuffed and full of spammy links. Google's most recent algorithm update, Penguin 4.0, has further increased the focus on quality over quantity. Penguin now works in real time and looks at the parts of the website, rather than the whole, when determining rankings.
More Monetization
Bloggers have been monetizing their blogs for well over a decade, since the rise of ad networks and affiliate programs. But today's bloggers can go one step further and produce, promote and sell their own products on their sites.
As digital agencies create e-commerce platforms designed specifically for use on blogs, it's likely that more and more bloggers will hop on the merchandise bandwagon. Whether their products will be worth buying remains to be seen.
Since the blogging landscape changes so frequently, it's important that established bloggers and those who want to get into blogging keep up with changing tech. A blog needs readers, and the best way to get readers is to make sure it is as accessible as possible.
