It’s been quiet around here. A little too quiet. Yet no matter how many times I take a break from my website, I always come back.
It’s easy to ask, ‘Why run a blog? Do you really need a website?’ These platforms rarely go viral anymore. Old-school bloggers have been jumping ship for years to faster-paced mediums. Social media seems to be the key to get famous, build an audience, and attract clicks and likes.
Social media is extremely useful—practically essential—to raise brand awareness. I know that social media can be entertaining and fun. I also keep in mind its limitations: in particular, that you can’t truly control social media content. You are always at the mercy of a platform’s terms, conditions, and whims. (Not to mention the at-times gray area of who controls the rights to social media content.) The fleeting nature of social media can’t compare to the long-term staying power of your own website.
Creating Your Digital Hub
Think of a blog or website as your digital home. It is a one-stop spot to display your portfolio and direct people to your work on other platforms. You can customize your site to reflect the look and feel of your brand—rather than being beholden to the layout of a social media page.
Your own website helps give you credibility and can set you apart from others in your niche. As someone who writes about food and culture, my website shows that I’ve got more going on than just appetizing photos on Instagram. My blog allows me to write with more depth than a Twitter thread.
You almost certainly need a website to give your content longevity and make it searchable. Social media’s mysterious algorithms favor whatever is new and trending, meaning that your amazing banana bread recipe could end up buried a week after it debuts. Plus who knows how far fans will have to scroll to find it in the future. In contrast, blogs and websites can harness the power of SEO and an embedded search tool to ensure that your hard work can be accessed for years to come.
Do You Need A Website? Consider Your Long-Term Goals
If you want an online space that has staying power and is tailored to your specific needs, you probably need a website. It is a great way to centralize your digital content and create a brand hub. You should also strongly consider social media as a way to regularly engage with your audience, grow your brand, and post timely updates. But be wary of relying too much on social platforms: for every Facebook (a horrible bastion of misinformation/disinformation that has lasted nearly 20 years), there are many more platforms that have fizzled, like MySpace (which is still around, but far less influential than its mid-2000s heyday).
Social media is great to get attention. A blog or website is a way to keep it.