Why Your Blog is More Important Than Instagram

With all the hype around the new Instagram update, now is the perfect time to talk about why your blog is more important than Instagram. A lot of people are outraged by the change and for good reason. Now we have to search each person whose feed we want to see if we don’t comment or like their pictures obsessively. Yes it’s annoying but there’s a silver lining, I promise. 

If you’re a dedicated, hardcore blogger, Instagram’s update should be your last concern. Building a business should be your first concern and while Instagram helps to do that, it shouldn’t be the foundation for which you build on. Change is inevitable and social media updates are going to happen, but if you’ve run your blog the “right way” then you’ll know why your blog is more important than Instagram and if you still need some convincing, read on.

your blog will never change

Your blog will never change unless you change it. You have complete control over your blog because you own it, you built it, and you can do whatever you want with it! Any updates your blog goes through will be because you authorized it. Change is only bad when it happens unexpectedly and you have little time to prepare, (and life gives us plenty of that as it is!). But when it comes to your blog you’ll always be prepared for any changes that do come.

You never know what’s going to happen with Instagram since it’s owned by a third party. Even if its users protest change and are totally outraged, it may slow the process down but the updates will still happen because you know why? We cry, we complain, then we get over it and still use the platform!

At the end of the day, Instagram is a business and businesses need to make money. The only way for businesses to continue to make money, (or make more money), is through change.

Now, people are going to pay for Instagram ads to get their content seen by their followers and then some. It’s actually super smart on Instagram’s part and we shouldn’t be mad at them for finding creative ways to make money. We all gotta eat!

social media comes & goes

Remember Xanga, MySpace, and Livejournal? If you don’t it’s because social media comes and goes so quickly it’s almost impossible to keep up.

And Instagram will be added to the list at some point I’m sure, along with Facebook, Snapchat, and Periscope. But for now, we can enjoy and utilize them while they last.

My point is this: if you put all your eggs in one basket and wake up one day to realize the social media platform you invested in is no longer there, you’re SOL. The best way to stop it is by investing more in your blog than Instagram. That’s not to say you should half-ass your Instagram, not at all! Your Instagram is a reflection of you so it should express that to your followers. I’m saying if you’re one of those Instagram stars the sooner you start a blog to back your pretty pictures, the better.

What would you do if Instagram went away tomorrow? Where would your business be?

Most of us would say our businesses would be mediocre and we’d have to find another platform to dominate, which takes a lot of time and a lot of effort. When your blog is your main place of business, you don’t have to worry about the future of social media because your website gets enough traffic, sales, etc.

your instagram followers are fake

Ok, not all of them, but it’s unlikely you have a 100% authentic, active, engaged audience. There are bots (robots) out there and you do have some following you for whatever reason.

Plus, if you’ve ever done a giveaway on your Instagram that gained an absurd amount of followers, odds are the host actually bought fake followers for everyone which does absolutely nothing for you or your brand. (SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT: Email me to join a high-quality, highly targeted US giveaway brittany@notanotherblonde.com!)

Let’s say you’ve somehow managed to weed out all your bot accounts, there are still some Instagrammers that will follow you simply for a follow back. Yuck.

These people follow you to get your attention, hope for a follow back, and if you don’t give it to them they instantly unfollow you and do the whole thing again in a few weeks. It’s a sneaky little game that a lot of people, especially bloggers/entrepreneurs, play to try and get ahead. Spoiler alert: There is no fast track to success.

The same thing can happen with comments and likes. Some people only comment on your Instagram for a comment back, sadly. I would say 8 times out of 10 the people who comment “So cute babe!”, don’t actually mean it. The ones who do mean it are the ones who are responding to your caption with something other than a generic phrase. (Blog tip: Leave authentic comments on other blogger’s accounts if you want authentic comments back. That’s how true connection is formed.)

Key takeaways: What it really comes to is that Instagram, and any other social media platform, is there for people to build brand awareness, not to build a business. Social media adds to our businesses without a doubt, but it should not be the only way our businesses survive.

What’s your take on the new Instagram algorithm? Tell me about it below!

xx