63+ Blogging Statistics from 2023

Blogging has evolved a great deal from its early form as an online diary in the 1990s.

The first widespread impact of blogs happened in the political arena around 2002, well before their utility as a business marketing tool was recognized.

Today, whether you are a content creator writing about films for a niche readership or a marketer at a multinational corporation trying to reach a global audience, you know that blogging is one of the most effective tools to engage and influence people.

We put together the most important blogging statistics to hone your marketing strategy in 2022.

Stunning Blogging Statistics (Editor’s Choice):

• In the US alone, the number of bloggers in 2020 was almost 32 million.
• That’s over 10% of the country’s population.
• Over 77% of the internet users read blogs regularly (i.e., at least once per month).
• Tumblr leads the way with well over 400 million blogs.
• WordPress powers over 34% of the internet but houses “only” about 60 million blogs.
• However, the platform sees over 70 million posts and more than 50 million comments every month.
• Globally, there are over 500 million blogs in 2021!

If there’s one thing these statistics prove, it is that, as a marketer, even as you make use of social media and email marketing to develop leads, you cannot ignore blogging completely.

These statistics also capture critical trends related to how blogging is changing, the kind of content that works, the expectations of blog readers, and the relevance of blogging to B2B commerce.

As always, for easy reading, we have divided the data points into neat categories. We begin with some key general figures, before moving on to information on readership and the blogging process, and finally wrapping up with the most relevant statistics about business blogging.

Blogging Industry Statistics

1. The number of bloggers in the US reached almost 32 million in 2020.

(Source: Statista)

According to Statista, there are going to be close to 32 million active bloggers (those who blog at least once a month) in the US alone by 2020. This is an increase of 12% from 2015 in an industry that many considered a dying one.

2. Tumblr had 426 million blog accounts in July 2018.

(Source: Statista)

According to Statista, there were an estimated 173 million blogs in the world in 2011. While there are no conclusive figures on the exact number today, we can get some idea from the data released by the biggest blog website operators. For instance, Tumblr alone has 426 million blogs, which is a 19% increase by mid-2018 compared to the previous year.

3. More than half of Google’s 100 billion searches a month come from mobile devices.

(Source: Mashable)

Online searches, which Google continues to dominate, are one of the main ways through which people find their way to your blogs. Almost half of these are already being directed through mobile devices, which makes it imperative for your blog design to be mobile responsive.

4. There were 162.7 billion posts on Tumblr in the April-July 2018 period.

(Source: Statista)

How many people blog from these millions of accounts? While some of these accounts do get abandoned soon after being created, many of them are, in fact, used to post content regularly. In 2018, the number of posts in the April-July four-month period was nearly 8% higher than the corresponding period the previous year.

5. WordPress users produce 70.5 million new posts and 52.1 million new comments each month.

(Source: WordPress)

The volume of content on WordPress, the other popular blogging platform, has similarly remained high despite other avenues for users to express themselves and reach other internet denizens. It is so popular that, almost every host these days is creating custom WP hosting plans.

6. According to WordPress, over 409 million people view more than 21.1 billion pages per month.

(Source: WordPress)

The number of people reading content on WordPress has fallen slightly since 2016-2017 but remains well above the numbers from 2015 or earlier.

7. 77% of internet users read blogs regularly.

(Source: D. John Carlson)

That makes blog reading one of the most popular activities on the internet. People might prefer 280 characters of Twitter or hashtags of Instagram for much of their online communication, but the longer form of content is far from dead.

8. Websites with a blog tend to have 434% more indexed pages.

(Source: Tech Client)

For effective SEO, you need to have enough relevant content that search engines can crawl through and index. A blog is extremely useful in letting search engines identify your website as a useful resource that users should be led to for information.

9. Blog articles with images get 94% more views.

(Source: Jeff Bullas)

For a long time, including images with your text in a blog has been considered just aesthetically pleasing. But numbers prove that there are practical benefits too, as a visual component to your content attracts almost twice as many viewers.

Blog Readership Statistics

10. 68.5% of consumers say that a blog adds credibility to a website.

(Source: Simple Marketing Now)

For the majority of consumers, the fact that a site has a regularly updated blog is a sign that its owners care about consumers. This goes a long way in building trust and long-term relationships – something marketers should particularly take note of.

11. 30% of consumers rate quality content as the top factor that adds credibility to a blog.

(Source: Simple Marketing Now)

Of course, just putting up a blog is not the end game. Businesses need to invest in quality content, too, if they want to impress consumers.

12. Blogs are trusted sources of information and advice say 81% of US online consumers.

(Source: Blogher)

Blog reader statistics show that a staggeringly high number of consumers in the US rely on the advice they get on blogs. This gives marketers a tremendous amount of influencing power.

13. Nearly 50% of buyers view 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep.

(Source: Hubspot)

If you are a marketer, your content should cater to multiple stages of the sales funnel. Some of your content might be top-of-the-funnel, which will draw in new leads, while some of it works subtly towards converting these newcomers into paying customers.

14. 43% of people admit to skimming blog posts.

(Source: Hubspot)

It’s not new knowledge that people’s attention spans have decreased. Plus, there is so much competing content available to drive them away from blogs. Considering how many blog posts are published per day, that should come as no surprise. You need to make your blog stand out using headers, videos, and other visual tools.

15. The average reader only spends 37 seconds reading an article or blog post.

(Source: Newscred)

Even for those who do begin to read a blog post, the likelihood that they will finish it is very low. So, your useful content also needs to be presented effectively to keep the reader glued to your page.

16. Listicles are the most popular blog post format among business blogs.

(Source: Responsive Inbound Marketing)

If you want your blog to be among the most viewed blogs, this is key information. In such a scenario, listicles have emerged as a popular way to feed information to readers in bite-sized morsels. Even when using listicles, ensure that you don’t make readers spend so much time moving from one list-item to another that they just get bored and leave.

17. Making use of statistics in blog posts improves consumer trust.

(Source: Forbes)

If you aren’t backing up your content with hard numbers, you are likely to be dismissed as white noise. Data also helps build trust. Make use of sites like Statista or Pew Research or statistics blogs like this one to find the most relevant data that strengthens your point of view.

18. 70-80% of users ignore paid ads and only focus on organic results.

(Source: Search Engine Journal)

Paid search can be rewarding, but the most valuable locations in search results are earned through blogging and SEO.

19. 70% of consumers would rather learn about a business from a blog than an advertisement.

(Source: D. John Carlson)

The pertinent indication from all these studies is that consumers rely overwhelmingly on blogs. They don’t seem to associate blogs with the same money-minded intentions on the part of a business as they do in the case of ads.

20. 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results.

(Source: Search Engine Journal)

This makes it extremely important to invest in SEO. If you miss out on top rank in search results, you won’t even get discovered by 3 out of 4 users.

Blogging Statistics

21. Blogs that post daily get 5 times more traffic compared to those that don’t.

(Source: Social Media Examiner)

Regular engagement is one of the surest ways to ensure consistently high-volume traffic. Research also shows that once consumers get hooked on receiving content from you every day, visiting your blog becomes a part of their daily routine, as natural as brushing their teeth or having a shower.

22. Long-form posts generate 9 times more leads than short-form blog posts.

(Source: Curata)

This is because long-form content tends to be more educational and in-depth, providing more value to the reader. If you deliver value to the reader consistently, you build trust. Of course, writing long posts with useful content requires more time and effort from you.

23. If a post is greater than 1,500 words, on average it receives 68.1% more tweets and 22.6% more Facebook likes.

(Source: Quick Sprout)

Another study on 2019 blog statistics shows that long-form content is more likely to earn you social media shares as well. Social media sharing is one of the most effective avenues toward new readership and new customers in the case of business blogs. The audience demands for well-researched, valuable content are likely to grow further in 2022.

24. The average length of top-ranking content in Google is 1,447 words.

(Source: Backlinko)

Even search engine placement for longer content is better than for posts of a few hundred words. Of course, the idea is to not use fillers to increase the word count but to provide relevant, detailed information.

25. On average, only 18% of companies’ blog posts are over 750 words.

(Source: Curata)

This is a key area of improvement for marketers. Even long posts can be delivered in a crisp, interesting manner such that it adds true value to the reader taking the time to visit your website.

26. Blog titles with 6 to 13 words attract the highest and most consistent amount of traffic.

(Source: Red Website Design)

Blog traffic stats show that concise and easy to understand blog titles work the best. When you have spent hours creating a useful post, it makes ample sense to invest a few minutes into creating a title for the post that clearly conveys what readers are likely to get from the blog.

27. Compounding blog posts make up to 10% of all blog posts and generate 38% of overall traffic.

(Source: Hubspot)

Compounding blog posts refer to the type of content that doesn’t lose its relevance or value with time. Such posts remain evergreen; according to blogging statistics, they answer the how and why questions by giving the audience a practical guide to solving a problem that different people are likely to place at different points in time.

28. Over its lifetime, one compounding post creates as much traffic as six decaying posts.

(Source: Red Website Design)

Such posts take time and effort to create, but they are worth almost six run-of-the-mill posts in terms of traffic. Decaying posts are the regular posts that form the bulk of blogging content, which sees a dropping off in readership with time.

29. Old blog posts drive almost 74% of the blog traffic.

(Source: Responsive Inbound Marketing)

But even if you do not have the time or resources to keep coming up with compounding blog posts, as blog stats prove, even your regular posts are useful in attracting traffic over the long term.

30. Once you write 24-51 posts, your blog traffic jumps by up to 30%.

(Source: Traffic Generation Cafe)

Many new bloggers get frustrated when they don’t see any results from all the effort they are putting in, and give up blogging far too soon. It turns out that once you have built a reasonably strong archive of posts, traffic jumps up substantially. As per the same study, more than 51 posts correspond to an average jump of 54%, more than 100 can boost it over three times, and more than 200 posts lead to a 4.5 times increase.

31. 64% of bloggers use SEO in their content marketing strategy.

(Source: Responsive Inbound Marketing)

If you are remotely familiar with trends in content marketing, you would know that SEO – the art of creating content that gets ranked highly in search results – is integral to an effective marketing strategy. Statistics on blogging show that bloggers are increasingly employing SEO in a strategic manner to get better performance from their content.

32. Bloggers are increasing their use of promotional techniques that drive traffic to their posts – including paid ads, the use of which is growing by over 90% year-on-year.

(Source: Content Marketing Institute)

For inbound marketing to work, paid promotions are not critical, but they do amplify the power of your blog posts by ensuring more viewers in a short period of time. The number of bloggers using this tool is almost doubling every year. In a sense, it is fair to say that the cost of blogging is rising.

33. Over 20% of bloggers use paid content promotion.

(Source: Responsive Inbound Marketing)

A comprehensive survey in 2017 of top bloggers showed that more than 20% of them – a five-fold increase from 2014 – use paid promotion to drive traffic to their blogs. The number could be slightly lower if all bloggers were included, but the trend is obvious.

34. For 96% of bloggers, social media remains the most popular way to drive traffic to posts.

(Source: Orbit Media)

Nearly all top bloggers agree that shares on platforms like Facebook and Twitter are more effective than any other means to get more readers. Anyone who reads blogs can’t resist sharing an interesting link on social media. In turn, many readers share these links further as they come across them on the feeds of their contacts.

35. 94% of people who share posts do so because they think it might be helpful to others.

(Source: NYT Marketing)

This fact is a good reminder that simply stuffing your content with keywords is not enough. It should also be useful for it to actually get shared by your readers once SEO pulls them to your blog.

Crafting The Perfect Blog Post

36. 1 in 4 bloggers collaborates with influencers to drive traffic.

(Source: Responsive Inbound Marketing)

A study of top bloggers also shows that the role of influencers is increasing in content marketing. Internet users rely on certain thought leaders and are more likely to visit your blog if you collaborate with such leaders effectively.

37. 49% of bloggers claim that spending more than 6 hours per post shows bigger payoffs.

(Source: Responsive Inbound Marketing)

More time, generally speaking, equates with more effort. Stats on blogging show that spending time to collect useful resources and then packaging them in an easy-to-read format bears fruits.

38. The average blog post takes 3 hours and 20 minutes to write.

(Source: Orbit Media)

In 2017, bloggers spent 39% more time on a typical blog post than they did in 2014. Three years ago, 1 in 20 bloggers spent 6+ hours on a typical blog post; today, that number is 1 in 8.

39. 61% of bloggers blog during business hours.

(Source: Orbit Media)

Blogging is a serious business now, which often requires collaboration between different specialists and the use of complex tools. Blogging statistics from 2018 belie the stereotype of working in your pajamas from home.

40. Twice as many bloggers work with editors.

(Source: Responsive Inbound Marketing, Orbit Media)

Another striking insight into how blogging is changing. 52% of the bloggers studied in 2017 use an editor, while the remaining edit their own posts before publishing. Interestingly, bloggers who hire editors are 43% more likely to see strong results.

41. 42% also do not use analytics or use it only occasionally to make better marketing decisions.

(Source: Responsive Inbound Marketing)

Similarly, despite a bunch of tools available to track blog demographics and reader behavior many bloggers are still not using them to improve their content.

42. The average blog post is 1142 words long, 41% longer than it was in 2014.

(Source: Orbit Media)

Top bloggers also confirm that blog post length has increased on average. This ties in neatly with the earlier points about the length of top-ranking blog posts on Google.

43. 42% of bloggers are still not using email marketing to promote content.

(Source: Responsive Inbound Marketing)

Interestingly, despite employing other new tools to improve the reach of their content, a significant number of top bloggers have still not warmed up to email marketing, a tool with proven advantages in targeting the right kind of reader.

Blogging ROI Statistics 2022

44. Companies who blog receive 97% more links to their website.

(Source: Hubspot Blog)

Marketers would prick up their ears with this one. Research shows that if you have a regularly updated blog, with relevant content, on your company website, you are almost twice as likely to be linked by people.

45. B2C companies that blogged 11+ times per month got over four times as many leads as those that blog only 4-5 times per month.

(Source: Hubspot Blog)

If you are a B2C company, a blogging frequency of about one post in three days can increase over four times the leads you get through your blog compared to posting once every week.

46. B2B companies that blogged 11+ times per month had almost three times more traffic than those blogging 0-1 time per month.

(Source: Hubspot Blog)

Similar blogging stats for B2B commerce show that regular blogging can have a threefold improvement in links earned compared to blogging very infrequently. The gist is that if you are not blogging regularly, you are missing out on a big chunk of potential customers.

47. Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates about 3 times as many leads.

(Source: Demand Metric)

Traditional marketing channels (like TV ads, direct mail, and telemarketing) require a lot of money to get started. They also can’t provide the kind of targeted content marketing can. For example, content marketing allows you to place an ad for your product in an article that ranks for a very specific, high-converting keyword. This is one of the most significant 2022 blogging trends.

48. SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads (such as direct mail or print advertising) have a 1.7% close rate.

(Source: Search Engine Journal)

An important goal of content marketing is to be discovered by search engines. Blog posts that maintain keyword focus and fulfill other SEO criteria significantly increase the likelihood of you getting discovered by more qualified customers who are ready to close.

49. Marketers who prioritize blogging are 13 times more likely to achieve a positive ROI.

(Source: Hubspot Blog)

Blogging increases the chance of positive ROI, but most of the potential benefits from blogging materialize only if marketers prioritize it. Content marketing success rarely, if ever, happens by accident.

50. 53% of marketers say blogging is their top content marketing priority.

(Source: Hubspot)

Between lead generation, brand awareness, SEO, and thought leadership, there are very few areas of marketing that do not benefit from blogging.

Business Blogging Statistics 2022

51. 76% of B2B marketers blog and 73% publish case studies.

(Source: IAB)

Even if blogging is not the main marketing tool employed by certain marketers, many of them do utilize it to improve their company’s standing in the market.

52. 42% of the Fortune 500 companies are using their blogs for thought leadership, product promotion, and engagement, up from 23% in 2010.

(Source: UMass Dartmouth)

It is not just small businesses that rely on the benefits of blogging. Nearly half of the largest companies across the world use this tool to inform and engage customers. Even more striking is the fact that this number has almost doubled in the last 8 years.

53. According to LinkedIn, the top 3 content marketing tactics are blogging (53%), social media (64%), and case studies (64%).

(Source: SlideShare)

Every time an authoritative website links to a blog post (or any page) your entire website reaps the SEO benefits. Many businesses now use blogs to attract links easily with high-quality, engaging blog content.

54. Just over half (51%) of business owners report that content management is “very important” or “absolutely critical” to creating a cohesive buyer journey.

(Source: SlideShare)

Guiding your customers from the time they first meet you to the point of sale should feel like a natural progression to them. Creating that experience requires careful planning and mapping of your blog and premium content.

55. 66% of marketers reported using blogs in their social media content.

(Source: Social Media Examiner)

The relevance of your blog is not limited to being read as an independent resource. Marketers use their blog posts to drive traffic and engagement on social media as users are likely to share content they find useful.

56. Conversely, over 61% of bloggers are approached by brands.

(Source: First Guide)

The world of blogging can be a tempting place as 61.17% of bloggers report that various brands vie for their attention.

57. 71% of marketers report using visual assets as part of their content marketing strategy.

(Source: The Best Colleges)

Visual appeal is known to engage attention better than plain text, especially where there are a large number of blogs competing for the reader’s time. If you include relevant and striking visuals in your content, it shows that you are in touch with the preferences of your audience.

58. 57% of marketers intended to increase their use of blogging in 2018, while 25% planned to maintain their current use.

(Source: Social Media Examiner)

The vast majority of marketers see value in blogging as a marketing tool, resulting in over 80% of them maintaining or increasing the budget outlay marked for it.

59. B2B marketers (67%) are more likely to use blogs in their social media content than B2C (56%).

(Source: Social Media Examiner)

The likelihood of blogging forming a part of the marketing strategy is even greater in B2B commerce than it is in B2C. Some of the subsequent statistics about blogs in the B2B ecosystem suggest that the nature of buyers and their information expectations are more aligned to blogging than many other forms of marketing.

60. B2C marketers place more importance on visual content (36% say it’s the most important) than B2B marketers (25%).

(Source: Social Media Examiner)

Content marketing for a B2B audience differs in a number of ways from that for B2C customers. One of the prime differences is that visual appeal matters more in the latter case.

61. 96% of B2B buyers want content from industry thought leaders.

(Source: Demand Gen Report)

What are B2B buyers looking for? For one, most want to hear from the leaders of their respective industries. This is important for marketers – you can improve the relevance of your blogging content by inviting your own or other companies’ top management to relate their experiences.

62. 78% of B2B buyers use case studies when researching purchases.

(Source: Demand Gen Report)

The most tangible way to link your business to a buyer’s need is to show the awesome results similar companies get when they choose your products or services. Blogging stats show that case studies that do so tend to be the preferred information gathering tool for a very high number of B2B buyers.

63. 57% of B2B buyers make their purchase decision before ever speaking to a salesperson.

(Source: CEB Global)

This makes targeted and relevant content extremely useful in influencing the decisions of buyers when you or your representatives are not around to do so in person.

64. 61% of the most effective B2B content marketers meet with their content team daily or weekly.

(Source: Content Marketing Institute)

Regular communication is important for any business, and even more so for content marketing teams that want to remain flexible and respond quickly to changes in the business environment. Marketers can derive the most from their content marketing strategy if they work in tandem with the people who are creating that content. If you blog for companies, that might be useful information.

65. Only 8% of marketers consider themselves “very successful” or “extremely successful” at tracking content marketing ROI.

(Source: SlideShare)

Successful content marketing also requires efficient tracking of aspects like most viewed pages, lead conversion rates, and the journey of a customer from the first touch to purchase point. Marketers need to establish KPIs, configure analytics, and build reports that map metrics back to the bottom line.

66. 65% of B2B marketers struggle to define what content is effective; 60% say producing engaging content is their biggest challenge.

(Source: CMI Media )

Marketers also struggle to determine whether a particular type of content works better than others. And even when they manage to figure out this piece of the puzzle, getting creators who can produce such content often remains a challenge.

Key Takeaways From Blogging Statistics:

• Blogging remains an effective tool for businesses to improve website traffic and brand awareness.
• Bloggers are increasingly engaging with their audience and focusing on a strategic approach, even though some important marketing tools like email and analytics remain underused.
• Content has emerged as one of the most critical aspects of business blogging to ensure customer engagement, but it is also an area that marketers find it the most difficult to excel in.