Quick Answer: YouTube & blogging both have their pros & cons & which one will be most profitable depends on the individual that’s asking the question. On this page, we’ll run through the advantages & disadvantages of both to help you figure out which one is best for you.
If you’ve been looking to start building an income online through affiliate marketing, you’ll have likely heard that creating blog posts or publishing YouTube videos are 2 of the best ways to generate traffic.
And it’s true, they are. By publishing content online, you can start generating traffic & earning commissions as an affiliate with next to no upfront cost whatsoever (other than investing a little bit of your time).
But which one is better? Is blogging or YouTube more profitable?
And what are the pros & cons of each?
Those are some very good questions to ask & the good news is that if you’ve been asking them, you’ve landed in exactly the right place to find out the answers.
In this blog post, we’ll be putting blogging & YouTube head to head & determining not just which one is best overall but, most importantly, which one is best (and most profitable) for YOU.
So let’s dive in…
Blogging vs YouTube – Which Is Best?
At a glance, a lot of people think that YouTube is the most profitable platform & the easiest one to start creating content for, but that’s not necessarily true.
You see, whilst, in theory, it may sound quite simple to just “point and shoot” a video & publish it, the reality is that producing video content be quite time-consuming.
And often, it can actually end up being even more time-consuming than creating written content.
But of course, that’s not the case for everybody – some people find they’re able to create video content more quickly, whilst others find they’re able to create written content more quickly.
However, putting the time it takes to create the content aside, there are 3 more important factors in determining which is best and those are:
- How quickly you can start getting traffic (views)
- How much traffic you can get
- How well the traffic converts into revenue
And for the first 2, YouTube does generally come up on top.
This means that if you publish videos on YouTube, you can generally get your first views relatively quickly & with a little effort, you can quite easily get a lot of views overall.
Whereas with a blog, it can take quite a lot longer. In fact, it can actually take you months before you start getting your first visitors.
So you might be wondering, how could a blog possibly be better at all?
Well, here’s the deal. YouTube typically falls down when it comes to converting traffic into revenue. In short, YouTube views generally don’t equate to as much $$ as blog views.
This is because people watching videos on YouTube are already preoccupied with… Well, watching videos on YouTube… So it can be more difficult to grab their attention & convert them into a sale.
So whilst it may take a blog longer initially to start generating traffic (views), when it does start actually generating traffic, it’ll likely end up making much more money.
And not only that, but high-quality blog content typically receives traffic for much longer than video content as well.
This means that not only will you likely earn more per view on your blog content, but you’ll also earn more in the long run in general because you’ll typically end up with more views overall on your blog content.
So, let’s make that comparison a little easier to see side-by-side.
Blogging vs YouTube At A Glance
| Blogging | YouTube |
| It can take a long time to start getting views | You can start getting views pretty quickly |
| Views typically worth more money | Views typically worth less money |
| Traffic lifespan is typically longer | Traffic lifespan can be quite short |
| Similar content creation time overall | Similar content creation time overall |
As you can likely now see after looking at the side-by-side comparison table above, it’s very close between the two & there is no clear winner yet.
So let’s take a closer look into the incomes of both bloggers & YouTubers to see if that sets the two apart.
How Much Do Bloggers Make?
Bloggers don’t get paid a set rate. Instead, they typically earn through various means such as affiliate commissions, advertisement revenue, guest posts & more.
As a result, their income depends on various factors such as:
- Their chosen monetization methods
- Their conversion rates
- Their chosen niche
- And most importantly, how hard they work
However, we can still provide rough estimates of what you could expect. So let’s run through those below:
- Blogger (0-6 months): <$100/mo
- Blogger (6-12 months): $100 to $1,000/mo
- Blogger (12+ months): >$1,000/mo
And those income figures will have the potential to become passive, meaning that even if the blogger stops blogging, their blogs should still continue to generate that revenue on autopilot with very little interaction for an extended period of time.
A blogger could even end up becoming a millionaire.
But remember, those figures are just estimates only based on what we’ve seen from our own experiences & what we’ve heard from our students.
It could vary a lot. It could take you longer, or, who knows, you could get lucky & start earning sooner.
How Much Do YouTubers Make?
YouTubers typically get paid roughly the same amount as bloggers for the amount of time & effort they put in. It tends to balance out.
The only difference is that it’s typically easier to get things happening a little bit faster on YouTube than with a blog.
For example, you could publish a video on YouTube today & start getting views a few hours later (depending on your chosen keyword).
Whereas with a blog, you’d need to wait for search engines to index it before it could stand any chance of appearing within the results.
The downside, however, is that YouTube videos can have a bit of a shorter lifespan than blog content (but not always), meaning if you stop producing content, your income could take a hit pretty quickly.
And remember, when publishing on YouTube, you are also not in control of your content. Your content is at the mercy of YouTube.
This means that if they decide to delete it for whatever reason, as they do from time to time with many creators, your income could vanish entirely overnight.
So YouTube can offer you speed, but it also brings you added risks.
A blog, on the other hand, is 100% yours. You’re in full control, so your income is much more secure.
Should You Start A Blog Or YouTube Channel First?
Even though YouTube can see you generating traffic more quickly, a blog will act as a centralized platform for all your promotions.
For example, let’s say you’re creating content on YouTube & you want to create some funnels to promote products & build an email list. How do you do it? You need a website (a blog).
So, for this reason, we will always recommend that you start a blog before a YouTube channel.
But on top of that, a blog & YouTube channel work hand-in-hand, so you should, ideally, create both.
Do what we do & what we teach here at Commission Academy, which is this:
- Find a keyword to target
- Create a blog post targeting the keyword
- Record a video & publish it to YouTube whilst it’s fresh in your mind
- Embed the YouTube video in your blog post
That is the ultimate winning combination because having videos embedded in your blog posts will help your blog post rank in search engines & when your blog post ranks, that will help your video get views.
So going down the route of both a blog & a YouTube channel is not only the fastest way to grow your income, but it’s also the way to grow your income as large as possible.
However, if you had to pick only 1, I would always suggest starting a blog first.
As mentioned on this page, YouTube is a good traffic source, but your content is at the mercy of YouTube at all times, so a blog would provide you with a more stable income.
Is Blogging A Dying Trend?
Absolutely not. Blogging is simply sharing opinions & information in written form & there is no way that blogging will ever die.
Creators will always want to share information & consumers will always want to consume it, so it’s safe to say that blogging is here to stay.
After all, whilst video & audio can be nice formats, there are times when you simply prefer to read written information than to listen to it or watch it… And that’s where blogs come in.
So there is no need to be concerned about blogging dying because the rumours are simply not true.
The rumours have just been created by so-called “gurus” who are trying to sell shiny objects that are supposedly better than blogging.
Don’t fall for their lies. Build a blog & reap the rewards.
The Bottom Line: Is Blogging More Profitable Than YouTube?
Ultimately, neither blogging nor YouTube is more profitable than the other. For the amount of effort put in, both methods generate similar results.
So, in reality, it is simply a case of which medium you prefer to create content via. Some people prefer to create videos, whereas others (like me) prefer to create written content or blog posts.
But you won’t earn less by choosing 1 over the other.
However, as mentioned earlier, the best approach is to do both blogging & YouTube. That will enable you to grow your income the fastest & to grow it the largest.
Overall though, the most profitable business is the one that you are most passionate about & enjoy working on the most, so pick whichever you feel you’ll enjoy the most & just go for it! 💪
Hopefully, this article has been insightful to you, but if you do still happen to have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to leave them below.
