Fifty years ago, only established media personalities could share their views with the public. Blogging has made it possible for absolutely anybody with an internet connection to do so. The meteoric rise of social media—especially Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube—might serve the same purpose, but blogging came first and continues to be enormously important, as proven by the latest blogging statistics below.
Blogging Statistics (Editor’s Choice)
- There are over 600 million blogs on the internet.
- Websites with blogs have up to 97% more inbound links.
- The average person spends 37 seconds reading a blog post.
- 2/3 of people’s main reason for blogging is income.
- The average time spent on writing a post is increasing by the year.
- The average length of a blog post is now 1,269 words.
- Approximately 76.5 million blogs use WordPress.
- Travel bloggers charge on average $200 per sponsored post.
Blogging Industry Statistics
1. The number of blogs globally is estimated at 600 million.
Having only really started in the mid-90s, blogging has now grown to become one of the dominant forms of web content. This stat goes some way towards illustrating the sheer scale of modern blogging.
2. The first major personal blogger started in 1994.
One of the founding fathers of personal blogging, Justin Hall, started writing online about his life back in 1994. Blogs might have initially been dismissed as a novelty but, two and a half decades later, they’ve become an integral part of modern culture, and one which is threatening traditional media (particularly newspapers).
3. 89% of B2B marketers used blogs over the last year.
The latest blog statistics prove that blogging was the second most popular content type for B2B marketers over the last year, coming right behind social media content (95%). Additionally, producing long-form content was on the rise with 38% of B2B marketers writing articles of 3,000+ words.
4. 34% of bloggers have been blogging for less than one year.
Accessibility has led many people to start their blogs on a whim. The above figure clearly indicates blog popularity is rising by the day, encouraging more people to try their hand at it.
5. 60% of bloggers write at least one guest post for other blogs.
A proven strategy for link building companies, guest posting has become a massive part of running a successful blog. Not only does it help to build potentially useful relationships with other bloggers in a certain niche, but it is also an easy way to reach a whole new, relevant audience, and drive traffic back to the blogger’s site. As per guest blogging statistics, 60% of bloggers are writing 1-5 guest posts a month and 3% write more than 100.
6. There are 496.1 million blogs on Tumblr.
Tumblr, the Yahoo-owned microblogging and social media platform, enables posting short-form content with media users who can access and follow each other and its base consists mostly of teens and young adults. Because of its limited reach, Tumblr is a niche marketing channel. Statista estimates there are 496.1 million blogs on the platform, a big stretch from the 17.5 million noted in May 2011.
Business Blogging Statistics
7. Marketers who blog are 13x more likely to achieve a positive ROI.
Maintaining a blog has little overhead costs, and it’s often the go-to strategy for small businesses with limited marketing budgets. Inbound marketing statistics reveal that prioritizing business blogging can increase the chances for positive ROI by 13 times.
8. Websites with blogs have up to 97% more inbound links than sites without blogs.
Blogging is a surefire way to get more links and boost the site’s domain authority. Blog stats indicate that websites with blogs attract 97% more inbound links compared to those without blogs. The benefit of high domain authority is obvious; the higher the website authority, the better the ranks on SERPs.
9. Websites that contain blogs get on average 434% more indexed pages.
Search engines identify websites with blogs as important resources that provide valuable information, thus rewarding websites that maintain blogs with 434% more indexed web pages, on average.
10. Businesses that maintain blogs get up to 55% more visitors.
Stats on blogging reveal that websites with blogs attract 55% more visitors than websites that don’t maintain blogs. This can make a huge difference for your business as more visitors mean higher lead and sales conversion rates.
11. Long-form blog posts generate 9x more leads than short-form ones.
Strategies employed by the best lead generation companies suggest that the longer the posts, the better they perform. Besides SEO performance, this applies to user engagement and the number of leads generated, too.
12. 38% of total blog traffic comes from compounding blog posts.
Compounding blog posts, or high-value posts that generate long-term traffic, drive 38% of the total blog traffic. According to a Hubspot study, only 1 in 10 blog posts is a compounding one. Another research from Kuno Creative shows that 5 out of 10 top compounding posts are roundups.
Blog Readership Statistics
13. 60% of internet users read blogs.
It’s no stretch to say that blogs weren’t always taken very seriously. In fact, 40% of people don’t read blogs even today. However, 60% of people engage with blogs in some way. Of those, 39% are reading blogs up to three times a week, 10% do so 4-6 times a week, while 11% read blogs on a daily basis.
14. 70% of consumers prefer learning about a company from a blog post to an ad.
The battle between outbound and inbound marketing has been going on for a while now, with most blogging statistics in favor of the latter. Rather than being shouted at by a big old advert, modern consumers prefer a more subtle approach of simply reading about a product, then deciding for themselves whether it sounds appealing or not. In blogging terms, this means product reviews and affiliate marketing have become extremely popular types of content.
15. 34% of people would read a blog that teaches them how to do something new.
When asked why they are reading blogs, 34% of people said they want to learn something new. 20% said they are reading blogs to be entertained, and 12% to learn about industry trends/news. Only 4% of people said they consume blogs to learn about brands and products.
16. 61% of consumers have purchased something after reading a recommendation on a blog.
Blog facts confirm content takes an important part in people’s buying decisions. Content marketing stats indicate that 61% of consumers have bought something after reading blog recommendations. This is one of the main reasons why many businesses are prioritizing blogging for marketing purposes.
17. The average person spends 37 seconds reading a blog post.
Rather than reading every single word, most visitors will simply skim through the article, gain a couple of takeaways, then leave. This is an average figure, of course, meaning that people who only spend a couple of seconds on the post are also included. The reasons for that vary between the readers not being able to find what they were looking for or clicked on blog posts accidentally.
18. The ideal reading time for a blog post is 7 minutes.
Contrary to the blog stats above, it’s certainly still possible to get people to read blog content thoroughly, and one of the keys to that is keeping it to the right length. People who are genuinely interested in a topic will stick around if bloggers can get their message across in around 7 minutes of their time. To put that in a more practical light, 7 minutes of reading equates to approximately 1,600 words.
19. Almost 60% of 55-year-olds would want to see more news-type posts in the future.
Different blog reader demographics show different content preferences. Millennials would like to see more video and social content, whereas Gen X and Boomers would like more news articles and research reports, as well as email content.
20. The most popular time for reading blogs is between 7 am and 1 pm EST on weekdays, and between 9 am and 10 am EST on weekends.
The rise of analytics has allowed content marketing experts to gain an unprecedented level of understanding of their readers. Within mere moments, one can see where their readers are based, how long they’re spending on the site, which posts are proving the most popular, and even the time they’re visiting the site. Recent statistics on blogs indicate that people are most likely to read blogs between 7 am and 1 pm on weekdays, and from 9 am to 10 am on weekends.
21. Given both options, 72% of readers would rather watch a video than reading text.
There has been a big shift from text to video in recent years. That goes not just for blogging, but also for social media, with posts containing videos achieving consistently superior engagement rates. If being able to choose, 72% of readers would choose watching video over reading text.
Blogging Trends
22. The average length of a blog post is now 1,269 words.
Some sites have thrived on writing extremely short micro-blogs, often capitalizing on news events that have just happened, whilst others specialize in much more detailed long-form content. If you aim for around 1,100 words for each piece, you’ll fit right in!
23. The optimal length for a blog post is 2,250 – 2,500 words.
Knowing how long to make their posts is something that many inexperienced bloggers struggle with. Fortunately, there have been plenty of investigations into this topic over the years. As it currently stands, business blogging statistics suggest that 2,250-2,500 words represent the optimal length needed to get the most organic traffic in B2B areas, like finance, although different niches might have different ideal word counts.
24. Blogs with 3,000+ are more likely to perform better.
54% of bloggers surveyed said they have seen good results with blog posts of at least 3,000 words. 40% reported good results with blogs of 2,000-3,000 words. For comparison, only 11% of bloggers got good results when writing blog posts of less than 500 words. Backlinko’s study showed that long-form content also generates 77.2% more backlinks compared to short-form content.
25. The average time spent on writing a post is increasing by the year.
Back in 2014, bloggers spent an average of 2.5 hours writing a post. Fast-forward to 2020, that number had already risen to 3 hours and 55 minutes. The increase of 63% over six years shows an important development in the blogging sphere. Blogging statistics further show that investing more time on posts leads to better results; 31% of bloggers that spent 6+ hours on blog posts saw success compared to just 14% that invested less than an hour.
26. Only 30% of bloggers are always using analytics to check their content performance.
About 30% of bloggers continually use analytics to check content performance. 28% of bloggers say they usually use analytics while 22% do so occasionally. About 15% of bloggers said they never or only rarely use analytics. Unsurprisingly, blogging statistics confirm that bloggers who use analytics are more likely to get good results, with 37% of them always experiencing good results as analytics give them the option to optimize their content according to the readers’ needs.
27. The perfect blog headline should be 6-13 words long.
The headline is as important as the article itself. Some people would argue it’s even more so. After all, bloggers can spend hours and hours writing a killer piece, but if its title is weak, not many people will click on the post when it shows up on SERPs. To provide some basic guidance, blog statistics suggest that the perfect title contains 6-13 words and 50-60 characters in total.
28. Headlines with a question mark tend to attract 23% more shares.
Titles that contain questions tend to intrigue the audience, thus driving a boost in click-throughs. Posing a question in the headline that you’ll answer in the post can also help you increase the post shares by 23%.
29. Bloggers that publish frequently see better results.
Daily bloggers are most likely (57%) to get good results. This practice can help you establish authority in SERPs and increase the chances to rank well and get discovered by readers. Conversely, blogging statistics reveal only 18% of bloggers who post monthly and 21% of those who post several times a week will see strong results. Publishing at irregular intervals further decreases the chance (15%) of good performance.
30. “How-to” articles are the most popular blogging format.
77% of bloggers are publishing “how-to” articles. Lists (57%), news and trends (47%), and long-form guides and ebooks (43%) are also popular blogging formats. Stats further show that webinars, roundups, guides, interviews, and gated content are most likely to deliver strong results.
31. 90% of bloggers include images in their posts.
Facts about blogging reveal 39% of bloggers adding 10+ images reported good results, but only 3% are currently doing so. Another 54% are adding statistics and only 37% are using contributor quotes, even though organic influencer marketing is inexpensive and very efficient.
32. Influencer outreach is the most effective blogger promotional activity.
39% of bloggers reported influencer outreach as their top promotional strategy in terms of results. Still, influencer outreach remains underrated as only 12% of bloggers use it. Another 34% said so about paid services, while 32% deemed SEO to be the most useful. Email marketing was the most successful promotional tactic for 29% of bloggers, whereas only 25% agreed social media brings the best results.
33. SEO isn’t the top priority for bloggers.
75% of users don’t even scroll past the first page of SERPs. That makes SEO the key tactic for reaching the coveted first page. Still, 35% of bloggers are only sometimes doing keyword research, and 17% never do so. Blogging statistics show a clear relation between keyword research and success; 40% of bloggers who always do keyword research and 24% who usually do so have reported success.
34. Search traffic is the most important for 67% of bloggers.
Even bloggers who don’t prioritize SEO care about search traffic. According to blog traffic stats, 67% of bloggers said organic search is their top traffic source. Social media (63%), email marketing (43%), and direct traffic (40%) are also among bloggers’ main traffic sources.
35. As of 2020, 70% of bloggers are refurbishing old content.
Updating old content is part of the strategy of 70% of bloggers. 30% of those that practice this see better results. This is a powerful way to not only improve your organic visibility and reinforce your message but also to reach new audiences.
WordPress Statistics
36. WordPress powers 41.4% of the internet.
When it comes to starting a blog, users have an enormous range of options as to where they’ll host it. Joomla, Drupal, Squarespace, Wix, and the like are all pretty popular choices, but 39.7% of the entire internet is powered by WordPress. Of websites that use a CMS, WordPress holds a massive 64.9% market share.
37. WordPress blogs get 20 billion page views every month.
Estimations are that 409 people are reading WordPress blogs every month, generating a whopping 20 billion page views.
38. Each month, there are approximately 70 million posts and 77 million new comments on WordPress.
WordPress users are producing about 70 million posts that spark over 77 million comments. The highest number of posts was noted in December 2018 when over 136 million posts were published. As for comments, the highest number was noted in September 2019 — 575 million.
Blogger Statistics
39. There are 32 million bloggers in the US.
The blog industry in the US is continually expanding. The number of bloggers has climbed from 22 million in 2014 to 31.7 million in 2020.
40. 2/3 of people’s main reason for blogging is income.
While we’re sure there are plenty of bloggers out there who simply want to share their passion for a hobby or pass along some useful knowledge they’ve accumulated, it probably wouldn’t surprise you to learn that most people blog to make a living.
41. 69% of bloggers make no money whatsoever from their websites.
Statistics on bloggers reveal only 31% of them make any money from blogging. The potential reasons for this are numerous; from new bloggers not having a monetization plan, to the high levels of competition in many niches.
42. Bloggers earning $50,000 a year are more likely to sell their products or services.
Higher-income bloggers who make $50,000 or more per year are 5.6 times more likely to sell their products or services than those who earn less. Adverts can be inconsistent in the amount of money they bring, and bloggers only get a relatively small percentage of the income. Selling their products—be it merchandise, a book, subscriber-only content, or just about anything else—is a more reliable money-maker and one in which they get to keep the majority of the profits.
43. High-income bloggers are 5x more likely to have a podcast than those that earn less than $50,000 a year.
Statistics on bloggers who earn at least $50,000 a year show they are more motivated to try new formats. High-income bloggers are 5x more likely to have a podcast and 5.7x more likely to publish case studies. Additionally, they are 4.5x more likely to publish videos and 3.7x more likely to conduct interviews.
44. 70% of bloggers with $50,000+ income are active/very active promoters of their blog.
The majority (70%) of high-income bloggers are avidly marketing their blog compared to only 14% of low-income bloggers. 21% of bloggers who earn at least $50,000 per year focus more on marketing than on content, compared to only 3% of lower-income bloggers. Stats on blogging reveal that for 54% of lower-income bloggers, the marketing strategy includes minimal effort – only sharing on social media.
45. Most bloggers are in the 25-44 age group.
Anybody can start a blog without investing too much time, effort, or money. Those aged 45 and older each represent approximately 23% of the total demographics. Bloggers aged 25-44 make the largest age group and represent a sweet spot between being young enough to have the time and energy to run a blog, combined with being old enough to have a good level of knowledge in the chosen niche.
46. Former blogger Bill Simmons earns an estimated $15 million per year.
Blogger statistics reveal few have achieved the level of success of sportswriter Bill Simmons. After blogging part-time while working as a bartender and waiter, Simmons grew his site to 45,000 hits per day and landed a writing job at sports media giant ESPN. His salary there eventually reached the millions and is estimated to be around $15 million per year since he founded his own website.
47. Arriana Huffington earns an estimated $250 million per year.
Arianna Huffington had already made a name for herself, as both a writer and political activist, but the founding of The Huffington Post in 2005 made her internationally famous and incredibly successful. HuffPost is still one of the most popular blogs that continually attracts famous writers and puts a premium on the quality of its writing (it was the first online-only media publication to win a Pulitzer Prize). As per blog revenue statistics, HuffPosts’s earnings are estimated at $1 billion.
48. Rand Fishkin’s Moz makes $35 million a year.
Moz, which Rand Fishkin co-founded with his mother back in 2004, made its name as an SEO-focused site, helping other people drive traffic to their websites through search engines. Its success was built on inbound marketing, rather than splashy adverts, with its blogs proving particularly helpful to millions around the world. In turn, this encouraged readers to purchase the brand’s products which brought about significant income to the site’s founders.
49. Travel bloggers charge on average $200 per sponsored post.
For most travel bloggers, publications and sponsored posts are the main sources of income. Travel blog statistics indicate that almost 60% of travel bloggers run more than one travel-related blog, so this can translate into a nice monthly income.
50. Blogger Mark Manson’s books sold over 13 million copies.
Blog writer Mark Manson started blogging back in 2009 and, by 2016, his blog had 2 million visitors per month. His first self-help book, published in 2011, sold 15,000 copies in its first three years. His second book – ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F**k’ – debuted at #6 on the New York Times Bestseller List in 2016. In 2019, he published another book called “Everything Is F**ked: A Book About Hope”, debuting at number one on the New York Times Bestseller List. Manson’s books are among the biggest sellers worldwide and have been bought over 13 million times.
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