Is “Blog” Declining in Search Popularity?

In the podcast shared below, WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy talks about a question she gets all the time:

“What are we going to do about the fact that the term ‘blog’ is declining in search popularity?”

It is,  by the way. Or it has. Interest in that word peaked about a decade ago and has been sliding down ever since.

The way people search is different now

This was Josepha’s answer. People don’t just type in the word “blog” as frequently as they used to, because people aren’t typing in individual words any more — unless, as she points out, they’re looking for a definition.

She moved on to whether this drop in search volume is a problem for WordPress, and we’ll leave that question to her.

But we went on to think about the reasons people who don’t work for WordPress might worry about that drop. It could be because they fear that their audience is no longer looking for blogs.

People also used to type in single words, like “blog,” whereas nowadays people usually would type in “how can I find a medical blogger” or “what belongs in a healthcare blog?” That’s what Josepha was talking about. Google works hard on natural language, and people cooperate.

But that’s people looking for information about blogs, not looking for information in blogs.

Google used to have “Blogs” as an option the same way they have “News” and “Images.” People would look for blog posts about medical imaging, or search “Medical imaging blogs.”

The firehose of information

We now seek and accept information as information. People go to Facebook for news. They go to Instagram to shop. They start with Google for healthcare information. 

“Video” is declining in search volume, too. People still watch videos and they still read blogs, but they are less likely to filter their searches by medium. Looking for there Latin Grammy Awards? Google tells us that people who are doing this are most likely to search by the name of the artist or of the album, even the title of the song. They’re not specifying that they want to see a video or a news report or a blog post.

Your blog continues to be your best friend for SEO

Your blog — the software that allows you to add new content at your website and have it go automatically to the desired web page — is still the most efficient and effective way to provide regular fresh content at your website. And regular fresh content is still the best way to make your website show up for your audience.

The blog posts we write for our clients drive traffic, boost rankings, get high-value links, and serve their customers. We can do the same for you. Tell us about your needs in the simple form below and we’ll get back to you quickly.