I am a big believer in the power of a good story. It's why I write, why I help others find theirs. However, a few compelling facts that support a story appeals to our logical side. If done right, those facts give us the excuse we often feel we need after our emotions have pulled out the credit card and made the purchase. Because blogging has been around for a few decades now, there have been more than a few studies done on them, as well as great posts that collate all this data into nice chewy bits for us bloggers to use as ammunition to convince ourselves, or a gatekeeper, to start one. I've looked at more than a few, and here are some of the ones that struck me the hardest.
The Sources
I got these from a few articles out there on the web. Disclosure, I did not trace these back to their original papers. For all I know this is one of those things were the "fact" just got repeated so often in became a fact, without the research to back it up. The point, take all of this with a grain of salt, but I did enough work to think they had enough validity to merit your time and attention. The sites I got these from were:
Optinmonster's article Ultimate List of Blogging Facts and Stats (Updated for 2022)
Itipis's article 100+ Amazing Blogging Stats & Facts (Ultimate 2022 List)
Website Builder's article 36 Fascinating SEO Statistics & Facts You Must Know In 2021
I encourage you to look at these articles to appreciate the state of blogging today. I wanted to share the top ten that stood out for me.
The List
Blog length has increased to between 1,231-1,351 words in 2020 and comprehensive articles outperform those that do not go in-depth. I know that word count has been inching up, but wow. To me, this should effect your output. Maybe 8 shorter posts a month isn't the best option. Maybe it pays to put out only 2 longer ones for better return. Whatever you decide, it pays to make length part of your equation.
Shorter URLs do better than longer ones: I know that psychologists must have reasons for this, but to me, it's all related to the visual. I know that I get exhausted just looking at a longer URL, before I even get to the article.
95% of pages have zero backlinks: First up, a backlink,is when another blog has a link back to your article. This is a crucial element in climbing in the Google ranking system. If you're going to invest all that time and money into this, make it count. Have a plan for getting them as part of your launch or re-launch.
80% of regular internet users read blogs regularly: Now, nowhere did they say what constitutes a "regular internet user" but they read blogs. Still, given its huge growth, it's safe to say that 80% of most of the world regularly reads blogs. You job, figure out which part of that percentage you want to appeal to
Organic is king: In a study of Wordpress sites shows that 53% of all traffic to sites comes from organic search compared to the measly 15% that comes from paid advertising. Both have their place, but, for the long-term, a blog is a better bet
Clients as well as content, is king: 57% of business owners say that they know that they acquired at least one client because of their blog. One client might not seem like a lot, but one client, the right client, can build your business
Numbers matter: When it comes to blogs, the more the better. Sites with 21-54 posts generated 30% more traffic to their sites. This makes sense. Each article that Google indexes is another road to your site, so, the more roads the better people can get to you. This is one of the considerations that, along with the first items in my list, you need to weigh in your blogging plan
Attention is the ultimate currency: While longer articles are the norm, stats say that 73% of readers skim what they find. Makes sense. Remember, your visitors are trying to solve a problem. Why invest time before you know that this is what you need. The skim will always happen, so make your content good so they will take the time.
Watching the clock: As the word count went up, so does the time to create a post. Back in 2014, the average time to write a post topped at 2 hours, 24 minutes. Today, it's 4 hours. Do you have that kind of time?
What's next: Great, you posted your optimized article on you site, but why stop there when social media is available and useful. In face, 96% of all bloggers say that it drives the most traffic to their site, compared with the 65% that comes from SEO or 61% from email. Do all there, imagine your impact
Bonus fact: Those who blog often outsource two jobs, the writing, 44% of the time, and design, 41%. Want the blog, but not the work? Century Plant's got you covered.