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Your Blog Should Be a Publication, Not a Library

Jimmy Daly at Animalz popularised a framework that shaped how a generation of B2B marketers think about content. In his telling, blogs fall into two categories:

Libraries organise content by topic, prioritise evergreen utility, and optimise for search. The goal is building a catalogue of comprehensive resources that rank for keywords and attract visitors seeking specific information.

Publications chase timeliness, publish frequently, and build audiences of return visitors. Think Intercom’s blog, with its editorial team producing thought leadership and industry commentary.

Daly’s recommendation was clear: most companies should build libraries, not publications. Publications require massive resources. Most timely content becomes irrelevant within weeks. Search traffic is more predictable than audience-building.

I think this advice is now backwards.

Table of contents

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The Library Pitch

The library model is seductive. Instead of competing with well-funded editorial teams, you focus on depth. You write comprehensive guides that answer specific questions. You organise content into topic clusters. You let search engines do the distribution.

Done well, a library becomes an evergreen catalogue—always relevant, always discoverable. Traffic compounds as more pages rank. You don’t need subscribers or social followers because Google sends visitors directly to whatever they need.

Lattice renamed their blog to /library to signal this commitment. Their content hub is organised by 16 topic categories (performance management, goals & OKRs, employee engagement) and six content types (articles, ebooks, webinars, templates). It’s positioned as a “one-stop shop for all things people”—a knowledge repository you browse by subject, not a feed you follow for fresh thinking.

HubSpot built an empire on the same model. The playbook spread across B2B marketing.

Why Libraries Are Losing

Three forces are breaking the library model:

AI is cannibalising search. Google’s AI Overviews appear in roughly 30% of searches, reducing click-through rates by 35% when present. Informational queries—the foundation of library content—are hit hardest. Why click through to your comprehensive guide when the answer appears directly in search results?

Everyone read the same playbook. In 2018, most B2B blogs were disorganised collections of loosely related posts. Now every marketing team knows about topic clusters, pillar pages, and keyword research. The result is thousands of nearly identical “ultimate guides” competing for the same queries. As Clearscope notes, relying on volume to compete is “a race to the bottom that no brand can afford to win.”

Search became unpredictable. Google updates roll through quarterly, reshuffling rankings without warning. Sites that invested years in SEO-first content watched their traffic evaporate overnight. Building on search alone is building on rented land.

The library model assumed search would remain a stable, controllable traffic source. That assumption no longer holds.

What Publications Actually Offer

Daly dismissed publications because they require resources and most content ages poorly. But he underestimated what publications provide that libraries cannot: a reason for people to seek you out.

A library waits passively for searchers. A publication builds an audience that actively wants to hear from you.

Consider Intercom’s blog. Yes, they had resources. But their real advantage wasn’t volume—it was voice. John Collins, their former director of content, described their approach as running a features department, not a newsroom. They didn’t chase trending topics. They built a cumulative body of work around a consistent perspective on product, customer service, and growth.

People subscribed because they valued Intercom’s point of view, not because Intercom ranked for keywords they searched.

That direct relationship—email subscribers, loyal readers, community members—is worth more than any search ranking. When algorithms change, you still have your audience. When AI summaries reduce clicks, your subscribers still open your emails.

Others Are Making the Same Argument

This isn’t a contrarian take anymore. The smartest content thinkers are converging on the same conclusion.

Amanda Natividad at SparkToro coined the term zero-click content—content that provides standalone value without requiring clicks. Her argument: platforms suppress links, so stop fighting their incentives. Build audience trust by giving value generously where people already are. The click (and eventual conversion) comes later, from people who already know and trust you.

Rand Fishkin extends this thinking. In a world where 60% of Google searches end without a click and attribution tracking is fundamentally broken, obsessing over click-through SEO is missing the point. Build brand. Build trust. Become the source people seek out.

Peep Laja at Wynter argues for point-of-view marketing—taking a fundamentally differentiated position and saying different things than competitors. His LinkedIn content drives 90% of Wynter’s demo pipeline. Not because it ranks for keywords, but because people follow him for his perspective.

Lenny Rachitsky built one of the most successful B2B newsletters by ignoring SEO entirely. He focused on deeply researched content for an underserved audience (product managers). Customers who came through his content spent more and stayed longer because they bought into his philosophy, not just his information.

Dave Gerhardt’s Exit Five runs a community, newsletter, podcast, and events for B2B marketers. One podcast interview becomes the newsletter which becomes social content—a flywheel that compounds because people want to hear from Dave specifically, not from whoever ranks for “B2B marketing tips.”

The pattern is consistent: build an audience around a perspective, not a library around keywords.

The Publication Mindset

You don’t need Intercom’s budget to think like a publication. The shift is philosophical, not financial.

Libraries optimise for discovery. Publications optimise for loyalty.

A library asks: what are people searching for? A publication asks: what do we believe that’s worth saying?

A library measures success in traffic and rankings. A publication measures success in subscribers, engagement, and influence.

A library treats content as answers to questions. A publication treats content as an ongoing conversation with a specific audience.

Libraries attract visitors. Publications build audiences.

The difference matters because visitors are transactional. They find what they need and leave. You have no relationship with them. If Google stops sending them, they’re gone.

Audiences choose you. They subscribe. They return. They share your work. They remember you exist even when they’re not actively searching for something.

Research from Mather Economics shows that highly engaged, registered users generate 20x the lifetime value of anonymous visitors. Direct audience relationships also provide resilience—revenue that’s “less exposed to algorithm changes and platform policy shifts.”

Libraries aim for comprehensiveness. Publications aim for perspective.

Library content tries to be the definitive resource on a topic—longer, more thorough, more complete than competitors. This works until everyone writes definitive resources and AI can synthesise them all instantly.

Publication content stakes out a position. It has a point of view. It says something specific enough that some readers will disagree. This can’t be commoditised because it’s tied to a particular voice and perspective.

The Audience Imperative

Even Daly updated his thinking. In 2024, he wrote that audience-building is now essential for all content strategies—a direct reversal of his earlier position that libraries don’t need audiences.

The math changed. When search was reliable, you could ignore audience-building and still grow. Now, with AI eating informational queries and algorithms shifting unpredictably, direct relationships are insurance.

But I’d go further: audiences aren’t just insurance. They’re the point.

The companies winning at content today aren’t optimising for rankings and traffic. They’re optimising for trust, citation, and share of voice. They’re building reputations. They’re becoming the source others reference.

Brands cited in AI Overviews see 35% higher click-through rates than non-cited brands. Being known for a perspective matters more than ranking for keywords.

Making the Shift

You don’t need to abandon SEO entirely. Some library-style content still serves a purpose—product documentation, how-to guides for your specific tool, foundational concepts your audience needs explained.

But the centre of gravity should shift:

Lead with perspective, not keywords. Start from what you believe, not what people search. The best content comes from genuine conviction, not keyword research.

Build direct channels. Every piece of content should offer a path to a deeper relationship. Email subscription, community membership, podcast following. These channels are yours. No algorithm can take them away.

Publish less, say more. A thoughtful piece with a genuine point of view beats three keyword-targeted guides. Give your work room to breathe, promote, and find its audience.

Involve your experts. Nobody cares what content marketers think about technical topics. Intercom succeeded by building systems for internal experts to contribute, with editors shaping their ideas into publishable work. The voice was authentic because it came from people doing the work.

Create zero-click content. Don’t just tease and link. Give real value on the platforms where your audience spends time. The relationship precedes the click.

The Real Question

The library vs. publication debate masks a deeper question: why would anyone want to hear from you specifically?

If your answer is “we rank for keywords people search,” you’re building on sand.

If your answer is “we have a perspective on X backed by experience Y that helps audience Z see their problem differently,” you’re building something durable.

Your blog should be a publication—a place where people come because they value what you have to say, not because you happened to rank for their query.

Further Reading:

Content Positioning
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