The Difference Between Vloggers and Bloggers: What Should You Be?

What is the difference between bloggers and vloggers? 

It might be obvious for some but I still receive this question. Especially from beginners who want to start blogging. 

So, let me answer.

The Main Difference between Bloggers and Vloggers

To make it short, the difference between them is mostly about the content format: Blogging is about writing articles and vlogging is about producing videos. 

The blogger

Bloggers create their content through a written form. They usually own a website and they post blog articles there. The best example is my website: johnfisalbon.com. This is a blog and I am a blogger. 

The most known blogs in the Philippines are probably: When In Manila; Out of Town Travel Blog; YugaTech; Panlasang Pinoy, etc.

Their topics are very different (food, travel, lifestyle, technology,…) and the blogs are sometimes managed by many users or only by a single one (the owner).

I know Melo, the owner of Out of Town Travel Blog, and he is the one behind each blog post that you are seeing and every update on his website. 

Whereas YugaTech has a whole team working on the website and is making YugaTech a true brand that goes beyond its blog. But this is another topic…

So, the owner of the blog is the blogger as he or she is usually the one who created the blog in the first place and decides which content should be published.

The vlogger

Vloggers are very similar to bloggers because they also share informational content and their personal thoughts about a particular topic. The main difference is that they do it through videos.

The word “vlog” comes from blog. It is a shorter version for video blogs. 

As video content really boomed in the last five years thanks to many reasons: social media growth, internet accessibility, smartphones range for consumers, affordable high quality cameras and equipment for individuals, etc. 

Vlogging has become more and more popular. 

Plus, with people preferring watching videos than reading articles. It really helped the vlogging industry to thrive as much as the blogging one. 

Will vlogs replace blogs?

There was a time when many thought that vlogging would replace blogging. But it’s less likely to happen, there are still people who prefer reading. Especially if the type of information they’re looking for, fits more through a written form (like news or food recipes). 

Plus, influential blogs keep on having more and more visitors every year. 

However, what is more likely to happen, is that new blogs will have more trouble getting known than before. Because the competition has grown and the level of blogging asked by netizens as well. And same for vlogs. 

Which is not a bad news, because the qualitative blogs and vlogs will survive and thrive.

Bloggers can be Vloggers and vice versa

As the content form is the main difference, bloggers just need to transform their articles into videos to be vloggers. 

Which is why you see many bloggers who are using the informational content they wrote by saying it in front of the camera and uploading them on YouTube.

The blogger has become a vlogger. It works the other way as well but that’s rarer. 

Vloggers who want to benefit from having a website more than just having a video channel, create their own blogs.

Travel vloggers might write travel guides or articles about the countries and places they visited, and start selling some courses and even merch on their website.

Lost LeBlanc, a famous international vlogger, is a great example of it. You will see lots of online products that he is selling on his website. Although he was mostly known for his YouTube channel, he now uses his website to maximize his opportunities. The “Lost Stories” section is his blog section.

So, if vloggers have their own website and publish written articles in addition to their videos. They’re also considered bloggers.

Which is why I am also a vlogger. With my friend, we publish articles on our travel blog: 2frenchinmanila.com. But also have a YouTube Channel & a Facebook Page where we upload our video content. 

With that brand, we started with videos and then, we created a blog to tell our stories with articles. So, we were vloggers that turned into bloggers.

To sum up: blogger = text and vlogger = video. Can we stop here? No, their difference goes beyond the creation of content, here is why:

Bloggers and Vloggers use Different Tools

The blogger’s tools

Bloggers need less equipment than vloggers and can start with very little investment. For less than $4 per month, you can have a professional website and upload your blog articles there. 

An internet connection, a computer and a website is all they need to perform their online activity.

However, they might need to spend later in addons features such as plugins for their website, facebook or google ads to get known quickly, they need to know how to operate a website and they will probably need editing software if they want to include nice graphics in their posts.

But often, those things are not mandatory. If your articles are good enough to read and people like them. That’s the only you need to have a great blog and make it run.

If you want to create your own blog I invite you to download this free ebook that I wrote. In less than 20 minutes, you’ll have a fully operational website with your chosen domain name.

For vloggers, it’s very different.

The vlogger’s equipment

Because vloggers create content through video form. They need video production equipment to do their job.

And depending on the quality they’re trying to achieve. Camera gear can be very expensive. 

Most professional vloggers use professional cameras for vlogging and they keep on increasing the quality of their equipment because viewers are expecting better and better vlogs.

Those cameras usually have a digital screen that can flip, so that when they are talking in front of it, they can see on the screen what they are shooting. Look at the picture above and you’ll see what I’m talking about. 

If you are talking to the lens and not seeing with a screen on the side, you might end up with very bad footage. Which is why you need that flip screen on your camera. And even those entry-level cameras are not that affordable.

Plus, vloggers are using microphones to record greater quality audio sound. Obviously, they are talking in front of the camera and as viewers, we don’t really like when it is difficult to hear or to understand. Like a camera, great microphones can cost you a lot.

You will also need equipment to go with your camera. Maybe a tripod or a gorillapod. Then some lights, if you are shooting in-door. 

If you are doing travel videos, you might need a drone, etc.

Sometimes, professional vloggers also outsource some tasks like they will hire make-up artists to look great on camera. Or they will ask freelancers to help them produce their videos: video editor, motion design animators for intros, graphic artists, photographs, etc.

Last but not least, you might need to have a monthly subscription with an editing software such as Premiere Pro. 

So, as you understand, being a vlogger might cost you much more at the beginning and will require another type of skills to make a vlog channel running. 

Probably from USD 200 (P 10,000) with very basic equipment to thousands of dollars for pro equipment. 

Finally, should you be a vlogger or a blogger?

This is probably a question that you might have. 

And the answer is that it mostly depends on you. 

Try to understand what kind of content you prefer doing: videos or texts. Do you prefer sitting behind a desk and writing long articles on any topic that you like because you are more confident as a writer?

Or do you prefer standing up in front of a camera and delivering content through videos?

For some people, it’s much more difficult to speak in front of the camera than writing articles. Which is why they prefer going with blogging first. 

Others might be more at ease speaking in front of a camera. But that’s actually very few people. Which is a good thing because there will be less competition in your market, especially if you’re dealing with a niche topic.

In the end, what I can recommend you is to try both. Start small so that you can avoid investing too much money and time into something you won’t pursue in the long term. Because there is something to know: a blogging or a vlogging journey is much harder than what you think.

To succeed, it will require lots of dedication and efforts. 

Plus, in terms of digital marketing, I am advising to do both. 

Because you’ll have a multiple channel strategy. You’ll be able to get traffic from your videos and your written articles. Then, Google and YouTube are working in pairs (both search engines and belonging to the same company: Alphabet Inc.). 

So, if your videos are doing well on YouTube, it might direct a lot of traffic to your website. Your audience will grow into a bigger one and your skills will be increasing as well.

People doing vlogging and blogging have usually more credibility as they are well aware of the digital marketing ecosystem. They consequently earn more trust from a bigger audience, enjoy their video content but also their written ones.

As a result, they find more opportunities for sales revenues, partnerships with brands and media exposure. Turning their blog and vlog channel into successful ones.

If you enjoy reading this article or if you have any inquiry about this topic, feel free to leave a comment below and I will answer.