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I would first like to say there are two very distinctive types of blogging.
Brand Blogging
Niche Site Blogging
Brand blogging typically involves running Pinterest and working to gain followers via social media and email marketing. This style can come with large amounts of constant busywork. Promotion is a huge part of this blogging strategy.
Niche site blogging is more about keyword research and relying on SEO. Most of the work is done before publishing the content. The content then gets to the reader when they search for it.
I have an entire article breaking this down futher. Do You Need Clarity on These Two Types of Bloggers?
When it comes to launching multiple sites it is much smarter for the niche site blogger. They typically desire multiple blogs. The brand blogger has such a huge focus on a single blog that it makes it difficult to launch and run multiple blogs.
For the most part in this article, I am speaking from the perspective of the brand blogger.
Positives to Launching a Second Blog
1. Blog #2 Will be Better than #1
I feel confident in saying that your second blog should and will be better than your first. You have learned so many skills along the way. You probably can’t name all of them.
Your first blog was a learning experience.
Your second blog is the opportunity to start over with a wealth of knowledge.
Some areas you could be leaps and bounds better during your second launch include SEO, permalinks, blog post titles, and so much more.
Just think of all the mistakes you made the first time around. Where would your blog be if you could have skipped all those struggles?
From a technical and content quality standard, I can almost guarantee your second blog will be better than your first.
2. Your Second Niche May Be More Enjoyable
When you first got into blogging you may not have fully realized the commitment to your topic. At this point, you may be burned out on it or realize it may not be the best topic for you. With the launch of your second website and blog, you understand what you are getting into.
Your second blog is an opportunity to make a better niche selection.
With blog #2 you can slow down and put the necessary thought into your niche before diving in.
3. Better for Business
Your first blog might not be all that great for business. Some areas to consider for bringing in an income include affiliate links, brand deals, ads, and product opportunities.
Your first blog might not be the best for some of these categories.
With the creation of your second blog, you can think about all of these areas and do proper research before making a niche selection.
Of course, you should have thought of all this with blog #1, but you simply may not have known at the time.
4. Two Topics to Write About
A huge positive to running two blogs is the variety in content creation. Having two blogs has the potential to help curb blogger burnout.
If you are feeling burned out on a topic you can focus on your other blog for some time. Once burned out on that you can go back to the first option.
Your brain may crave the variety of running two blogs. It can also help keep things fresh.
When you come back from a break you may have new and creative ideas for content or strategies to implement.
Negatives to Launching a Second Blog
1. Your Focus is Split
A huge challenge with running two blogs is split focus. You aren’t completely committed to one blog with one focus. Instead, you may bounce between the two blogs which can be distracting.
You also have to give time and love to both blogs. Just imagine where blog #1 would be if all your time and attention were put exclusively there. How much time have you or will you need to give to blog #2 when it is launched?
2. Overwhelming
Running two blogs can quickly become overwhelming. The number of log-ins and passwords is a lot to track. Just think about website upkeep, passwords, affiliate programs, email marketing, and ads. These are all difficult to manage even if you only have a single blog.
You may have certain steps complete on one blog, but not on the other.
It took me over 7 months to get a favicon for blog #2. Blog #1 had it during the initial setup phase. Blog #2 had a more drawn-out setup. I also thought I have claimed my website on my Pinterest account for Blog#1 and only needed to do so for Blog #2. Upon further discovery, it appears this task needs to be completed still for both blogs. How did I miss this?!? Well to put it simply I am overwhelmed with the two blogs.
You may find yourself overwhelmed by taking on too much.
A few months after launching blog #2 I started incorporating Pinterest. Pinterest has turned into the biggest time-suck. I am tempted to drop it but just can’t pull the trigger.
Running Pinterest accounts and creating pins for two blogs has been quite overwhelming.
3. Both Blogs make Minimal Progress
When you are running multiple blogs your focus and attention is split, as well as your time.
Both blogs could be suffering.
Where would your blog be if it was your sole focus?
Running two blogs can feel like you are stuck churning out content and nothing else.
If I only had one blog maybe by now I would have put time into creating a digital product such as a course or an e-book.
It is a lot easier to push one boulder up a hill than to try to push two at once.
4. Two Different Strategies
A negative to running two blogs is that they are likely in two different places with two different strategies.
You may have thought it was difficult to juggle two different topics, but this just opens your eyes to even more differences.
One blog may be in the making money phase, while the other is in the early content creation stage. You may be focused on email marketing and product promotion over here. While over here you are doing keyword research, writing content, and linking articles.
This can be great in that your schedule has variety, but can once again cause you to split your focus and feel pulled in many different directions.
You may have completely different plans for your blogs as businesses based on the topics they cover.
My Experience Launching a Second Blog
I started my first blog, a mommy and parenting blog, in January 2021. Then six months later I launched a second blog, a blog about blogging, in July 2021.
Blog #1 mommy and parenting www.momwifeandeverydaylife.com
Blog#2 blogging journey www.bloggingwithamanda.com
It wasn’t particularly difficult to write content for blog #2 because most of it was documented during my early months of blog#1.
See I knew I intended to launch this second blog.
Each month I also create income and traffic reports. These have mostly been traffic reports, unfortunately.
Still waiting for the money to start rolling in!
What I found difficult was maintaining two websites. There were things I wasn’t getting to such as creating a favicon for #2 or claiming my websites on Pinterest. Little, but important things were getting missed because my focus was all over.
The other huge hurdle has been running two Pinterest accounts. I find Pinterest to be a huge time suck. I am constantly working to improve my processes and efficiency, but in the end, it still takes time.
I did wait a few months into blog #2 before jumping onto Pinterest. Looking back I think I could have waited even longer.
I love both my blogs for very different reasons. I see the benefit of being able to work on one and then take a break to work on the other.
I do wonder though where blog #1 could be if it were my sole focus. Would I have a product launched? Would I be building a course or e-book?
You should think hard before launching a second website.
Final Thoughts
I have a few final thoughts for you on whether or not you should launch a second blog.
Do not launch a second blog until you are confident in your first blog. Wait to see some success. Otherwise, it is the blind leading the blind.
If you base blog #2 off blog #1 you could end up with two very flawed blogs.
Give yourself a chance to learn first.
Take what you learn and build it into blog #2 from the beginning.
Before you launch a second blog work on streamlining processes. Where are you going to get more time to work on blog #2? Are you going to work less on blog #1?
Get more efficient with the processes involved in running blog#1 and then you will create time for blog #2.
If you now think you are ready to launch a second blog good luck to you!
Check Out My Articles
6 Struggles You Will Face in Your First 6 Months Blogging
Do You Need Clarity on These Two Types of Bloggers?
How Much Time Commitment Do You Need to Launch a New Blog?
The Astounding Number of Things You Will Learn Your First Year Blogging