Bloggers began as individuals using simple online platforms to share personal opinions, diaries, and niche expertise.
Today, it exists inside a vastly more complex ecosystem: social platforms decide what people see, audiences expect multimedia storytelling, advertisers demand measurable ROI, and AI tools can both amplify and undercut creators.
For bloggers who want to influence conversations, build sustainable audiences, and earn a living, relying on writing alone is no longer enough.
Ghanaian blogger Felix Adomako Mensah, popularly known as Zionfelix, has urged content creators in the digital space to acquire new skills to improve their work.
He stressed that the fast-changing media landscape demands that bloggers adapt to modern technology to remain relevant.
“We all need to upgrade ourselves; we all need to learn. Most of us didn’t attend GIJ or any media school. We all found passion in the job, and we entered into it. Thinking about the fact that we want to do this for a long time, we need to learn on the job. Some of us have learnt on the job because how we started years ago is not the same as how we are today.”
Zionfelix
Zionfelix also called on the New Media Association of Ghana to organise more training programmes that will help bloggers enhance their craft.
“It’s not just about writing. It is not just about putting content out. A lot of things go into it. Even now, we have people who go to events and take videos and put them together, and do very beautiful editing. So, as you also go to events, you need to know how to edit. It is not just about taking videos. It is not like the normal vlogging we did five years ago. People want to watch something that will appeal to them.”
Zionfelix
Audiences no longer discover content solely through RSS feeds or links; they encounter it on social networks, search engines, newsletters, and podcasts.
Platforms prioritize short-form video, instant engagement signals, and mobile-friendly formats. Meanwhile, advertisers and partners expect creators to demonstrate audience demographics and conversion metrics.
Ignoring these shifts means losing visibility, influence, and income. Upgrading skills equips bloggers to work with platforms instead of being sidelined by them.
Text will always be a core blogging skill, but multimedia increases discoverability and time-on-content. Short video snippets for TikTok or Instagram Reels funnel new readers to long-form posts.
Audio versions or podcasts reach commuters and multitaskers. Basic image editing and design improve click-through and social share rates.
Learning to shoot decent video with a smartphone, edit audio for clarity, and create clean visual assets (Canva, basic Adobe Premiere, or free alternatives) multiplies a blog’s touchpoints and makes content more shareable across platforms.
Quality content that nobody finds is wasted effort. Search engine optimization (SEO) and analytics literacy let bloggers understand what topics perform, which headlines convert, and which referral channels matter.
Tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and SEO plugins (e.g., Yoast) reveal how search and referral traffic behave; social analytics show what content resonates on each platform.
Interpreting that data lets bloggers prioritize topics, optimize headlines, format posts for featured snippets, and measure conversion for newsletters or products — turning audience intuition into repeatable growth.
Ethics, Accessibility, and Digital Responsibility
Upgrading isn’t only technical. Bloggers must navigate misinformation, respect copyright, disclose sponsored content, and prioritize accessibility (alt text, readable fonts, captions).
Adhering to privacy rules and transparent data practices preserves audience trust and avoids legal pitfalls. Accessibility (WCAG basics) not only broadens the audience but also signals professionalism and inclusivity.
Some bloggers worry they’re “writers, not videographers” or fear time costs. The point isn’t to become a production studio overnight but to gain enough skill to repurpose and present ideas in formats audiences prefer.
Small improvements — adding captions, optimizing headlines, or learning basic analytics — compound quickly. Time invested in strategic upgrades tends to return multiplied audience engagement and revenue opportunities.
The internet rewards adaptation. Bloggers who upgrade their digital media skills will not only survive but thrive: their ideas will reach more people, command more trust, and generate more sustainable income.
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