This article will reveal the most interesting blogging stats, facts, and trends. And answer the most common questions:
How many blogs exist on the web? How many people blog? How many people read blogs regularly? How much time do they spend reading them? Which blog sites are the most popular?
If you’re serious about starting a blog, you should take the time to look at the different statistics of the blogging industry.
Top Blogging Statistics
- The estimated global number of blogs is over 600 million.
- 32.7 million is the projected number of bloggers in the US.
- 43% of the web is built on WordPress.
- 77% of people regularly read blogs online.
- Successful bloggers spend 4 hours on average to write a post.
- Around 7 million blog posts are published per day.
- 67% of bloggers who post daily say that they are successful.
- Blog articles with 3000+ words get better results.
- 97% of bloggers use social media to boost their results
- 61% of online users in the US have bought something after reading a blog
You should also check the general information available online, and not just those related to your blog. That way, you’ll have a better understanding of how you can improve your writing to address the needs of your target readers correctly.
Read on to explore the 47 fundamental blogging statistics that every blogger should be aware of.
A sneak peek at the world of blogging
These are all essential questions that will give you a better understanding of the blog readership statistics and your competition.
Discover the number of bloggers in the United States, their primary reasons for blogging, and other facts for bloggers.
1. How many blogs are there?
Let’s evaluate the number of blogs that exist (and thrive) on the internet. While there are numerous blog-specific websites, many sites simply include small blog sections and articles. Also, while new blog sites are created daily, some blogs are deleted or become inactive.
As of May 2023, there are more than 600 million blogs on the internet, based on activities reported by WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger, Wix, Squarespace, and Medium (and this number is constantly growing).
We will show statistics of different platforms and explain how we came up with this number below.
First, let’s take a look at the number of websites of any kind. According to InternetLiveStats, over 1.98 billion websites exist on the web.
Also, many blogging platforms show their activities:
- WordPress stats – 38 million sites
- Tumblr stats – 576 million blog accounts
- Blogger (Blogspot) stats – 528,000 blogs
- Wix stats – 200 million users
- Squarespace stats – 2.9 million websites
WordPress claims that 43% of the web is built with their services and their software powers over 38 million websites. But, of course, not all of those WordPress sites are blogs.
However, there are also other extremely popular website builders and CMSes.
Tumblr usage stats show 576 million accounts, Wix has over 200 million users, Squarespace powers 2.9 million websites, Blogger (Blogspot) powers over 528,000 blogs, and there are even more blogging platforms worldwide.
Even if we’re being pessimistic and only add numbers from Tumblr, WordPress, and Blogger but not taking into account blogs from the rest of the websites, we can see that our estimate of over 600 million blogs is correct.
(Source: Statista.com, Wix.com, Builthwith.com)
2. The number of bloggers in the United States will reach 32.7 million in 2022.
With 1.98 billion websites and more than 600 million blogs active, it’s a logical conclusion to make that there must be millions of bloggers as well.
Based on the forecast, the estimated number of bloggers is around 32 million as of 2022 in the United States alone. These are people of any age updating their blogs at least once per month.
This is especially true now when many businesses are starting to focus more and more on organic marketing and need blogs for link building, spreading brand awareness, and driving organic traffic.
These are the main reasons why the number of bloggers globally has increased exponentially over the past few years. The United States is no exception and we can see a steady growth rate of bloggers in this region.
According to the Statista Research Department, the number of bloggers in the US in 2014 was 27.4 million. The projection from 2016 showed that in 2022, there will be 32.7 million bloggers, which is a 14% increase.
Expectations are high that this trend will continue and that we’ll see even bigger numbers.
(Source: Statista.com)
3. Around 7 million blog posts are published per day.
With the number of active blogs hovering around 500 million, it’s not surprising to discover that over 7 million blog posts are published daily.
This is exceptionally high when you consider the fact that many blog sites don’t actually post every single day. Many of them post only a few times a week, or even just a few times a month.
(Source: Internetlivestats.com)
4. 43% of websites are built on WordPress.
43% of the 1.98 billion websites that exist online are powered by a single Content Management System, WordPress, making it obvious that it is a definitive market leader.
More proof that most blogs are powered by WordPress is the fact that 20 billion of their blog pages are viewed each month by 409 million users.
Although WordPress holds anywhere from 40% to 65% of the CMS market share according to different sources, there are many other similar platforms. Shopify (5.0% market share), Joomla (2% market share), Wix (2.6% market share), and Drupal (2.5% market share) are just some examples (as of October 28, 2020).
5. 24.2% of people start blogs because they want to be self-employed.
The greatest motivation for starting a blog is self-employment (24.2%), while 17% wanted to express themselves in a creative way, and 16% wanted to build an audience of their own.
(Source: Convertkit.com)
6. 77% of internet users regularly read blogs.
Around 43% of people only skim through blog posts, but 36% of readers find blogs credible if they include case studies.
(Source: Quoracreative.com)
Blog content length stats
Whether you’re a guest writer, ghostwriter, or have your own blog, the biggest question on your mind is likely how many words should your posts contain.
How long should you make your content to provide your readers with real value but keep them engaged all of the way through? Can you get your message across in the short amount of time that people spend reading a blog post? How long should your headlines be to generate higher click-through rates? The answers to these questions are vital for making your blogging efforts pay off.
Keep in mind that although there are plenty of statistics that show certain post lengths bring better results than others, you should still be careful. The success of your blog depends on a delicate balance between quality and quantity.
The following blog statistics will help you to better understand how you can write compelling blog posts and attract and retain readers.
7. Articles with 3000+ words get better results.
Regardless of the reason, bloggers who go big are more likely to see results. In fact, the majority of bloggers who write 3000+ word articles report “strong results.”
This doesn’t mean that 3000 words is the magic length for good SEO performance. However, it does indicate that longer posts have better SEO performance overall.
(Source: Orbitmedia.com)
8. 55% of bloggers report great results for blog posts that are at least 2000 words long.
Trends show that successful blog posts are getting longer each year, with the number of posts over 2000 words increasing each year.
(Source: Orbitmedia.com)
9. Longer (3,000 to 10,000 words) posts get the most shares.
Given the fact that longer posts are better for long-tail keywords, they have better SEO performance, which leads to a direct increase in social media shares.
(Source: Quoracreative.com)
10. Long blog posts have 77.2% more inbound links compared to shorter posts.
Longer blog posts simply have more information in them and therefore have a higher chance of someone finding them and linking to them.
(Source: Backlinko.com)
Blog writing habits stats
Along with looking into and examining blog stats, serious writers should also examine blogger statistics. These can show you whether you’re spending too much (or too little) time on writing your posts if you should adapt the way you come up with titles and headlines, and if it would be a good idea to update and republish that old blog post that was previously very successful.
Studying the habits of other bloggers can help you to improve your writing process and show you how to boost your posts.
So, let’s check out some of the most important blogging statistics and blog facts.
11. 23% of bloggers reported that they need 2–3 hours to write a blog post.
This survey also showed that bloggers need an average of 3.5 hours for a single blog post. On top of that, it also shows that bloggers who spend 6 hours or more on writing their content have higher success.
(Source: Sidegains.com)
12. 38% of bloggers who spend at least 6 hours writing a post report great results.
An average of 30% of bloggers report success, while 38% is well above the benchmark.
(Source: Orbitmedia.com)
13. Successful bloggers need almost 4 hours to write a blog post.
Compared to 2014, bloggers now need 65% more time to write a blog on average. However, blog posts are also 56% longer on average now than they were in 2014.
(Source: Orbitmedia.com)
14. 38% of bloggers say that they update their old blog posts.
Even if a blog post has been published for a while, it can still drive organic traffic and get shares. This is why it’s important to update these posts with fresh information.
(Source: Optinmonster.com)
15. Blog titles with a minimum of 8 words have 21% better click-through.
This statistic shows just how important the title of a blog is. With the right combination of keywords and catchy title content, creators can drastically increase their click-through rate.
(Source: Seotribunal.com)
16. Blog headlines with colons or hyphens have 9% higher click-through.
Although hyphens or colons don’t increase click-through on their own, they are valuable tools that allow bloggers to add their keywords and clickbait while keeping their titles logical.
(Source: Socialmediaexaminer.com)
17. 58% of bloggers write 2-3 headlines before deciding on one.
Only 1% of bloggers try out 11 to over 20 headlines for their blogs before making a decision. However, the number of headlines is directly related to the success of blog posts.
(Source: Orbitmedia.com)
18. 54% of bloggers work with editors, while 46% edit their own posts.
This statistic shows that it doesn’t matter whether someone edits their posts on their own or with someone’s help. It all comes down to making your content spotless.
(Source: Optinmonster.com)
19. 71% of blog posts on WordPress are written in English.
WordPress blog stats show that most of them are in English (71%), with Spanish taking second place (4.7%). These posts have global value since most people today speak English as their second language.
(Source: WordPress.com)
Blog posting habits stats
Since we’ve finished examining the writing stats, let’s see the posting stats.
If you don’t post often enough, your readers can forget about you and find other blogs in your niche to entertain and educate themselves. If you post a very high number of blog posts on a daily basis, you can easily overwhelm your audience and get a reputation for being spammy.
So, let’s look at the following blogging statistics to see how often some of the most successful bloggers publish their posts, and you can determine whether you should amp up your writing frequency or take it down a notch.
20. How often do bloggers post?
Posting frequency depends on the target audience and the type of blog. If we are talking about short and fast-paced articles, it’s possible to post multiple times per day.
22% of bloggers in the survey said that they post 2 to 3 blog posts weekly. Their posting frequency depends on the target audience and the type of blog.
Read more:
How Often Should a New Blogger Post?
(Source: Firstsiteguide.com)
21. 60% of bloggers that post daily report great results.
15% of bloggers produce and publish content daily, and the majority (60%) of those who post every day report good results.
(Source: Quoracreative.com)
22. 67% of bloggers that post once per day report excellent results.
The majority of bloggers who post daily say that their frequency gives them good results. However, only 46% of bloggers that post multiple times per day say that they have a strong performance.
(Source: Orbitmedia.com)
Blog reading habits stats
Knowing the blog reading habits of your target audience is the best way to ensure that your blogs get noticed.
If you know at what time of day your audience likes to read, you can schedule your posts to suit your readers. If you know how much time they like to spend reading, you can adjust your blog post length.
23. Most people prefer reading blogs from 7 am to 10 am.
By sampling 170,000 blog posts, HubSpot has concluded that most people read blogs from 7 am to 10 am, especially during the weekends.
(Source: Hubspot.com)
24. 7 minutes is a preferred reading time of blogs.
Medium researched the performance of blog posts, considering their length and how many people actually read them. With a thorough analysis, they concluded that 1,600 words or 7-minute blog posts performed best.
(Source: Buffer.com)
Blog content types stats
Deciding on the type of content you will use when creating a blog post can sometimes be overwhelming.
For instance, you may prefer writing listicles to how-to guides, but what about roundup posts and infographics? Should you spruce things up a bit with other content types every once in a while?
You should explore what types of content yield the most positive results in terms of traffic so that you can consistently increase it.
The following statistics will give you an idea of what types of blogs generally perform well. Use them as an inspiration, not necessarily as strict guidelines.
25. Quality content can increase blog traffic by 2,000%.
Google sets the rules for organic traffic and decides what content is visible. They put a lot of importance on content quality, and this is why good articles get more traffic.
(Source: Omnicoreagency.com)
26. 17% of blog post titles are “How-to” headlines.
How-to headlines are a special category that is very popular and recognizable by readers. It’s a clear message about what readers can expect.
(Source: Optinmonster.com)
27. Blog posts with high emotional value have a 1000x greater chance of being shared.
The higher the emotional value score of a headline, the more that post will be shared. With a score of 40, there is a good chance of getting 1000 shares for each post.
(Source: Okdork.com)
28. Over 60% of marketers repost the same content on social media.
Duplicated content on social media isn’t penalized. That’s why a lot of bloggers repost their articles several days after publishing on their blogs. A lot of them also repost the same content on social media like Facebook, Medium, and Tumblr.
(Source: Neilpatel.com)
29. Types of content produced by marketers worldwide
Visual content has surpassed blogging, as only 60% of marketers use blogging, while 80% use visual content. However, this doesn’t stop bloggers from adding visuals to their posts.
It’s not only about blog posts. Marketers tend to produce a variety of content to meet their goals.
(Source: Statista.com)
30. 39% of bloggers who add 10 or more images in their posts report strong results.
Images are directly related to the success of blog posts. 26% of bloggers that add 2–3 images report solid success, while 39% of bloggers who add 10 or more images say that they achieved strong results.
(Source: Orbitmedia.com)
31. Photos of real people have 35% higher conversions than stock photos.
It’s not only about adding as many images as possible. It’s important to add unique images that are believable and relevant. Furthermore, new images can give more SEO value.
(Source: Optinmonster.com)
32. Audio content in blog posts helped 45% of bloggers achieve better results.
The majority of audio content that is included in posts involves podcasts. When done correctly, audio can add more depth to your content and spice it up.
(Source: Optinmonster.com)
Blog traffic stats
Optimizing your blog for search engines is one of the most critical steps you need to take to increase your organic search traffic and SEO ranking. This starts with keyword research, and extends to implementing engaging images and videos, and updating older blog posts to improve their performance.
To drive more traffic to your blog, you need to promote your content regularly. Social media is your best bet nowadays, but there are also paid ads, email marketing, SEO promotions, guest blogging, and influencer marketing.
So with this in mind, let’s take a look at how other bloggers are driving their website traffic, and see what can be learned from them.
33. Video content drives 50 times more organic traffic.
Omnicore’s research from 2018 shows that video content has a 50% higher chance of driving organic traffic. At the same time, 51% of online users prefer video content over any other kind of content.
(Source: Hubspot.com)
34. In 2019, 97% of bloggers used social media to drive traffic to their posts.
Even though almost all bloggers (97%) use social media, only 29% of them feel that they get good results from social media traffic. It’s a combined effort, and social media is there to add more fuel to the fire. 69% of bloggers use SEO, and 66% use email marketing as well.
(Source: Orbitmedia.com)
35. 97% of bloggers report that social media helps them increase traffic.
For a free channel, social media can significantly boost your blog traffic. 93% of marketers agree that social media gives them more exposure, and 88% of them say they have more traffic because of it.
(Source: Socialmediaexaminer.com)
Blog growth stats
Once you’ve reached the desired milestone when it comes to the size of your audience, it’s easy to feel content and successful, and stop attempting to grow your blog further.
However, if you’re truly serious about your blogging career, you should always do what you can to expand your reach and continue to focus on blog growth. The following are some blogging statistics that exemplify how others are growing their audiences and expanding their site’s reach.
36. 83% of bloggers do keyword research, while 26% of them do it for every post.
17% percent of bloggers never do keyword research, and only 17% of them have successful results. 53% of bloggers that always do keyword research report strong results.
(Source: Orbitmedia.com)
37. 80% of paid advertisem*nts are used for building an audience.
Research by Search Engine Watch has concluded that 80% of online markets use paid methods to build audiences, 65% to drive traffic, and 52% for niche audiences. Only 42% look to promote the launch of new services or products.
(Source: Searchenginewatch.com)
38. Almost 60% of bloggers occasionally guest-post.
Guest posting is a great way to link back to your blog and get more exposure. At the same time, bloggers can build networks that they can benefit from in the future.
(Source: Webinfotech.co)
39. Blogging is the top inbound marketing strategy for 55% of marketers.
Most marketers (61%) agree that their top inbound priority is SEO, while 55% of them focus primarily on blogging. However, these two are deeply connected to each other.
(Source: Hubspot.com)
40. Businesses that blog actively get 97% more inbound links.
Quality content is rewarded not just by the number of readers and shares. Other sites will also want to link to your blogs as credible sources of information.
(Source: Hubspot.com)
Blogging business stats
What is it that motivates you to craft content for like-minded people interested in the same topics that you cover? Is money your main motivator, or do you find joy in helping people learn something new or answering their questions? Do you perhaps blog for business and want to establish yourself as an expert in your field?
There are many reasons why individuals and businesses get into blogging, and many businesses now use blogs to increase profits. Believe it or not, a simple, high-quality blog can really work wonders for driving profit.
So, let’s take a look at the benefits that motivate most people to blog and how they monetize their blogs.
41. 24% of bloggers blog to express themselves in a creative way.
The biggest motivation for blogging is to have an outlet for creative expression (24%).
Other bloggers were motivated by self-employment (16%), teaching (12%), and having the opportunity to create an audience of their own. Only 12% of participants said that they started blogs because they wanted to increase their earnings.
(Source: Firstsiteguide.com)
42. 61% of online shoppers in the US say they made a purchase after getting a recommendation from a blog post.
Blog marketing has the power to build trust better than any other marketing method. It really gets the attention of consumers and can be quite persuasive.
(Source: Contentmarketinginstitute.com)
43. 80% of bloggers say that they see positive business results from their blogging efforts.
This indicates just how good blogging can be, even today when there are so many different marketing options.
(Source: Growthbadger.com)
44. Companies that blog actively have 126% better lead growth.
Small companies with blogs they actively work on have 126% higher growth in terms of leads.
(Source: Yourblogworks.com)
45. Blogs affect customers’ buying decisions as 47% of them go through 3 to 5 blog posts before the buying process.
Blogs are still one of the main research options when it comes to shopping for products or services. They have credibility with consumers and can provide in-depth information.
(Source: Demandgenreport.com)
46. How do you make money from your blog?
Of all the bloggers we surveyed, 22% said that they aren’t generating any revenue, while 19% say that affiliate marketing is their top revenue source. 17% make the most money by selling various services or products to their readers.
Monetization is a common discussion topic among bloggers. Let’s see the most common ways to make money.
(Source: Firstsiteguide.com)
47. Top 20 blog websites traffic statistics
A vast majority of blogs have a readership in the thousands, but there are a select few that boast millions upon millions of unique readers every month.
Naturally, the higher the website traffic, the higher the potential profits, and many of the sites that have millions of unique monthly readers also make millions of dollars.
So, let’s take a look at some of the blog sites that attract the highest number of readers, and see what their estimated profits are.
(Source: Ahrefs.com)
Blogging predictions
Over the past few years, the world of blogging has undergone massive changes. Just looking back and comparing how the number of bloggers has grown between 2014 and 2020 proves how much change and growth has happened.
There are currently millions of blogging websites, millions of dedicated fans and readers, and this isn’t about to change any time soon.
The only things that could change are the current trends. Blogs will continue being popular for many years to come, but their shape, form, and content are expected to evolve.
Below are some examples of trends that we can expect to see in the future blogosphere:
- Further focus on visual content
- Adaptation to the trend of voice searches
- Shift to visual searches
- Focus on high-quality content
- More instances of affiliate marketing
- More long-form content
- Shift to data-driven blogging
- Greater SaaS adoption
Conclusion
Blogging can be one of the most rewarding endeavors, both emotionally and financially. However, you need to do it right if you want to experience all of the available benefits and make your efforts pay off. These blogging statistics will help you understand the bigger picture of blogging and prepare yourself for a successful blogging adventure.
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