Many people interested in learning how to make money online for beginners run into a popular topic of debate – blogging vs. vlogging. Picking one over the other or both can be a crucial decision. Hence, the two content presentation formats require proper understanding.
Blog vs. Vlog – The Definitions
There’s a big difference between vlogging and blogging, and it has to do with how a video blog presents its content.
What Is a Blog?
A blog is a standalone website or web page with a specific format for presenting content. Although they can take many forms, from journaling to product presentations to affiliate marketing and everything in between, blogs offer written text content.
What Is a Vlog?
A vlog is a blog that focuses on presenting video content instead of written content. And like blogs, vlogs can offer content on any popular topic, like finance, health, fitness, etc. Perfect examples of vlogs include many YouTube and Instagram videos.
Pros and Cons of Blogging vs. Vlogging
Blogging Pros and Cons
Blogging Pros
- Fewer equipment requirements
- Ample monetization options
- Fewer technical requirements
- Can be enriched with pictures
- Great at generating and redirecting traffic
- Ideal for obtaining contact information
- Can be run by a single person
- A business blog can be more popular than a video alternative
Blogging Cons
- Can be time-consuming
- May have expensive ongoing maintenance
- Blog posts rarely go viral
Vlogging Pros and Cons
Vlogging Pros
- Quality vlog posts go viral
- Massive monetization potential
- Visual content is highly engaging
- Can be done on free online platforms
- Plenty of advertising space
- Can build trust faster
- It’s skyrocketing in popularity
- Certain lifestyle videos attract millions of views
- Promote a brand online live
Vlogging Cons
- Can be harder to create content
- Video editing takes time and resources
- Knowledge of graphic design software might be necessary
Blogging vs. Vlogging Popularity
Blogs have been around for a long time and aren’t going away anytime soon. The WordPress platform alone has over 90 million new blog posts monthly. That proves that blogging is a preferred and reliable form of content presentation.
Blogging is a popular outlet for influencers, brands, and businesses who need to reach large audiences. A blog post can help with product placement, increase traffic, generate leads, and directly boost sales. It has many search engine optimization (SEO) applications and is a powerful tool for expanding online reach and visibility in any industry.
Vlogging has increased in popularity alongside YouTube and other platforms. More and more people are interested in going over video content instead of reading traditional articles. But why is that?
Firstly, people resonate with vloggers more because they can see and hear them. Secondly, videos are more engaging and can help build trust and authority. Moreover, videos have better accessibility than articles, can be language-neutral, and allow live reporting.
It’s no wonder that some estimates indicate a video watch rate of around 70,000 per second on YouTube.
Blogging vs. Vlogging – The Equipment Needed
The blog vs. vlog debate addresses many topics, one of which is equipment requirements. It’s easy to assume that blogging is cheaper than vlogging due to the high video content production value of some vlogs. But that’s not always the case.
Blogging equipment rarely requires more than a laptop or desktop computer and a reliable internet connection. That’s all someone needs to do research, write, and upload blog posts and articles. However, there are hidden costs not everyone thinks about.
For example, if you want a blog, you may need to invest in a website. Not all blog posts can be uploaded to social media platforms. Standalone websites imply more authority and can be better at redirecting traffic and generating leads.
Vloggers used to have expensive equipment requirements. Microphones, cameras, and editing software were all considerable investments a few years ago.
But these days, a good smartphone can capture high-quality video and audio content for a vlog post.
Naturally, you’ll need dedicated equipment for recording, editing, and storage purposes if you want better quality. But as technology becomes more accessible and cheaper, vlogging equipment costs will keep dropping.
Blogs vs. Vlogs – Monetization Models
There are quite a few ways to make money from blog and vlog content. Many don’t require high-income skills and apply to amateur blogging and vlogging.
Advertising
Monetizing a blog through advertising doesn’t happen overnight. You need to build the blog’s reputation and establish it as a credible source of information. Authority sites generate organic traffic, and that’s what Google AdSense wants to see.
Google’s paid ads can be embedded in blog posts and help blog owners make money. However, the remuneration depends on the click-through rate and several other factors. But that’s one quick way to make money from personal blogs for beginners.
Likewise, vloggers can use Google AdSense and other advertising programs. For example, many YouTube vloggers can make the bulk of their income from AdSense. Channels that hit certain viewership thresholds will be paid on engagement per ad.
Therefore, the more popular a YouTube channel, the more money it can make from Google AdSense and YouTube ads. But the monetization method is a staple for all blog and vlog endeavors.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is another popular source of income for blog and vlog owners. Although the two different formats require specific approaches, you can insert an affiliate link just about anywhere.
A blog post can contain affiliate anchor links and redirect online users to an e-commerce store. Similarly, vloggers can post affiliate links in the video description section. Many do this to promote courses, sell equipment and products they like, etc.
Online Courses
Selling an online course is a typical monetization method for a niche blog. Anyone with good knowledge in a particular area can create a course to help others learn.
This is also popular on video platforms. But many people prefer having a combination between written form and video form content when it comes to courses. Combining the two presentation methods makes it easier to learn and earn money from enrollment.
Sponsorships
Sponsorship is one of the best ways to earn money with a blog and vlog. Brands and companies will pay good money for blog posts on well-known and trusted websites. Authority sites and influencers can generate interest in new products and services and redirect traffic to various websites.
Likewise, vloggers also receive sponsorships from various companies and brands. It usually involves the vlogger dedicating a segment in their video to talk about the sponsor.
The deals can be structured in many ways, and some sponsors are very particular about what they want people to know about their brands. However, the profit isn’t based on click-through rates. Hence it can be more profitable than advertising with Google and affiliate marketing.
Paid Reviews
Paid reviews work differently than sponsored posts. Successful bloggers may do a paid review for a wide range of products and services.
Likewise, vloggers can create unboxing videos and behind-the-scenes YouTube videos where they review a specific product for a brand.
But the difference between blogging and vlogging is that the latter has higher monetization potential for paid reviews. People are more likely to trust actual footage of a product than long-format written content accompanied by pictures.
Channel Memberships
Earning money from memberships is often more of a vlogging monetization method. But the great thing about this is that generating more traffic isn’t a prerequisite for making money. All you need is someone to like your videos and content and subscribe to the platform.
You can create vlogs and gate them behind paywalls. Therefore, people who want to watch must pay. In addition, channel memberships can also work as a form of support. You can offer videos for free and still have people subscribe to your channel.
Live Streaming Donations
Accepting donations is another way to boost your income potential on several platforms. YouTube and Twitch are two of the most popular sites for vloggers. And both platforms allow users to donate money to their favorite content creators.
Selling Merchandise
Vloggers typically create their own brands. And with that comes the potential for creating another revenue stream.
Even if selling apparel and equipment featuring your brand doesn’t make the most money, it’s still worth considering. Today’s print-on-demand services make it easy to create and sell merchandise without the risk of overspending on inventory.
Email Marketing
This revenue stream doesn’t get enough credit among beginner bloggers. But it’s still one of the most reliable ways to get high conversion and click-through rates. And while vloggers can do this, email marketing makes the most sense for blogs.
Running a personal website, affiliate blog, business blog, or something similar makes it easy to collect email addresses. People can share their emails to receive tips, product launch information, discounts, and other relevant messages.
In contrast, a YouTube channel subscriber doesn’t need to check their email to see when their favorite content creator uploads vlog posts.
Once collected, email addresses can be used to promote products, send affiliate links, etc. Many bloggers may even sell the contact information to interested third parties.
Blogging vs. Vlogging – Production Costs and Time Consumption
Blog vs. Vlog Production Costs
When looking at blogging production costs, you must consider a few aspects:
- Equipment
- Hosting
- Website maintenance
- Content creation
The equipment needed to start blogging is minimal. A computer and an internet connection won’t cost a fortune. You’re uploading written content, not large videos. But even for a personal blog, your hosting and website maintenance expenses can be in the hundreds or thousands of dollars range per year.
In addition, you can account for content creation as an added production cost. Not every blogger has enough time to research, curate, and upload content on a set schedule. Hiring a ghostwriter or writing team adds to the overall blogging expenses.
Vlogging production costs are slightly different. There are a few initial investments you may need to make:
- A good camera
- A reliable microphone
- Decent lighting
- Video editing software
- Hardware or cloud storage (optional)
- Good bandwidth and upload speed
- Hosting (optional)
Once you have a decent studio setup, you can start creating vlogs immediately, assuming you have some ideas. If not, new AI-powered tools like ChatGPT might be able to give you a couple of pointers.
But one thing most vloggers don’t have to worry about is hosting. Platforms like YouTube and Twitch let you upload videos for free. Therefore, your videos don’t need a personal website or substantial local storage. You just need money to keep paying your internet service provider and utility bills.
Time consumption, on the other hand, is a different story.
Blogging vs. Vlogging Time Consumption
It’s hard to put a number on how many hours you might spend on creating a blog post or vlog. There are too many variables involved, including but not limited to the following:
- Coming up with ideas
- Researching
- Writing
- Proofreading
- Creating a script
- Finding images and graphs
- Recording
- Editing
- Uploading
In a way, blogging should be less time-consuming. But that can depend entirely on your niche and your research and writing skills.
Vlogging can take longer because you might make several recordings until you get the best footage. Likewise, editing videos can take longer than proofreading articles and short written posts.
But here’s a major difference between blogging and vlogging. You can do live vlogs with a minimalistic setup and still connect with and engage your audience. It’s easy to pull out your phone and shoot a live video when you have something relevant to present to your target audience.
This key factor makes the vlog business model ideal for reaching audiences quickly.
Blogging and Vlogging – Can They Be Done Together?
The blog vs. vlog debate is often misunderstood. People who want to start affiliate marketing with no money opt for the easier and cheaper approach. They don’t often consider the benefits of using and mastering both methods.
Whether blogging and vlogging can be combined has a simple answer. Yes.
Blogging and vlogging are complementary methods of presenting content to your ideal audience. They allow brands, individuals, and companies to reach people on multiple channels. And that’s the essence of a solid content marketing strategy.
Both blogs and vlogs offer valuable content based on people’s preferred methods to digest said content. Likewise, you can build authority and trust through content quality using video format and written material.
In addition, once you start blogging and build a following, it’s easier and more affordable to start vlogging. And the reverse also applies.
Choosing Blogging or Vlogging
The blog vs. vlog debate is a moot point. Eventually, you must engage in both to reach a larger audience and present all consumable content formats. However, the blog vs. vlog debate can have merit in the beginning. Ideally, you should start with the medium your main audience prefers. It’s either that or picking the option you feel most comfortable with based on your skills.
