Blogging vs. Vlogging

I’ll be the first to admit I’m not overly fond of the term “vlog”. It seems like a lazy way to make a distinction between two forms of the same media; and since the word blog is an abbreviation of the word weblog, it could just as easily refer to a video blog, art blog, or photoblog. Since, however, I will be juxtaposing the text blog and the video blog I will use this made us sounding word to my advantage in the interest of clarity and brevity.

Vlogging has, predictably, grown a lot in popularity over the last decade. Equipment is not longer a much of a barrier in video, opening the vlogging world to endless personalities looking to a make a name for themselves. YouTube has made huge strides in cementing the vlog as its own, individual industry.

Time Is Crucial

The site bloggingbooks.net states that only around 20% of the text on a website is read by users. Some comparable numbers for vlogs: 10% of viewers stop watching after just 10 seconds and 54% stop after 1 minute. Attention spans are at an all time low, which is why you need to make use of the most engaging medium possible. Video uses intriguing images and aural engagement to create an unmatched pace of information delivery. You can make polished, effective videos that end in one minute and I would caution not to go over two minutes maximum unless done for a specific reason. Professional YouTube personalities are paid by the minute of watch-time, but in the world of marketing you’re paid in conversion rates. Which brings me to the next advantage that vlogging has over blogging.

Websites with video have nearly double the conversion rate

Website that utilize video have a 4.8% conversion rate. Of course, that seems low, but compare that to the 2.9% rate of websites without video. These are just raw stats and do not indicate how the videos are being used, but in my experience, I see more bad video than good video on new websites. Many people are hearing these numbers and simply posting low effort videos with little understanding of the medium. The vlog is definitely the easiest and fastest way to add video to your website. In my next entry I’ll discuss all the nuances of setting up a vlog and how to create each entry.

The best of both worlds

I do believe that vlogging has an inherent value over blogging in this particular market. The clicks that video gets over simple text will continue to increase for the foreseeable future. The great news is, however, there is no real reason that you need to choose one over the other. Different people prefer to consume information in different ways. The best method to reaching the most people is to blog with videos and text and choose the medium based on the subject matter.

Thanks for reading and check out my next entry all about the specifics of video blogging.