Studio Scribis

In 2026, writers don’t need to fear competing with AI tools – but they need to own their voice. In this post, I’ll share my thoughts on why I think a new website belongs on your New Year resolution list if you’re a writer. 

Why Every Writer Needs a Website in 2026

As a content writer, 2025 felt like the year AI exploded. AI tools changed our everyday writing workflows, forcing many writers, myself included, to rethink how we work and position our personal brands. The alternative? Losing our jobs to AI, like many people have already started to face.

The question I’ve been asking myself: “If AI can generate content at scale, what can make a writer valuable?“

The answer is: owning your voice.

The real problem for writers in 2026 is not fear of AI replacement, is ownership

I don’t think we should be anti-AI. As long as we learn to understand how it works we can find ways to take advantage of it. AI controls the views, and traffic – but doesn’t own people’s trust. Your voice as a writer and experience matter even more now. 

So what can writers do to prepare for this transition in 2026?

Glad you asked. Because I have some ideas. 

1. Reset your writing business 
2. Build a new website for 2026
3. Introduce AI-content as part of your offer

I’ll explain these in more detail below.

Step 1: Reset your writing business 

New year, new way of business. Or out with the old, in with the new. 

Whichever way you like to say it, one thing is for sure: 2026 is a big year for transformation, impacting all online businesses.

We have so many new tools at our disposal and we need to learn to use them before it’s too late. 

The first thing is to move away from being social media centric. Yes, I said it. After years of helping people to build their social media strategies, my priority in 2026 is to help them reduce reliance on social media platforms. 

This also means a shift towards owning a website (if you haven’t already).

Hmm… why do you need to build a website? 

Every writer needs their own space to share articles, post their original views, and offer some depth. With social media often used as a tool for spreading political views, you need a space where you are safe from demonetization, shadow-banning, or blocking. 

AI is now the go-to search tool for many people, so they’re in charge of directing traffic and views to pages. Your work will benefit from being on your website that’s able to get cited by AI tools, rather than being posted on social media, which is slowly losing people’s attention.

Step 2: Build a new website for your writing business in 2026 

Here’s where WordPress.com fills the gap. In 2026, every writer needs a site that allows them full ownership and control.

A site that can grow and change with your writing direction.

A place for your writing portfolio, blog page, email newsletter, and where you can also add paid services or products later with tools like WooCommerce, without rebuilding your website from scratch.

These are some of the WordPress.com features ideal for writers:

• Anyone can build a website without learning to code
• Offers customizable templates and themes for writer portfolios, blog pages, sales pages, contact pages, author bios, and more
• In-built blogging tools, especially helpful for long-form writing and editing
• SEO tools to help your blog get targeted traffic from Google or AI citations from day one
• Most importantly: It’s easy to use

Now, I’ll give you a tour of my set-up in WordPress so you can have a better idea of the things I mentioned.

Here’s a sneak peek into my WordPress dashboard view:

The navigation menu is neatly stacked on the left of the page, and I can have complete control of my website from one page.

Website stats and insights

I can click on Stats to see how many visitors and views I had in the last 30 days. Also, I can learn which posts are getting people’s interest.

Custom-built themes for bloggers and writers

To change or select a website Theme, I can click on Appearance. Then select “Blog” from the list of themes, and scroll down through the list of options.

Preview themes with your content

If I wanted to preview a theme and see a mock up of how it will look on my website, I can click on it.

And for monetization, WordPress.com offers several options to consider:

• selling digital products (e-books, merchandise, courses)
• offering writing services 
• monthly memberships
• create paid newsletters
• AdSense integration for running Google ads 

I also want to give a honorable mention to the Jetpack plug-in by WordPress. 

It’s super helpful to be able to track your posts, publishing dates, and how many views you get – all while using your mobile phone. And it also helps with backups, security scanning, and performance, all of which matter when your website becomes part of your long-term business plan.

Step 3: Introduce AI-content as part of your services offer

The easy way to take advantage of AI is to offer it as a service

Yes, even with ChatGPT around, many brands are slowly learning that getting it to write custom content for websites is not that easy. Your clients can get average write-ups for sure, but they will still need to spend time to proofread (which in my opinion, is way more time-consuming than writing the article yourself). 

Not to mention, AI can make errors and give you wrong data, or pull up stats from studies that don’t exist. Good luck spending time arguing with it on why its still using dashes “-” after being told repeatedly not to. 

The solution: Offer a writing plan (entry-level) that includes AI-generated content.

You can do the keyword research, generate the article, and then proofread it and make adjustments to make it sound tailored to your client’s audience. Just make sure clients understand what they’re signing up for and that the content will be AI-generated. 

Consider charging a premium for human-written content 

Original content should be priced premium.

Now this is an opportunity created by AI, that I don’t see many people jumping on yet! With the majority of articles being AI-written, you can charge a premium fee for content that guarantees original research and writing. Brands that don’t want to sound like every other brand will be attracted.

Conclusion

In 2026, the writing landscape has fully changed. AI is part of the process, whether we like it or not. The single most powerful thing a writer can do is stop being afraid of AI and learn how to use it. 

That’s why owning a website should be a priority this year. A site you control will support your growth for years to come and reduce reliance on social media platforms.

Start with a website. Plan ahead for your business continuity. 

And have a great 2026 ahead!