Why Blogging Still Matters for Handmade Skincare Businesses in 2026

Does blogging still work in 2026?

It’s a fair question. Website traffic has dropped for many small businesses. AI now answers questions directly in Google. And it can feel like writing blog posts is a lot of effort for very little return.

When I first started my product business back in 2016, blogging was one of the main ways I grew my website traffic. I was deliberate about it. I thought about what people were searching for, the questions they were typing into Google, and I wrote content that answered them.

At the time I was a dog groomer making and selling dog grooming products, so I used what I already knew. I wrote about how to bathe your dog properly, how often they should be groomed, coat types and common mistakes people make. It was educational content based on my knowledge and experience, written in a way that matched what people were actively searching for.

That approach worked incredibly well for driving traffic to my website and building trust with customers. In fact, it’s how I grew both my product business and this service business for many years.

Blogging also made life easier. Once a post was written, it lived on my website and generated traffic and allowed me to grow my email list. It didn’t disappear like social media does. It was evergreen. I could then repurpose it into emails, newsletters and social media posts, so one piece of content and the time I spent creating it was worthwhile. That is still the case to a lesser degree. I have blogs that are 5 years old that receive regular traffic week in week out although not quite as much - thanks to AI.

How Blogging Has Changed with AI As I See It

Over the last 18 months or so, things have definitely changed. AI has altered how people search and how search results are displayed. We now often see an AI generated summary at the top of Google, which reduces the need for someone to click through to a site to get answers. Website traffic has dropped as a result and blogging has felt less rewarding than it once did.

For a while, I think I focused too much on that drop in traffic (and reduction in sign up's to me email list) and not enough on what else blogging can do when it’s used properly.

Blogging as Expert Positioning, Especially If You Have a Niche

What I’d slightly forgotten is just how important blogging is when it comes to demonstrating your knowledge and expertise, particularly if you have a clear niche.  I always encourage everyone to have a niche - be a unicorn in a field of horses, whether that be the customer you serve, the ingredients you use or something else. Niche is a whole different topic and I cover it in this blog 

Having a niche makes writing anything so much easier. You know who you’re talking to. You know the questions they ask and you know why your products tick all the boxes. Blogging gives you the opportunity to explain and show your depth of knowledge in a way product descriptions alone never quite can.

When you write from that place, you’re not just adding content to your website. You are explaining why you do what you do, you are answering questions, teaching, demonstrating why something matters, actively showing that you know what you are talking about and you are not someone who has bought products in bulk from China, rebranded them and are selling them on at a profit. An extreme example, but you get my drift! I know this works as despite AI I do still get lots of people landing directly on my blogs from a search. 

Where Blogging Now Fits with SEO and Trust

This is where blogging now sits so neatly alongside SEO and I admit, I had completely lost sight of this until very recently. 

Google is far more focused on trust than you might realise, especially for topics that relate to health and wellbeing, which skincare absolutely does. There are a whole set of guidelines, created by Google explaining what is important. You can find it here. Although the document is for human reviewers, it is my understanding that the results fed back by the humans shapes how Googles systems are trained over time. The bottom line is, Google wants to show websites that are credible, up to date and genuinely helpful. A website that is regularly refreshed with good quality educational content, amongst other things is more likely to be trusted than one that is purely sales led or hasn’t changed in years.

Blogging can support that trust element. It gives Google context. It shows

• what your website is about
• who it is for
  
• whether it is active and maintained
• whether it exists to help people, not just sell to them

SEO still matters, but blogging (or creating content of some kind) supports that with trust as well as SEO.

What This Can Look Like for a Skincare Product Business

For a product based skincare business, this doesn’t mean you have to write anything complicated. Some of the most effective blog posts are very simple.

You might write about how you test your products, refine recipes or adjust formulations over time. You might explain how different products work together and why you recommend using them as a pair or as part of a routine. You could write a blog about why a balm may feel grainy sometimes or why you can't market your products as a cure for eczema but what other people's experiences have been. 

You could clarify common misconceptions around soap or skincare, answer FAQ's you hear at markets or in emails, or explain how to get the best out of a more specialist product. A foot balm, for example, might work best when applied at night with socks on, and that kind of information is simple, but useful to customers.

You might also write about what your products don’t do, or who they’re not suitable for. That kind of honesty builds trust. Or you could explain why a sensitive skin deodorant is formulated the way it is, perhaps with less bicarbonate soda, and who it’s been designed for.

All of this content can be linked through to the relevant products, so your blog and your product pages support each other and Google can see that you are not just selling, you are demonstrating expertise and care.

Even if a customer doesn't read a post, Google can see that the information exists. It can see that your website is active, maintained and designed to help people make informed choices. 

A Note on AI and Writing Your Blogs

With AI being so accessible now, it can be tempting to get it to write blog posts for you. I wouldn’t recommend that. Generic content is easy to spot, it doesn’t sound like you, and everyone is suspicious these days!

That doesn’t mean AI can’t be used at all. I use it regularly, but as a tool to organise my knowledge rather than something that creates for me. This blog post is a great example - the experiences, thoughts and expertise are mine. AI has used many of my exact words and phrases - just tidied it up, put it in something more readable and then I have gone back in and tweaked it a bit more.

Once written, one blog post can feed into emails, newsletters, social media or video content, all linking back to your website where it continues to do its job over time.

Blogging in 2026 and Beyond

Blogging in 2026 definitely does not do the same job as it it did in 2016, infact I don't think I would even call it that now. It is more about creating content and information that lives on your website that supports your products, that you can then use everywhere and reuse multiple times over the years.  And even if you don't share it in that way, Google is always reading and it will add authority to your website.

Which is why our topic for March 2026 inside The Soap Suite is going to be 'Create Content Once and Use It Everywhere'. No more writing just for social media or just for a newsletter. I’ll be showing you how I write for a blog, or any page on my website, really quickly, using my own knowledge, skills, experience and words, and then how I use AI to organise it all into something that is easy to read.  It’s ethical, it’s high quality, and it still clearly reflects my thoughts, opinions and real life experience rather than sounding generic or automated. And if you hate writing don't worry -these days we can mostly talk instead of write!

I will also be giving members lots of ideas for the kinds of topics you can talk about that you may not have considered - useful if you don't have a really clear niche. 

We will then look at how that content can then be turned into multiple social media posts and used for a newsletter, so you’re not constantly creating from scratch. It’s about doing one good piece of work and letting it fulfil multiple roles across your business. I know how busy you are, but done properly, this approach supports your online business growth long term and is genuinely time well invested.