Brand, Web & Presence

Should I write blog posts or make YouTube videos to get found first?

A starting point

Pick the format you can sustain weekly for a year, because both compound slowly and neither works if you quit at month three. If you already talk well and hate writing, YouTube (which also feeds Google search) beats a blog you abandon. A good starting point: do one for six months, look at what actually brought inbound, then double down.

Go deeper

Hand-picked from around the web, each with a note on why it earns your time.

3 resources 3 link-checked Watch Read

Watch

▶️ Video
✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it Before you commit to video, it helps to see what committing to video actually asks of you, and Colin and Samir compress a decade of making YouTube plus interviews with hundreds of creators into one free session. It is honest about the packaging work (titles, thumbnails, holding attention) that blogging does not demand in the same way. Use it to gut-check whether video is a lane you can sustain, not just one that sounds exciting.

The YouTube Playbook in 37 Minutes

On YouTube by Colin and Samir 37 min

The YouTube Playbook in 37 Minutes
  • YouTube rewards earning the click and respecting the viewer's time, which is real ongoing craft, not a one-time setup
  • Growth comes from consistency over months, so be honest about your production bandwidth before you pick video
  • A written post can go live in an hour; a watchable video rarely can, and that difference should shape your first choice
Watch on YouTube youtube.com →

Read

✍️ Essay
✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it Welsh built a large audience by going deep on one platform first, and this essay makes the case plainly: learn the nuances of a single channel, get momentum, then expand, rather than spreading yourself thin across everything at once. That is exactly the fork a founder faces when deciding between blogging and YouTube. Treat it as a way to think about the choice, not a rule that video or writing is always right.

How to Create a Social Media Content Strategy

From justinwelsh.me by Justin Welsh ~10 min read

  • Pick one platform and get genuinely good at it before adding a second, so you build real momentum instead of shallow presence everywhere
  • Consistency beats intensity: a schedule you can actually keep matters more than the perfect first post
  • Your choice should follow where you can show up week after week, not where the hype is
Open justinwelsh.me →
📄 Article
✓ Link checked Free Intermediate

Why we picked it Most founders frame this as blog for SEO versus video for reach, and this Ahrefs piece dismantles that split: video shows up inside Google's results, so a YouTube video can be a search asset too. It walks through how to earn those video placements and pull traffic back to your site. Read it to stop treating video and search as separate bets.

Video SEO: How to Rank YouTube Videos on Google

From Ahrefs by Joshua Hardwick ~15 min read

  • Google surfaces videos directly in search, so YouTube is a way to get found, not just a subscriber play
  • Ranking a video leans on real search demand, clear captions, thumbnails, and timestamps, not luck
  • A single video can drive views on YouTube and organic clicks to your own site at the same time
Open ahrefs.com →

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