To Blog or Facebook? That is the question. At least it was the most-asked question I received last week at WPPI. I have my opinion, but of course, it’s just that- an opinion. Depending on who you talk to and the level of success they’ve had by utilizing one or the other, the opinions vary. As someone who uses both platforms, I’ve been fortunate enough to have had success with both outlets. I have seen firsthand the benefits of both. And while I will continue to utilize each  for my business, one is definitely more valuable to my company.

A few years ago, I remember attending a photography event where one of the speakers was going on and on about how blogs were dead. For thirty minutes he carried on with his version of what the future looked like for photographers: Websites & Facebook. He didn’t believe that anyone was taking the time to peruse blogs any longer and that with the release Timeline, Facebook was taking the place of blogging.

At the time, I feared he was right. Facebook was taking over the world, literally, and people were abandoning their blogs left and right. Rather than “waste time” drafting a blog post, they could quickly post a sentence or two on their Business Page and see rapid results. As a blogger, this broke my heart. After years of devoting so much time, love and care to my blog, the idea of it suddenly being irrelevant was gut-wrenching. 

But I continued to blog anyway. For awhile, I did see a decrease in traffic. So I played the Facebook game and made sure to share everything I posted to my blog on my Business Page, too. This was a viable solution for a long time- until Facebook threw everyone a curve ball and pushed out their awesome (sarcasm!) algorithms. This changed everything. And soon after that, they introduced their Pay-to-Play option. In a nutshell, if you don’t show them the money, you won’t be seeing any, either. This isn’t much of a problem for big companies, as they can afford to go all in, but for us little guys and dolls, it is. Below there is a video by Veritasium, who explains in great detail the problem with Facebook.

If that isn’t enough to sell you on the importance of blogging, here are a few other reasons why I think you should start today:

GOOGLE
One of the biggest arguments I have on why blogging is so important is Google. When you post to your blog, Googlebots, think of them as a Internet Insects, crawl your post for content. In other words, everything you write becomes searchable by Google and your entire post is archived for future reference. The same cannot be said about Facebook. Google does not crawl Facebook or archive anything you post, therefor all of that fabulous information you’ve been sharing will be non-existent after a few days. And stuff you posted last year? Yeah, good luck with that.

TRAFFIC
Lets face it. Facebook doesn’t need your help driving anymore traffic to their site. YOU need the traffic driven to YOUR site. From what I’ve seen, so many photographers are focused on driving up the number of followers they have on Facebook and they direct their audience to their Facebook Page. But that’s becoming irrelevant because Facebook is blocking most of your content from people who like your page anyway, so what’s the point? The way I see it, it makes more sense to utilize Facebook to share information you have on your blog, guiding your traffic away from Facebook and back to your site. Sure, it might take a little time for you to build the audience you desire, but let’s be honest, you’re going to hang out at your computer regardless, right? So why not be more effective and stop scrolling through your Facebook feed and start writing those blog posts?

CONTROL
We’ve all whined about Facebook’s ever-changing policies and annoying modifications, which seem to be lurking around every corner. Consider your blog home sweet home, where things are familiar, comfortable and all your own. Changes are made only when you decide to make them and if you hate it, change it back. It’s your choice because it’s your blog. Sorry, Zuckerberg, we’re wearing the pants now!

VOICE
Because Blogging gives you a voice in this industry. And on Facebook, you aren’t likely being heard. You have something to say and share, so make yourself heard and seen. In my humble opinion, we are morphing into a new online era and I couldn’t be more excited about these changes! People are craving actual conversations and real connections. It’s not enough to be a Social Media Persona anymore. Be who you are share it with the world- on your blog. Give us all a window into your life, who you are, what you do, where you are, when you go and why you love to do what you do. It’s your story and it’s important.

My final thought on this topic is that both are important for businesses. I definitely see the benefits in both, though for longevity, it’s very important for you to build your brand and your web presence. Social Media should always play an active role, but as a tool to direct people to your domain. Lastly, I just want to say thank you so much to all of you for your continued love and support through the years as I’ve blogged my journey. It’s been one crazy/amazing ride! I am so happy to be here, in this moment, with you and can’t wait to see where the future takes us! Much Love!! XO