Vlogging vs Blogging; Which one should you go with? This is a question that comes up often when people are thinking about creating content online.
If you are stuck deciding between the two, we could perhaps help. In this article, we will show you what to consider between the two forms of content and what they are best at.
Difference Between a Blog vs. a Vlog
Before we start diving into each form of content, it is helpful to give a clear definition for each and the difference between vlogging vs. blogging.
What is a Blog: A blog is content primarily made up of text posts. They come in the form of a website or a blog hosting platform. Often they feature informational content or personal thoughts and ideas similar to an online journal. Or a combination of the two.
What is a Vlog: Similar to a blog, a vlog is video content post. Like a blog, a vlog can be informational, or more personal. Often a vlog also has supporting text, images, and other metadata to go with it.
We will now compare vlogging vs blogging in terms of engagement, audience retention, SEO, and barrier-to-entry.
Engagement
Peoples attention spans have gotten a lot shorter nowadays. With the internet, people can get any info they want at any time. Because of this, vlogging is the ideal format to engage audiences quickly. It seems visuals are a better fit for today’s hectic lifestyles.
Video is very good at grabbing people’s attention quickly. It is also the ideal format to communicate emotions as people can see your body language and voice instead of just words. With text, you lose all the nuance of nonverbal communication. So in terms of engagement, vlogging is the superior medium.
Still, many people just prefer to read text sometimes. Blogs will always have a place, even when we have access to video, podcasts, and other mediums. Text allows readers to consume content at their own pace; They might skim through titles and paragraphs, or read something word by word. This is something they are not able to do with a vlog.
Text might be a better fit for some type of content than others, it depends on the topic you have chosen, and if your audience prefers reading or watching a video.
Audience Retention
Several studies have shown that, on average, people retain 95% of a video’s message. Compare that to just 10% of text. This most likely has to do with that we are better at understanding and remember visuals that text.
But to be fair, most blogs are not just a chunk of text. Well-made blogposts usually have visuals and graphics to help the readers grasp the message better and bring a visual component. So it really depends. But generally speaking, video should be better at getting the message to stick in the audience’s heads.
SEO
There is an aspect of search engine optimization to this too. As search engines use keywords to rank results, blogs give you a lot of room to adjust. Compare that with a vlog on youtube where you only have the title, description, and tag as the primary ways to include keywords.
Barrier to Entry & Production
Blogs can be started for very cheap. You can easily find a blog hosting platform or start your own website with WordPress. It is also a lot faster to produce written content than dealing with video production and editing. So in terms of work and speed, blogging beats vlogging.
One thing to consider is because of the higher barrier to entry, you can expect some less competition starting a vlog compared to starting a blog that literally anyone could do. If you are willing to do the work and invest the time, you can stand out from your competitors by doing vlogs.
How to Decide
So how do you decide if you should go with vlogging or blogging?
Begin by doing some research to figure out how your audience likes to consume content in your niche. As we mentioned above, some people simply like reading more, while others want to watch a video.
Also, consider your own preferences. If you do not like being in front of a camera, there is, of course, no point in starting a vlog. Or maybe you are terrible with writing bur great on camera. Whether you choose vlogging or blogging, you must pick something you feel comfortable with and want to improve on.
Your free time should also be a factor to consider. Think about how much work you can do any given day. Vlogging often takes considerably more time than a blog, and you probably have to learn some editing as well.
Turn Your Vlog Into a Blog
If you are worried you are missing out on one of the two, why not do both if you can.
A good youtube video can comprise all other mediums; In a vlog, you can include text, music, audio, infographics. This means you could actually turn a vlog into a blog by simply transcribing and refining what was said.
You can use a service like AmberScript that does an automated transcription you can edit later. They also provide manual transcriptions if you want to do less work yourself. Or you could hire a freelancer from Fiverr to turn your youtube videos into blog posts.
This way, you get the best of both worlds and satisfy both the audiences that like to read and the people that enjoy watching a video.
In Conclusion: Vlogging vs Blogging, Which is Better?
So, in the end, if you have to choose between either vlogging vs. blogging, which one wins? It will ultimately come down to your audience’s preferences and how you like to make content.
In a way, vlogging is generally better because it can easily be turned into other content forms very easily, for example, by transcribing a vlog into a blog post or releasing the audio as a podcast. If you are still struggling to decide, but you can do both formats, go for vlogging.
If you want to start vlogging, check out our ultimate guide to starting a vlog in 2020.
