Blogging in 2026: A Reality Check
• Originally broadcast December 15th, 2025 via email •
| 💡 Travel Blogging Tip of the Week 💡 Blogging In 2026.. What Should We Expect? |
I can’t tell you how many people I’ve talked to who still haven’t started their blog because they’re telling themselves,
“It’s 2026.. it’s too late to start blogging.”
They were saying the same thing in 2022. And 2019. And 2016.
Most of the time, it’s not a lack of desire. They want a life that feels more aligned with their goals and dreams, not one where they’re going to a job they only *kind of* like every day.
They’re just held back by the fear that there are already too many bloggers, that AI will replace everything, or that no one will care what they have to say.
If that sounds like you, consider this your call-out.
Not starting a blog because of fear isn’t protecting you, it’s just keeping you stuck right where you are. And my goal with this email is to help you see why waiting is actually the bigger risk.
So what can we expect heading into 2026?
Let’s jump in.
Will AI destroy all blogs?
I keep hearing this:
“I can’t start a blog now. AI is better than humans. Blogs are basically over.”
Full stop with that.
AI isn’t killing blogs.
Here’s what IS happening in the land of AI:
As AI improves, a lot of humans are backing out. Bloggers are quitting. OR they are leaning way too hard on AI and pumping out bland, copy-paste content with no human experience.
That has created something called content scarcity (this is very important, you can look it up).
Content scarcity doesn’t mean there isn’t enough content online; I think we all know there’s more than ever.
It means genuinely original, experience-based, human content is getting harder and harder to find.
And people can TELL.
YOU can tell, can’t you? I know I can 🙋♀️
AI models require fresh, authentic material to “train” from. When that dries up, they start training on recycled AI content instead. And over time, the output becomes low-quality and repetitive.
That’s why the content that stands out now (and into the future) is personal and REAL.
I know it’s hard to believe, but AI is actually doing bloggers a favor and making our voices way more valuable.
The gap between generic AI content and genuine human insight is widening fast, and that shift will catch up (quickly).
What this means for you: you should be in the blogging game now using your own authentic voice, opinions, ideas, and stories to create content for other humans.
(I want to be clear: AI should be a tool you use, but not the voice behind your content. Your experiences and perspective still need to be yours)
You will be grateful you did!
So how do you capitalize on your blog and human voice in 2026?
If authentic, human content is the advantage, what should you be focused on in 2026 to make that work for you?
- You should own your audience
When a platform changes the rules (I’m looking at you Google, Pinterest, Facebook, IG, TikTok, etc), email is what keeps you in touch with the people who already raised their hand for your content.
I feel like a broken record but, start an email list.
Craft a newsletter that people want to read. Follow other newsletters and see what they’re doing. Then figure out how you can mold that into something unique for your audience.
Right now, I manage six different newsletters:
- One specifically for my Scale Your Travel Blog students
- This newsletter you’re reading now (for travel bloggers)
- Two additional newsletters in the travel space
- A financial newsletter
- A newsletter for intermediate guitarists
And I fully plan to start at least two more newsletters in 2026 (possibly three 😂).
In fact, if either of my two new newsletters sound interesting, you can opt in below and I’ll let you know when they’re live!
>> Click here if you want to be added to my free newsletter about creating and selling online courses.
>> Click here if you want to be added to my free newsletter about moving abroad
You should diversify your traffic
Relying on a single platform is the biggest risk you can take as a bloggers.
Google, Pinterest, and social can still be very powerful, but none of them should be your only source of traffic.
So no, don’t abandon SEO. And if your niche fits, don’t give up on Pinterest either. Just make sure they’re layers in your strategy, not the entire foundation.
I like to use what I call the “mood test”. Ask yourself, “if one traffic source dropped tomorrow, would it ruin my day?”
If the answer is yes, it’s time to diversify.
🚨 Quick reminder:
My friend and Scale Your Travel Blog student, Stephanie Rytting, recently launched a blogging course that’s all about diversifying your traffic using the lesser-known news platform, Flipboard.
Flipboard is one of the ways Stephanie diversified her traffic, and her blogs now bring in around $8,000/month (that income is from her sites, not from selling this course).
If you’ve been wanting a new traffic layer that isn’t Google-only, this is worth checking out.
- 20% off for my newsletter readers
- Use discount code: LAURA
- Deal ends: December 20th
>> Click here to grab Stephanie’s course, Flipboard for Bloggers!
You should repurpose your content
At this point you might be thinking,
“Cool, but how am I supposed to be on 10+ platforms when I barely have time for my blog as it is?”
Fair. But to be clear, that’s not what I’m suggesting.
Repurposing doesn’t mean being everywhere. It means letting one solid piece of content do more than one job.
One of the best examples of this is Baby Shark. I call them the repurposing KINGS.
I watch Baby Shark on YouTube at least five times a day (I have a 1.5-year-old daughter and she’s obsessed 🥴).
Anyway, this started as one simple video until… it exploded into a $400 million dollar business.
And the way they did it was genius. They didn’t reinvent the wheel every time, they just reused the same core idea across different formats, platforms, and products.
They did more of what was working.
That’s exactly how this should look for your blog, too.
Your blog post is the main asset. From there, you pull from it:
- an email to your list
- a few Pinterest pins
- a Flipboard post
- maybe a short social post that sends people back to the original article
You’re not trying to be everywhere. You’re building a content flywheel where one post keeps working for you in multiple places without starting from scratch every time.
Once I had my content flywheel figured out, I was suddenly doing in two hours what used to take me a full week. No exaggeration.
Coming Up Next: Success Stories!
- How Christy is crushing it with blog sponsors (and making them a consistent income stream)
- How Liz turned her local blog content into themed coloring books sold in local shops (and what this means for thinking beyond digital income)
- How Ana built a bilingual site from scratch, taught herself the technical side, and used it to reach a wider audience with more intention
Laura
P.S. If someone sent you this newsletter, and you want to receive more from me, click here to join 30,000+ bloggers already subscribed!
Scale Your Travel Blog is currently CLOSED for enrollment until January 2026. To join our waitlist, please click here!
