What Are Lifestyle Blogs & What Makes Them So Popular?

Lifestyle blogs are all the rage nowadays, and with so many different ones to choose from, it can be hard to know which ones are the best to follow. In fact, this particular blog niche is one that not everyone truly understands.

Fashion blogs, crafting blogs, food and travel blogs are all niches that are self-explanatory, but when it comes to ‘lifestyle blogs,’ it’s not quite so easy to put your finger on exactly what they are all about.

Perhaps the simplest way to describe the best lifestyle blogs, is to think of them as being about someone’s personal life. While the term is quite a broad one, lifestyle blogs tend to focus more on the bloggers personality than on specific topics.

The history of the blog

Having first been created in 1997, the term ‘blog’ was coined by programmer and early blogger, Jorn Barger, and is simply a shortened version of ‘web log,’ a term that was already being used by this time, and which referred to the early, diary-style of personal websites.

Written by programmers, web designers, and developers in the 1990s, early blogs were impossible to start for the average person using the internet, which of course, was still in its infancy.

Fast forward to nowadays, however, and just about anyone can set up their own website, get it up and running in under an hour, and at very little cost, too. With such accessibility in mind, it’s easy to see why personal and lifestyle blogs became so popular, and why there was, and continues to be, such an abundance of them today.

Where are the origins of lifestyle blogs?

Back in the beginning of the 2000s, it was very difficult to make money from running a blog, and it was still seen as just a way for people to share their lives online, similar to keeping a diary (except of course, everyone can access it). Platforms for blogging such as LiveJournal were popular, and can be thought of as lifestyle blogs in their original form.

Then, in the middle of the 2000s through to the beginning of the 2010s, certain lifestyle bloggers started to increase in popularity. Publishing daily posts featuring various aspects of their lives, from kids and clothing, to weddings and recipes, they had thousands of people following their blogs and commenting on them. Due to their popularity, many such bloggers found they were able to start making money from their online posts, and started turning their blogs into proper businesses. They were then able to land book deals, put out their own clothing or jewelry lines, or even create their own apps.  

Some popular lifestyle bloggers include:

• Love Taza
• A Cup of Jo
• Cupcakes and Cashmere
• A beautiful Mess
  

Now, as we’ve reached the early 2020s, while lifestyle blogging is still in existence, it’s no longer recognizable in its early form. With lifestyle bloggers earning money directly from their blogs by way of affiliate marketing, sponsored posts and display advertising among others, no longer are they merely giving their readers and followers little updates about their personal lives, but are instead writing detailed posts about many aspects of life.

Popular lifestyle blogs have shifted their focus to the reader nowadays; no longer is it enough to simply write about what you did at the weekend, or what you’re wearing, readers want more. So popular because they help us relate to others in ways that are acceptable, and give us advice that we can use to better our lives, lifestyle blogs are more popular now than ever before, and if you haven’t read one yet, now is as good a time as any to start!