Are you wondering whether to start a blog vs. a podcast? Both are great tools for nurturing and engaging your current audience while growing your business and broadening your reach.
While both can add authority and foster trust, starting a blog or a podcast takes time and effort. So to help you get the best ROI for your business, we’re going to explain the differences between a blog vs. podcast, the benefits and drawbacks of both, and why one might be better for you than another.
Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
What Are the Differences Between a Blog vs. Podcast?
We’re going to start with the basics because this will help you understand how a blog vs. a podcast could be better.
- A blog is a website where you regularly share new content. Your blog can be focused on any number of topics, and the content you share can be in the form of news articles, information pieces, how-to guides, lists, and even more creative writing, like poetry or fiction.
- A podcast is audio content that’s presented in the form of regular episodes. A podcast, like a blog, can be focused on any possible topic or niche, and individual episodes can explore more specific topics within your overall niche.
The biggest difference between a blog and a podcast is that blogs are written content and podcasts are audio content.
That difference plays a massive role in how your audience consumes the content you’re sharing and the skills required to create your content. Let’s take a closer, individual look at blogs and podcasts to learn more:
5 Brilliant Reasons to Start a Blog
Now that you understand the difference between a blog vs. a podcast, let’s take a closer look at why starting a blog is the first best step for your business.
1. You Want to Bring Traffic to an Existing Website
For those of you with an existing website, whether it’s e-commerce or even a freelance website, blogging can be an excellent way to drive traffic to your website. Following SEO (search engine optimization) best practices, you can publish high-quality content that answers your client, customer, and audience needs. This is truly one of the biggest benefits of starting a blog vs. podcast if you already have a website.
You will need to publish content on a regular basis that relates to your business’s niche. For example, if you’re a freelance writer, you can publish articles related to growing your writing skills, client acquisition, comparing freelance platforms, SEO, dealing with writer’s block, and more. Writing this kind of content shows potential clients that you’re an authority if your niche, and you can also benefit from rising in search engine rankings.
2. You Love to Write
Writing is a huge part of blogging — it’s nearly 90% of the job! You don’t need to love writing, but you at least need to enjoy it.
Most blog posts range from 1,500 to 3,000 words, and most bloggers publish anywhere from 1 to 3 blog posts per week. You need to carefully consider whether or not you love writing enough to keep up with that kind of posting schedule.
If you’re not a writer, choosing from a blog vs. podcast is probably a no-brainer.
3. You Want To Grow on Your Own Time
Blogging is a slow business model overall. It takes time to establish your domain authority and your authority as a writer. These things don’t happen overnight, and it takes dedication to growing your site.
The good news is that you have time to learn all of the strategies bloggers need to scale their site — from SEO, UI/UX, and more.
4. You Can Repurpose Content
Like podcasts, you can turn blog content into social media posts and YouTube videos, but unlike podcasts, blog posts can easily become emails, ebooks, online courses, and more. And as time passes, you can take existing blog content and refresh it so it stays evergreen as your site grows.
5. You Want to Strengthen Brand Recognition
Unlike podcasts, blogs mainly rely on visual content — readers are looking at your website and reading your content. This provides the opportunity to reinforce your branding and logo. Brand recognition coupled with the trust you grow through actionable and high-quality content, helps you become more of an authority with your audience, leading to more conversions and sales over time.
Ready to Start a Blog?
If you decide blogging is the way to go, we highly recommend Bluehost for blog hosting, and here’s why:
- Bluehost has a ton of free themes to choose from, and that means you can get a professional-looking blog without paying for web design services.
- They have stellar customer service.
- You get a free domain name for your first full year.
- WordPress is included with Bluehost — that’s the platform THIS site is built on!
- When you sign up for Bluehost using our link, our team will set up your blog and install key components at no additional charge with Launch That Blog.
Check out our Easy, Step-By-Step Guide to Starting a Blog in 2024.
Start your blog for less than $3/month
You can start a professional-looking site for less than $3 a month with Bluehost.
5 Compelling Reasons to Start a Podcast
Podcasts have only grown in popularity, and according to an Edison Research poll, over 90 million Americans are now weekly podcast listeners — the highest this data point has ever been. If a growing number of podcast listeners isn’t compelling enough, the following reasons might sway you towards a podcast over blog.
1. You Don’t Mind Speaking to Your Audience
Podcasting isn’t the same as public speaking because you aren’t in front of a live audience, and this is a good thing if you get nervous speaking in front of a crowd. However, you still have to be comfortable in front of a microphone.
This is the ideal medium if you’re better at expressing yourself verbally. You can still go back and edit your content, but podcasts generally do have a more casual feel compared to blogs.
2. You Want to Build a Personal Connection With Your Audience
Being able to hear your voice creates a far more personal connection with your audience. They’ll be able to hear emotion in your voice and feel like you are speaking directly to them. For some business owners, this personal connection can build an immense amount of trust.
3. You Want the Most Affordable Option
Starting a blog is incredibly affordable, but you still need to pay for ongoing hosting services if you want a professional-looking website. There are also subscriptions to SEO platforms that help you leverage it to your advantage.
When it comes to a podcast vs. a blog, you can start a podcast for $0, recording with the mic on your phone or computer. However, we do recommend purchasing an inexpensive podcasting mic for a more professional-sounding show. You can find them for less than $50 on Amazon.
4. You Want to Choose the Most Convenient Option for Your Audience
One of the reasons that so many more people are listening to podcasts is because they’re incredibly convenient. You’re not tied to your phone or computer screen — you can listen to content as you drive to work, exercise, cook dinner, etc.
Making it easy for your audience to consume your content is a massive benefit.
5. You Don’t Have a Ton of Time
The average podcast ranges from 30 minutes to one hour. It takes more time than that to produce a podcast — you have to research your topic, reach out to guests (if that’s part of your show), edit your show, publish it, and more. But generally, for a 30 minute to hour long show, that may still only be 3 to 5 hours worth of work.
Compared to a blog, it might take 3 to 5 hours or more to simply write a blog post.
Is a Blog vs. Podcast Better for Your Audience?
Both mediums are an excellent way to establish authority, build a new source of revenue, and connect with your audience and grow it over time. But there are two main considerations when choosing between a blog vs. podcast:
- Your target audience. A younger, more tech-savvy audience will likely be more interested in podcast content over blog content. For older audiences, podcasts aren’t nearly as popular. You also need to think about whether a blog or podcast would be easier for your audience to consume.
- Your business goals. For business owners whose primary goal is to bring traffic to your website, blogs are far more effective than podcasts. But if you want brand authority and audience building, a podcast might be a better choice.
Can You Start a Blog and Podcast at the Same Time?
Sure, you can definitely start a blog and podcast at the same time, but it’s best to focus on one medium at a time. Focusing on one at a time gives you the opportunity to master one before starting another. You will establish yourself and develop a routine before getting lost in starting something new.
The Final Word: Should You Start a Blog vs. Podcast First?
The decision is 100% yours, and honestly, both are solid ways to establish authority and scale your business. While podcasts are generally more affordable, we recommend starting a blog first because you can build it on your own time and launch when you’re ready to go. It’s also a better traffic source for most types of businesses.
If you’re interested, check out Bluehost. It’s the platform this site was founded on, and you can start your blog for less than $3 a month.