Blog vs Vlog in 2024: What You Should Start (Blogging or Vlogging) for Better Results?

Blogging or vlogging: which is worth your time and why?

If you’re just getting started online to make money or build a brand, picking the RIGHT platform is the key.

Both blogging and vlogging have their own merits and demerits. Also, both of them can help you make profits online.

So if you’re confused about which one to pick among blogging vs vlogging, this detailed post is just for you.

In this detailed guide, you’ll learn;

  • Pros and cons of blogging and vlogging
  • Blog vs Vlog statistics and so on
  • How to create your own blog from scratch
  • How to make your own vlog
  • How to make money from blogging
  • How to make money from YouTube vlogging

So are you ready to find out the details? Let’s get started!

Blog vs Vlog: Which One is a Better Choice in 2024?

Blog vs Vlog in 2024

Blogging: Everything to Know As A Beginner

So what is a blog?

A blog (also known as “weblog”) is an online journal or informational website which contains blog posts and pages where people share their views on various topics.

Blogs are usually run by an individual or a small team of people to build a brand, grow traffic, and sales online. Some blogs are also created just for fun where people share their thoughts on random stuff.

In the year 1999, the most popular blogging platform Blogger was launched which was later acquired by Google in 2003. The same year i.e 2003, WordPress was also launched and now it’s the #1 CMS (Content Management System) in the world.

Blogging Statistics

Here are some of the interesting statistics about blogging that have been taken from various trusted sources online such as HubSpot, Statista, WordPress etc.

  • WordPress is the #1 CMS in the world and 36% of the web is built on WordPress.
  • Websites that also have a blog are shown to have 434% more indexed pages mostly due to the blog posts.
  • Companies who blog get 97% more links to their websites.
  • 77% of Internet users regularly read blog posts.

Pros And Cons of Blogging

blogging pros and cons

Pros:

  • If you’re on a self-hosted platform like WordPress, you will have 100% control over your blog (and no one can take your blog or its content from you!)
  • You can attract high-quality visitors from search engines if you’re targeting the right keywords
  • You can literally sell almost anything from a blog or website
  • Having your own blog with a custom domain looks professional (and you can use your website in business cards, email and everywhere)
  • You can create a blog in any niche or topic under the sun (unlike vlogging where you’ll have to create on specific topics to be successful)
  • Plenty of ways to make money from blogging (from affiliate marketing to offering blog services to selling your own products)
  • A blog can help you establish yourself as an authority in your industry

Cons:

  • It takes a lot of time to get traffic to a new blog (especially from search engines)
  • You need to invest both time and money on various things like content, hosting, SEO etc to build a money-making blog in the long run

How to Create A Professional Blog from Scratch?

Quick note: If you don’t have any budget or looking to test the waters, you can also use free blogging platforms such as Blogger, Typepad etc to create a blog for free.

If you’re planning to launch a new blog, we highly recommend you WordPress.org platform as it allows you to create a self-hosted WordPress blog where you’ll have full control (unlike free blogging platforms).

WordPress is the #1 CMS in the world and it has around 61% market share in the CMS market.

wp market share

It also offers you plenty of plugins, themes to easily build your website from scratch. So if you’re curious to know how to launch a WordPress blog, here’s a simple step by step tutorial.

Step 1: Grab a domain of your choice. You need a domain name and web hosting to build a WordPress site. If you’re just getting started, go for Bluehost. It also gives you a free domain with every new registration!

Bluehost is a widely popular hosting platform that is officially recommended by WordPress itself and it is used by more than 2 million websites worldwide.

Step 2: Once you’re on the Bluehost page, simply select your hosting plan according to your budget. We recommend the “Choice Plus” option (costs $5.45/mo) and you can host unlimited sites under one account.

bluehost packages

Step 3: In this step, you create a new domain (domain registration is free for the first year). If you already have an existing domain, you can enter that too. Or you can skip this step and create a domain later.

Step 4: This is the final step where you’ll need to create an account. You can also use your Gmail account to quickly create an account with Bluehost. Once it’s done, check your hosting package details and finish your payment.

That’s it, you’ll get a welcome email from Bluehost where you can use their Marketplace or My Sites to install WordPress to the root of your site or to a subdirectory.

Note: If you need any help with WordPress installation after purchasing Bluehost hosting account through our affiliate link, you can email us at [email protected] and we’d be glad to help you. Just make sure to forward us the welcome email receipt so we know that you had purchased Bluehost using our links!

How to Make Money Through Blogging?

One of the best things about blogging is it offers plenty of ways to generate money. In fact, from our personal experience, we realized that the conversions from blogging are way better than vlogging (video blogging).

It might be because people who read blogs mostly take action such as signing up for your email courses, purchasing affiliate products through your links, sharing your blog posts etc.

Enough said! Let’s now talk about some of the better ways to make money from blogging in 2024 and beyond.

Promote affiliate products: Affiliate marketing is what helps you make money online promoting someone else’s products. If you’re looking to generate passive income from blogging, affiliate marketing is the best way to get started.

Here are some powerful ways to generate more affiliate product sales from blogging.

  • Choose your affiliate products carefully as you don’t want to promote an affiliate product just because it pays you higher commissions. Your affiliate products should help your target audience. So find your target audience needs and pick your products accordingly. You can use platforms like Amazon Associates, CJ, ClickBank, eBay etc to find hundreds of relevant affiliate products in your niche.
  • Pick products that offer lifetime payouts (also known as recurring affiliate programs). A good example is the Semrush affiliate program which pays you a 40% recurring commission on each successful sale generated through your affiliate links.
  • Be transparent. Successful affiliate marketing is all about building trust. Make sure to use social proof and income reports whenever you can. Also, disclose your affiliate links so your blog audience will appreciate your honesty and probably buy using your affiliate links.

If you’re looking for more tips to increase your affiliate earnings, read this post.

Sell your own digital products: If you’re looking for a passive income source without depending on affiliate marketing, you can sell your own products.

From online courses to ebooks to software tools, you can sell everything. Just make sure to start small and grow your audience to scale up things. We recently started selling our own digital products and we launched our first premium eBook on keyword research.

kw ebook cover

The book covers almost everything about finding better keywords and extremely useful for beginners. The book sales were also great and it gave us enough inspiration to continue building new products in the coming months.

Offer services: If you’re looking to make money from blogging really quickly, offer services from your blog. So what kind of services can you offer?

It depends on your skills, expertise and knowledge. You can offer wide range of services including;

  • Blog mentorship (or blog consulting)
  • WordPress installation services (easy to learn and helpful for beginners)
  • SEO services (such as keyword research, site audits, link building and so on)
  • Web design services
  • Freelance writing services (where you can help others with your content writing skills)
  • And the list goes on

You can also build a portfolio site where you can create highly relevant content around the services you offer from your blog. For instance, if you’re planning to promote “web design services”, you can create exclusive blog posts around website design so you can attract high paying clients.

Want to know more about monetizing your blog? Read our in-depth guide on how to make money from blogging and you’ll find every single detail about monetizing your blog.

Top 3 Essential Blogging Tools for Beginners

If you want to succeed in blogging, you need to get access to the right tools. Although there are a ton of blogging tools out there but here are 3 of the most essential tools you need for successful blogging.

1. Semrush

To build a money-making blog, you need more traffic, especially from search engines. Unless you’re finding better keywords, analyzing your competitors, and performing regular site audits, it’s extremely difficult to grow your search engine traffic.

When you’re just getting started, you need a RIGHT SEO tool to get everything done from keyword research to backlink analysis. Here’s where an all in one SEO tool like Semrush comes into play.

Semrush is the only SEO tool that we’re using for the last 4 years and it’s also the most popular tool which is used by more than 5 million people worldwide.

Here are some of the benefits of using this tool.

  • Organic Research
  • Advertising Research
  • Backlinks Analysis
  • Keyword Research
  • Social Media Monitoring
  • Brand Monitoring
  • Site Audits
  • Traffic Analysis and the list goes on

You can read our detailed review of Semrush and if you’re interested, you can use the following link to grab a Semrush Pro account free for the next 30 days.

2. Rank Math

Rank Math is an amazing FREE SEO plugin for WordPress which helps you easily optimize your content for search engines and outrank your competitors.

The best part about using this plugin is that it allows you to optimize your blog posts for up to 5 keywords (you can optimize for unlimited keywords with a simple code though!).

We’ve used the Yoast SEO plugin for optimization for several years and just a few months ago, we moved to this awesome plugin. Also, this plugin will automatically start analyzing your site with a feature called “SEO Analysis”. Once the analysis is done, it shows an SEO score (out of 100).

Here are some of the incredible features of this SEO plugin.

  • Offers XML sitemaps
  • Offers all types of redirections
  • Offers rich snippets
  • Optimize for multiple keywords
  • LSI keyword tool is integrated within the plugin
  • Automated image SEO
  • You can also track your keyword rankings and the list goes on

You can read our in-depth review of the Rank Math SEO plugin to find more details about this awesome SEO plugin.

3. Canva.com

A picture is worth a thousand words. If you want to attract your audience’s attention, you need to make your content visually appealing. Here’s where a tool like Canva comes into handy.

You don’t have to be a graphic designer to create featured images for your blog posts as Canva offers excellent features. Canva is an excellent tool for graphic design as you can use it for creating featured images for your blog posts, logos, social media covers, and what not?

Here’s a list of awesome things that you can do with Canva.

  • Create featured images for blog posts
  • Design logos for your blog
  • Create social media graphics
  • Create infographics
  • Design newsletters and the list goes on

Vlogging: Everything to Know As A Beginner

So what’s a vlog anyway?

A vlog is (also known as video blog) which features video content. Vlog entries are a combination of videos, text, and metadata such as titles and meta descriptions.

The popularity of vlogging became stronger in the year 2005 because of YouTube which is the world’s #1 video sharing platform and it was founded in the same year.

Vlogging Statistics:

Vlogging is growing rapidly. Here are some vlogging statistics that you should know if you want to get into the vlogging world.

  • Video content is 50 times more likely to drive organic search traffic than plain text.
  • 63% of people are more likely to buy a product if they have seen it in a video.
  • 86% of vlog content comes from YouTube creators (so if you’re planning to make a vlog, get on YouTube).
  • According to HubSpot, 54% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support.

Pros And Cons of Vlogging

Here’s a list of some of the advantages and disadvantages of having a vlog.

vlogging pros and cons

Pros:

  • If you use a platform like YouTube, it’s completely free to create a vlog (you just need a free Gmail account)
  • You can get views on your YouTube videos from day 1 (if you start using compelling thumbnails, titles and description)
  • People spend a lot more time watching videos (unlike blogs where most people usually skim through the content)
  • Vlogging can be a lot of fun for most people (most people find it a lot more fun to create vlogs over creating blog posts)
  • YouTube vlogging has the potential to build a MASSIVE following online (there are thousands of YouTube channels that went from zero to million subscribers within a year)
  • There are many ways to make money from vlogs ranging from sponsorships to selling affiliate products, selling your own merchandise, YouTube ads and so on

Cons:

  • Vlogs don’t work well for all niches
  • Sometimes you have to be on camera (so it can be extremely difficult to vlog especially if you’re an introvert or if you like to build a brand being anonymous)
  • Vlogging can be time-consuming (from creating videos to editing, every single video takes hours of time)

How to Start A Vlog from Scratch?

The best part about vlogging (or video blogging) is that it’s completely free.

Yes, all you need to start a vlog is to create a YouTube channel using your Gmail account.

If you don’t already have a Gmail account, you should create one and it’s completely free. Here’s the link to sign up for Gmail.

Here’s the step by step tutorial on how to start a vlog on YouTube.

Step 1: To start creating your YouTube vlogging channel, click on this link. Alternatively, you can sign in to your YouTube channel with your Gmail login credentials and click on “Settings”.

Here’s how it looks like;

youtube settings

Step 2: Once you click on the Settings, you’ll be taken to the YouTube channel page where you will see “Add or manage your channels”.

youtube channel creation

Click on it to proceed to the next step.

Step 3: Now click on “Create a New channel” to continue. You need to create a Brand Account.

It can be whatever name you want and doesn’t have to be the same name that you used to create your Google account. Here’s how it looks like;

youtube demo

A quick tip: We HIGHLY recommend you create a brand account that reflects your blog, website, app, or online business.

Step 4: Once you click on the “Create” button, you might be asked to verify the account via text message or voice call. In that case, simply enter the code you receive from the option you choose.

Once you’ve verified your Brand Account, you’re done. You’ve successfully created your vlog on YouTube and you’ll be taken to the dashboard for your channel.

How to Make Money from Vlogging?

Similar to blogging, there are plenty of ways to make money from vlogging. Yes, you can use AdSense on your YouTube channel to make money but we don’t think that’s the only way to monetize your channel. So let’s talk only about the BEST ways to monetize your video content.

Sponsorships or brand collaborations: One of the most powerful ways to monetize your YouTube channel is to collaborate with other brands. But you need to have a bigger audience (more than 100,000 subscribers) to strike decent deals with other brands.

Apart from brand collaborations, you can also try sponsorships where most small channels receive free products in exchange for promotion.

If you have more than 100k subscribers, you can also easily attract paid sponsorships where the sponsors pay you directly to advertise their products in your videos either by mentioning or by making reviews of their products.

Make money through Super Chat: Super Chat is an interesting concept that was launched in 2017 by YouTube to help video creators monetize when they go live. This feature allows viewers to pay to pin a comment on live streams.

Here’s how it looks like;

superchat

As you can see above, the Superchat feature allows your YouTube video viewers to pay some money to pin a color-coded chat message.

Even as the chat continues and most messages scroll out of sight, the pinned Superchat stays visible for a limited time (depending on how much your viewers pay you).

This ratio varies depending on the currency used, but for the US dollars, the minimum is a $5 purchase for a 1-minute message and the maximum is a $500 purchase for a 5-hour message.

Here’s the Super Chat pricing list available for the US that can give you some idea.

superchat pricing

Not only that but YouTube also allows creators to charge a monthly fee for access to original content through “Channel Memberships“. So yes, there are a ton of ways to monetize your video content if you have enough subscribers.

Sell affiliate or information products: Last but not least, you can promote relevant affiliate products in your niche. You can create video tutorials or How-to video reviews around the products you like. You can also sell information products such as eBooks, membership subscriptions and so on.

The key to making thousands of dollars from YouTube vlogging is this: grow your audience (at least 100K subscribers), create high-quality videos regularly and be consistent.

Top 3 Essential Vlogging Tools for Beginners

Vlogging is NOT at all easy. If you want to get better at vlogging, here are 3 of the essential vlogging tools you need in 2024.

1. Bandicam

Bandicam is extremely easy to use handy software which allows you to make a screen capture of your screen with ease. So if you’re planning to create videos by recording your screen, you need a tool like Bandicam. It’s also free to use.

Here’s the list of features that you get with Bandicam.

  • You can select the area of the screen you want to record and start recording instantly
  • You can add webcam video of yourself on the video that you are recording
  • You can also add your own logo image on the videos
  • The ability to add a mouse click effect and animation while recording and the list goes on

2. A good microphone

Whether you are screen recording or shooting videos by showing your face, you need a good microphone for creating videos.

If you’re just getting started, you can even use your smartphone earphones to start recording your videos (or for voice-overs). But if you want to grow your YouTube channel faster, you need a quality microphone.

So which one should you pick? Well, it mostly depends on your budget. That said, here are some recommendations for you.

  • Blue Yeti USB
  • RØDE NT‑USB
  • Shure SM7B
  • Audio-Technica AT2035

3. Filmora

Almost every YouTube creator needs editing software. After all, you can’t upload the RAW video footage on YouTube without any editing, right?

Here’s where an easy to use video editing software as Filmora comes into play which offers an intuitive user interface and tons of video effects to quickly edit your videos.

It also offers a free version which is enough for most beginners.

Here are some of the features of using Filmora.

  • You can do everything from rotating, merging, trimming, splitting, cropping and flipping videos
  • You can add filters, music and everything to make your video editing awesome

FAQs About Blogging vs Vlogging Money

Here are some interesting questions around blogging and vlogging which can be useful for you.

What is a vlog?

What is a vloA vlog is considered as a video blog or video log which primarily has a video form of content. Any vlog often contains a video with supporting text and other metadata (such as titles, descriptions, tags, and so on).

Which is better: Blog or YouTube?

In terms of traffic, Youtube vlogging is better because when you upload something on YouTube, you take advantage of the incoming traffic that already exists. But when it comes to a blog, you’ll have to build your audience from scratch. Also, new blogs don’t get any love from search engines like Google!

But in terms of monetization and conversions, blogs work like a charm. A blog tends to attract highly qualified visitors and you can get higher conversions when compared to a YouTube channel.

What is vlogging?

Vlogging simply means Video Blogging. It means vlogging involves video content. Vlogging includes everything from video reviews to travel videos to cooking videos and so on.

What are the different types of vlogs?

There is a wide range of vlogs ranging from educational vlogs to gaming vlogs, pranks, travel vlogs, and so on.

How to make a vlog?

The best way to make a vlog is to start a YouTube channel. All you need is a Gmail account and you can visit this link to create your own channel on YouTube for free within a few minutes.

Read: Blogger vs WordPress: Which is Better Choice for Creating Blogs?

Final Thoughts on Blog vs Vlog in 2024

Blogging or vlogging – both are excellent ways to produce content online. So should you pick one of them or both? Well, it completely depends on your needs.

If you’re looking for popularity, you should definitely start a vlog. But if you’re looking to create a passive income online, improve your writing skills, generate high-quality traffic, you should start a blog.

If you already have a blog, consider creating a YouTube channel to expose your brand to a new audience. Similarly, if you’re already running a vlog, you can consider launching your own blog to diversify both your traffic and income sources.

So which one are you going to pick: blogging or vlogging? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

About Author
Anil Agarwal is the Founder of Bloggerspassion. He is a full-time blogger and SEO expert who has been helping people build profitable blogs for over a decade Now. He has been featured in Over 100 Publications including Forbes, The HuffPost, HubSpot, Shopify, Semrush, Kinsta, Bluehost, Hostinger and G2.com etc. Know more about Anil Agarwal from here.

Reader Comments (5)

  1. I really like the content in your article. I think both, for sure. Tie them to each other via links and redirecting back and forth to each other: vlog and blog. Great stuff here, thanks!

    Reply
  2. As an SEO specialist myself, I think vlogging has better results compared to blogging, because people prefer watching videos than reading texts. You should use both of them to get a better ROI on your website traffic.

    Reply
  3. Hi Anil, what about doing both? Is that possible to do both well? I know some bloggers who do and wondered your thoughts on that. I still prefer the blog but I think vlogging may take less time.
    Thanks for explaining the differences with these. Have a great day!

    Reply
  4. Reading habit has come down in this digital age when with a click some one some one ready to read it to you in an interesting way. but given the popularity of vlog the blogs i believe are less popular, Though personally I prefer reading a blog rather than vlog.

    Reply
  5. Nice post introduced about blog vs vlog what is good but according to my choice both are same in there ways. its that how you can make it more interesting.

    Reply

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