The Drawbacks of Blogging

Blogs are a hot topic on the Internet, as just about everyone knows. A recent search on Overture showed over 60,000 searches for "blogging" in just one month.

Why is blogging so popular? First of all, blogs are easy to use. A blog is most user-friendly form of website. Within just minutes a blogger can have a professional looking website, for free. Blogs are also easy to update. If you can type in a word processor or write e-mail, blogging will be no problem at all.

Blogging is also one of the most popular ways to make money online. There are several ways you can monetize a blog, including using Google Adsense ads, linking to affiliate programs and the promotion of your own products. The interest in blogging as a business is primarily fueled by ebooks like "Blogging to the Bank" or "Blogging Cash Machine" which explain how to monetize blogs and, the authors claim, make big bucks.

With the ease of use and promise of huge profits, its no wonder so many people are jumping on the blogging bandwagon. But for all the good press blogging is getting, nothing is said about the downside of blogging.

If you've never started a blog, should you? Before you decided, consider some of the blogging drawbacks.

Unlike other websites, blogs need to be updated constantly. The consensus is a once a week update is the absolute minimum, and three times a week is even better. This means coming up with fresh topics and articles throughout the week, and finding the time to write them. For the casual blog user, this might be too big of a commitment. For Internet marketers, there are other easier solutions for getting the word out about your product or service.

A fully-functional website, rather than a blog, has several advantages from a marketing perspective. Instead of having to write blog posts each week, you can set up RSS feeds to refresh the content on pages of your website. This content will help keep your website's ranking active, and you won't have to spend time writing new material.

Blogging is often seen as a good way to get in touch with customers. Many businesses have found that using a forum or support ticket system for customer relations issues is a much smoother process.

If you are building an online business, your time could be better spent on things other than blogging. Building a high quality sales letter or mini-site will free you up to continue on other projects, while maintaining a blog is on ongoing commitment.

This isn't to say that there aren't wonderful things about owning a blog. Many people use them for creative expression, networking, essays and to increase their online presence. They can be a helpful tool in an internet marketer's bag of tricks. However, relying on them completely for income can limit your ability to do much else online. Before you start a blog, know what you are getting into.