Are Blogs still important today?

May 15, 2014: Once upon a time, most Internet marketing experts agreed that a blog — operating on its own domain — was an essential pillar in any well-constructed Web marketing strategy. Today, however, this view is increasingly being challenged in the agency and consultancy communities. Because of the emergence of popular social media/micro-blogging platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, it seems that a fair number of Internet marketing experts aren’t exactly bullish on the blog/domain strategy. Blogs, it seems aren’t fashionable anymore.

Case in point: a recent study of professional social media experts conducted by Didit. While 87 percent of these  influencers maintained blogs, only 34 percent produced up-to-date content for them (“up-to-date” content being defined as blog content less than 7 days old). A whopping 29 percent hosted content older than 7 days. And a full 20 percent had content on their blogs that wasn’t dated at all, making it impossible to say whether this content was fresh or years old.

It’s natural that these social media influencers — who are hyperactive on social media (and the conference circuit) might downplay their blogs in favor of an active presence on social media platforms. What’s dangerous, however, is the idea that a social media presence — even the most robust kind of presence — can substitute for a blog presence. It might for these influencers, but for most businesses, it won’t; here’s why.

1. Link  juice. Domains and pages accumulate Page Rank. Social media URLs do not, and even if they did, why should you be sending your hard-earned Page Rank to a company other than your own?

2. Control of Reach. Many brands were caught flat-footed when Facebook arbitrarily decided that it was going to force brands to pay for reach that had once been thought to have been “earned.” This can’t happen when you control your own blog/domain.

3. Branding. Social media platforms force you to adopt the unique look and feel of your brand into the format that best serves them, not you. There’s no digital straight-jacket on your blog/domain: you have much more freedom there to tell your brand story.

4. Transparency. The analytics provided by social media platforms give you the data that they think you want, not the data you might actually need to grow your business online. For full transparency, you need a full-featured Web analytics package.

5. Social platforms come and go, whereas domains and blogs go on and on. One cursory glance at the history of social media platforms will show you that these platforms ebb and flow with the winds. Remember Myspace? Friendster? Geocities? TheGlobe? Nobody else does either.

Make no mistake: social media and micro-blogging has its place in the Web marketing mix. Social media gives you a great way to acquire customers, participate in relevant business conversations, amplify your voice, and extend the reach of your online publishing efforts.  You should have an active presence on Twitter, Facebook, and the other platforms, if for no other reason than your competition is likely there. But don’t make the mistake of building your Web marketing castle on somebody else’s land (there’s actually a term for this; it’s called “digital sharecropping”).

Social networks will come and go, and there will always be another “shiny object” to hypnotize the technorati. But don’t listen to their siren call — instead, take control of your online publishing destiny and build a home for your content that’s strong, enduring, and firmly under your control.