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youtube vs blogging

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So I’ve put together this article that discusses how you should use each platform to grow a highly profitable online business.

Yes, I’m doing both, and I create content on YouTube and run my very own successful blog. So you’ll get successful blogging tips from me as well.

In this article, I will compare YouTube channels and Blogging across a range of criteria, including:

  • The difference in startup costs
  • Which one platform will earn you more money
  • Which is easier to create content for
  • The difference in traffic potential
  • And more

So if you’re stuck on whether you should start a blog or youtube channel in 2022, this article is for you.

Let’s get started.

Blogging Vs YouTube Overview

Let’s go over a quick overview of Youtube Vs blogging and

Assuming you want to grow a personal brand or become a content creator, then you should start by understanding the key differences between the two platforms:

YouTube

  • Youtube is a visual platform that builds trust and credibility. This is because people can see your face and get to know you better. You can show your personality more on YouTube than on a blog.
  • YouTube is a great platform for promoting your brand. This is because you can use keywords and tags to rank your videos in search engines, which will help people find your brand more easily. You can also sprinkle shameless plugs into your videos.

Blogging

  • A blog is an excellent platform for selling products and services using long-form blog posts. This is because you can write in-depth articles about your topic, making it easier to sell to your audience. You can also build an email list from your blog, which is a great way to make sales.
  • A blog is a great platform for sharing your knowledge. This is because you can write detailed articles that share your expert knowledge with your audience. This is a great way to build trust and credibility with your readers.

Now that you understand the critical differences between the two platforms (YouTube Vs. Blogging), it’s time to start using them to grow your online business.

What’s The Difference Between Blogging And YouTube?

The first thing you need to understand is that blogging and YouTube are closely related when it comes to search intent, but they are two different types of content.

This means that people use the two platforms differently and that you need to understand how this works if you want to be successful with either one.

Startup Costs: YouTube vs Blogging 

There are very few startup costs when starting a YouTube channel. All you need is a webcam, a microphone, and basic video editing knowledge, which you probably already have if you’re reading this article.

Most phones nowadays offer a good camera that competes with most DSLR cameras, so there’s no need to buy a separate one.

If you want to be more professional, you can buy a high-resolution camera for around $700 and a lavalier mic for $20. But other than that, there are no significant costs associated with starting a YouTube channel. 

Blogging, on the other hand, has slightly more startup costs. This is because you need to pay for web hosting, which will cost you around $100-$250 per year.

It would help if you also bought a domain name, which will cost you about $10-$15 per year.

So overall, starting a blog will cost around $110-$265, which is only slightly more than creating a YouTube channel. 

Now you can still buy blogging tools or marketing tools to help you grow your own blog and make better youtube videos, but they are not necessary to get started.

So in terms of startup costs, there is very little difference between starting a YouTube channel and starting a blog.

Here’s the complete pricing breakdown for both search engine platforms:

YouTube:

  • YouTube Channel: Free
  • Camera: Free
  • 4K DSLR Upgrade: $499-$1000 (Optional)
  • Lavelier Mic: $15-$30
  • Plugnplay Mic Upgrade: $89
  • Keyword Research Tool: $4.99-$39.99
  • Video Editing Software: $29.99-$249
  • Graphic Design Tool: $14.99

Blogging:

  • Web Hosting: $96-$240
  • Self-Hosted WordPress Site: Free With Your Web Hosting
  • Domain Name: $12-$15
  • WordPress Theme: $0-$299
  • Email Marketing Service: $9-$99
  • Keyword Research Tool: $4.99-$119.99
  • Graphic Design Tool: $14.99

As you can see, there is very little difference in startup costs for both platforms.

The only major difference is that you need to buy a domain name and web hosting for your blog, which will cost you around $110 per year.

But other than that, there are no significant differences in terms of startup costs. So if you’re on a budget, you can start with either platform without breaking the bank. 

The Winner: YouTube

In terms of bootstrapping these online businesses, YouTube is the clear winner. This is because it’s completely free to start a channel, while you need to pay for web hosting and a domain name if you want to create a blog. 

Which One Makes Money Faster? Blogging Or YouTube?

I hear this common question from beginners who want to make money online fast and become content creators.

Should you learn search engine optimization and write a blog post that ranks on Google and gets millions of views over time, or should you make a YouTube video and hope it gets affiliate link clicks?

The answer to this question is that they both have the potential to make money. But I think YouTube is more likely to make you money faster than blogging.

This is because it’s much easier to rank on YouTube when you publish video content on their platform.

You don’t need viral videos since your youtube content will show up at the top of the search results during the first 72 hours.

When this happens, your target audience will make a youtube search for your specific video.

You can then place affiliate links inside of your YouTube description box and send people to digital products or services.

That’s the huge difference between making money faster with YouTube. On the flip side, with blogging, you don’t really need to show your face or create video content (At least in the beginning)

But if you’re in it for the long haul and want to build a sustainable online business, then blogging is the way to go. I’ve been blogging for over two years and here’s a simple overview between, consulting, Youtube, and blogging.

Why? Because a successful blog can make money passively through affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, and selling digital products or services.

With a YouTube channel, you technically do not have complete control of your audience since YouTube could shut down your channel at any time. 

This happened to a lot of YouTubers in the past, which is why I think blogging is a much safer investment in the long term.

Let’s see how you can make money faster with both platforms:

YouTube:

  • YouTube growth happens much quicker
  • Add product links immediately in your description and pinned comments
  • Your videos can potentially rank on the first of Google or YT search results FASTER
  • You can make money passively with YouTube Adsense

Blogging:

  • Creating content that ranks and makes money takes much longer
  • You can make revenue through freelance writing and consulting
  • Many bloggers make money fast by taking on sponsored posts
  • You can make money through an Ad network like Google Adsense or Mediavine

Winner: YouTube

YouTube is the clear winner for this since you don’t need to waste for your blog posts to rank. With YouTube videos, you can start getting sales and traffic FASTER.

SEO knowledge

Now, this is where blogging vs youtube gets really interesting. You see, most people think that you need to be a YouTuber to make it big on YouTube.

But that’s not entirely true. In fact, I would argue that you need SEO knowledge and an understanding of CTR to dominate both blogging and youtube.

Optimize Your Content And Create SEO Guidelines

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Why? Because if you can’t rank your content on the first page of Google or YouTube, then you’re not going to get any traffic or make any money. 

It’s that simple.

You need to know how to do keyword research and write titles that rank on the first page of search engines. You also need to understand how the click-through rate works and how to optimize your video’s thumbnails or blog post titles.

You can get basic SEO knowledge through free and paid digital marketing courses such as:

So I will be honest and I’m sure many other bloggers will agree with me. The majority of people who start a blog never make any money from it.

I’m not sure if this is because they give up too soon or if they don’t put in the effort to learn SEO and grow their blog organically.

The ones who do make money blogging are the minority. These are the bloggers who understand how SEO works and how to create blog content that ranks on the first page of Google. 

Now, I’m not saying that you need to be an SEO expert to make money from a blog. But it definitely helps if you understand the basics of SEO and how to write titles that rank well on Google.

As for YouTube, I would say that you need to have a pretty good understanding of SEO since ranking videos is getting harder and harder.

You need to know how to do keyword research, write titles that get clicks, and optimize your video’s thumbnail. If you can do all of these things, then you will be well on your way to making money from YouTube. 

Here’s my personal experience with SEO.

It took about a year to see the most growth and finally have a profitable blog, but with Youtube, I started creating videos and making money through affiliate marketing.

It was dependent on how much traffic I needed, but it was more based on the target audience.

I still needed to do basic keyword research and see what people were searching for on YouTube, but I didn’t need to spend as much time on SEO since my videos were ranking pretty well.

That’s the biggest difference between youtube vs blogging on SEO.

Winner: Blogging

Since you can control the outcome and change your content structure. SEO is much better on Google compared to Youtube SEO.

Biggest Learning Curves

Let’s get straight to the point on some things you will need to learn with blogging vs youtube.

What You Need To Know For Blogging

You will need to learn SEO, copywriting, design, and outreach if you want to be a successful blogger.

The reason why I’m saying this is because most bloggers start out without any knowledge of these things. They just start writing and hope that people will find their blog.

But you will need to learn the search intent behind why people even make a google search in the first place.

Once you understand the difference between blog post outlines such as:

  • How To’s
  • Product Reviews
  • Listicles
  • Case Studies

You then can start writing and ranking your content.

You will need to learn copywriting if you want people to actually stay on your website and read your blog posts. 

The average person has an attention span of 8 seconds, so you need to make sure that your blog post titles, meta descriptions, and first sentence Hooks them in.

Use Jasper.ai or any kind of AI writing assistant to help you with upping your writing skills.

You’ll also want to learn how to run our self-hosted blog on a WordPress hosting platform like WPX.

What You Need To Know For YouTube

You don’t need to be a great writer on YouTube, but you will need to be good at talking in front of the camera and keeping people’s attention.

You will also need to learn some basic video editing skills if you want to edit your videos yourself. I recommend using Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro X, or Filmora.

The video quality needs to be decent, but you’ll want to make sure you have amazing audio quality. I use the Rode VideoMic Pro Plus and the Blue Yeti microphone.

You’ll also need to learn how to rank your videos on YouTube and Google. This can be done by doing keyword research, using proper tags, creating transcripts of your videos, and optimizing your thumbnail image. 

Key takeaway:

Both YouTube and blogging have learning curves and can take quite a while to earn money online, but you can make passive income from both if you stick with them long enough.

Blogging Community Vs YouTube Community

YouTube and blogging communities offer very different experiences for their users. 

YouTube Community Overview

YouTube is a primarily visual platform, while blogging is primarily text-based. As a result, the kinds of content that are popular on each platform differ somewhat.

However, both platforms offer a friendly and resourceful community for users to explore.

YouTube is a great place to find videos on just about any topic imaginable.

Whether you’re looking for how-to videos, product reviews, or just something entertaining to watch, YouTube has it all. 

The YouTube community is also very friendly and helpful, with users often leaving comments and likes to show their support for creators. In addition, YouTube is a great resource for learning new skills or knowledge.

There are videos on just about everything, so you can almost certainly find what you’re looking for.

Blogging Community Overview

Blogging is a little different from YouTube in that it’s mostly text-based. However, this doesn’t mean that blogs are boring or un-engaging.

On the contrary, many bloggers put a lot of effort into making their posts interesting and enjoyable to read.

Additionally, the blogging community is extremely friendly and supportive. Bloggers will support each other and give updates on any new algorithm updates.

Key takeaway:

While both have some toxic people. For the most part, both blogging and youtube creators are supportive and helpful to each other. I think it would be more fun to be a content creator in either community than alone. 

How Much Money I Make As A YouTuber And Blogger

Now many of you are probably wondering how much money I make as a full-time blogger and YouTube creator.

I’m not going to give you an exact number, but I will say that it’s enough to live comfortably in California.

I make the majority of my income through Consulting and affiliate marketing. 

It does go over $10,000 per month and I do want to share income reports in the future, but for now, I just wanted to give you an idea of how much money is possible to make.

Of course, this isn’t to say that everyone will make this much money. It took me two years of hard work to get to where I am today. 

Here’s my breakdown through both platforms:

  • YouTube Ad Networks
  • Affiliate Marketing
  • Free Courses
  • CPA Deals

So if you’re thinking about starting a YouTube channel or writing content through the WordPress platform. start now.

Two Birds With One Stone Using Blog Posts

My favorite way to use both platforms is by using blog posts.

I’ll create a blog post on my website and then I’ll create a video on YouTube to go along with it. This way I can kill two birds with one stone.

Not only will I have SEO-friendly content, but I can use it as a YouTube script. This really helps me save time and produce content more efficiently.

Plus, I get the benefit of having my content seen by both audiences and sometimes rank both on Google searches.

Making money online doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, you can start earning passive income with just a few hours of work per week.

If you’re consistent and patient, you can make a full-time income from both YouTube and blogging. 

FAQ

I’m sure some of you have the same question, so I wanted to answer them here.

Is Blogging More Profitable Then Having A YouTube Channel?

It really depends on how you monetize your platform.

If you’re only making money through YouTube ad revenue, then most likely yes. However, if you’re using other methods such as affiliate marketing or selling products, then you’ll see a quicker ROI with YouTube.

Blogging will take longer, but it’s completely worth the investment.

Which Should You Start First? A Youtube Channel or Blog?

This depends if you feel comfortable writing or being on camera.

If you’re more comfortable writing, then start a blog. If you’re more comfortable being on camera, then start a YouTube channel.

Of course, you can always do both.

Are Bloggers Still Even A Thing?

Yes, blogging is still a thing and will always be a thing.

More and more companies are looking to establish organic reach and what better way to do that then through a blog that ranks number one on search engines?

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Not to mention, Google owns YouTube which makes sense to have both. This means that they’re going to continue favoring blogs in their algorithm.

Final Thoughts: YouTube Vs Blogging

Both blogging and being a YouTuber have their pros and cons.

It really comes down to what you’re more comfortable with and what your goals are.

Are you looking to build a personal brand? If so, then I recommend using both platforms.

I regret not creating a better content plan when I first started, I would be much further along if I had just stopped worrying about what to start with.

But that’s the great thing about starting today, you can learn from my mistakes.

So if you’re thinking about starting a YouTube channel or writing content through the WordPress platform, start now. 

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