written by Rachel Abernathy
We live in the age of video! Almost anyone can pick up their phones and start creating video content themselves. I’m sure you’ve watched an interesting video on YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook recently, maybe in an effort to learn something new or relax after a long day.
But how does blogging compare to its video counterpart, vlogging? What are some of the differences and similarities between the two options? We are discussing blogging vs. vlogging in this article.
Blogging vs. Vlogging: Audiences
In blogging and vlogging, you’ll need to choose a niche and subniche first. For any type of content marketing, it’s always important to understand your audience’s demographics, desires, and needs. This will help you provide real value through your blog posts or videos, which is key to resonating with YOUR people, wherever they are located.
Blogging vs. Vlogging: Content
Both blogging and vlogging focus on producing valuable content. In both methods, you need to grab your audience’s attention quickly…and find ways to keep it and encourage your audience to consume more of your content.
Hook Your Audience
In blogging, this means using interest-grabbing hooks in the first few sentences or paragraphs of your article and utilizing scannable paragraphs. In vlogging, this means grabbing your viewer’s attention within the first 10 or 15 seconds of the video itself, cutting out extra fluff that might slow down its pace.
Use Stories to Build Connection
Both methods, stories are a powerful way to build natural connections between you and your audience. In blogging, this means using informal, conversational writing styles, even breaking grammar rules when the content necessitates it.
In vlogging, this means being very conversational too, except in this case, you’re talking to the camera instead of writing down your thoughts, meaning you can communicate using your tone of voice, gestures, and facial expressions too.
Plan Appropriately
When writing blog articles, it’s usually a good idea to organize your content and be very intentional about what you write, which requires some planning beforehand. While vlogging does require similar planning, many vloggers use improvisation or basic outlines while filming video content, leading to a more informal feel to their work than some blog articles.
In addition, vloggers often use recurring themes or segments to build their videos. This is another method of content planning.
Direct to Other Content
In both blogging and vlogging, it’s important to give your visitors a call to action, telling them what to do next. For many blog posts and videos, this means directing them to another piece of your content.
Be Consistent
Consistency is important for blogging and vlogging alike. Your readers or viewers want new content from YOU, so it’s important to provide consistent, quality blog posts or videos to them.
Blogging vs. Vlogging: Technology Considerations
This is quite possibly the biggest difference between blogging and vlogging: the technology aspect.
Equipment for Blogging
With blogging, you focus primarily on building your website content, using written words and perhaps companion visuals like infographics. Traditional blogs like this use a hosting company, domain name, and website building platform (usually WordPress). You may need to know a little basic coding and tech troubleshooting too.
Other than these initial technologies, blogging doesn’t require nearly as much ongoing technological input in the beginning as vlogging does. You can also blog from almost anywhere, even sitting in your pajamas on the couch after midnight, if the inspiration strikes. Blogging relies on quality writing and methodological thought, making it ideal for introverts.
Equipment for Vlogging
In vlogging, however, you’re filming videos, which means you’ll need to find equipment and software, and then use it to create content. On the most basic level, vlogging requires a quality camera, followed by a tripod and microphone.
Side Note: Need help finding the perfect camera? A photography friend of ours wrote an excellent article with tips for finding the perfect camera here.
For the highest quality videos, you may need to use lighting setups, teleprompters, or even greenscreens. You will probably need royalty-free music to spice up your videos too. Clothing makeup, and other accessories may be required as well, since you’re appearing on camera. There’s no way to confirm for sure, but I’d imagine that vlogging tends to attract more extroverts than blogging. 😉
In vlogging, your content is usually hosted somewhere like YouTube, but many vloggers will also build websites for themselves.
Most importantly, vlogging requires video editing software and skills. This is quite possibly the biggest difference between vlogging and blogging. Video editing requires a lot of time and knowledge, especially to do well. It requires very different skills than writing blog posts.
Blogging vs. Vlogging: Search Engine Optimization
Regardless of its format, good content requires a little help to get someone to find and consume it! This is where search engine optimization comes into the picture. Using SEO techniques helps you choose optimal keywords and metadata, so that your articles can be found on Google (or your videos can be found on YouTube). This is very similar in both blogging and vlogging.
For blogging, this often means incorporating the keyword into your paragraphs, headers, descriptions, and image alt text. You can also do image optimization to prevent your site from being slowed down by large files.
For vlogging, this also means incorporating keywords into your content. This is another reason to use captions and tags, for example, in YouTube videos. The importance of visuals becomes paramount in vlogging too, especially when creating video stills to entice scollers to stop, click, and watch.
We’ve published this article about applying SEO techniques to your blog posts.
In addition, you can read more about optimizing your YouTube videos over at Search Engine Land here.
Blogging vs. Vlogging: Collaboration & Networking
Whether you’re blogging or vlogging, don’t forget to collaborate and network with other content creators in your niche! Consider building content together, like guest posts or interview videos, to help grow each other’s platforms.
Comment on other blogs and vlogs and share your content on social media too, to network with even more people who support and appreciate what you do.
Blogging vs. Vlogging: Monetization
Both blogging and vlogging use different monetization techniques, to grow multiple income streams and turn your blog/vlog into a business.
In blogging, income is usually earned by participating in affiliate programs, enrolling in ad networks, offering sponsorships, or selling your own products. Vlogging uses basically the same methods, but in video format instead of blog post format. Vloggers may also accept crowdfunding.
Blogging vs. Vlogging: Following Trends & Listening to Audience Feedback
In blogging and vlogging alike, it is important to listen to your audience, but without taking every discouraging comment to heart. There are a lot of complainers on the internet, and your content doesn’t need to resonate with everyone, whether you’re writing blog posts, sending emails, or posting videos.
It’s also important in both types of content marketing to review your analytics regularly and see what works best for your audience, so you can replicate what actually works, instead of wasting time on things that don’t yield results.
In vlogging, it is somewhat more important to follow popular trends (often in the form of “challenges”) that may arise in the video world.
Blogging vs. Vlogging: Get a Little Better Every Time
Overwhelmed at the thought of vlogging? Don’t be! Vlogging and blogging alike present unique needs. But don’t worry about perfection. Instead, just try to get a little better every time you post a video. Sometimes, the best way to learn and get better is to jump in and get started!
Did this article help you learn the difference between blogging and vlogging? Do you think you’ll take the vlogging or blogging leap soon? Let us know what you want to learn more about below!
