20+ Blogging Statistics for 2024: Trends & Insights

General Blogging Statistics 📊

How many blogs are there?

A blog is a type of website that provides information or insight into a certain topic. But while it is easy to determine the number of live websites (there were 1,106,671,903 sites across 255,487,423 domains and 12,106,503 web-facing computers in June 2023), establishing the precise number of blogs is challenging because there is no central registry that tracks all blogs on the internet and some blogs may be inactive, abandoned, deleted, or hidden from public view, which makes them hard to identify and measure [1].

What about the number of bloggers?

Like the number of blogs worldwide, pinpointing the precise number of bloggers can be challenging. But this is not to say that we can’t have an idea about this number. For instance, there are estimated to be 207 million creators worldwide, and 26% identify as bloggers [3][4][5]. Roughly, therefore, there are 54 million bloggers worldwide.

Also, the number of bloggers has grown steadily over the years, as indicated by the blogging landscape in the United States. In 2014, 27.4 million American creators identified as bloggers, which grew by more than 5 million to 32.7 million in 2022 [4][6].

What is the average word count of high-performing blog posts?

For years, a typical blog post’s length increased annually, but this trend is reversing. In 2022, based on an annual survey of 1,000+ bloggers, the average number of words per post was 1,376, compared to 1,416 in 2021 [7]. This is the first time the average word count of a blog post has reduced year-on-year since blogging entered the mainstream.

But although the average word count dropped in 2022, the average length of a blog post is still considerably long. One of the main reasons behind this, as one study found, is that longer content gets more backlinks, improving the blog’s ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs) [8].

How often do bloggers post new content?

The problem with longer blog posts is that bloggers spend more time on a single post, and the rate at which they post new content slows down significantly. In 2014, for example, it took a blogger an average of two hours and twenty-four minutes to complete a single post [9]. Four years later, that period has almost doubled with an average blogger spending four hours and ten minutes on one blog post.

Since a blogger spent 74% more time on one blog post in 2022 than in 2014, according to the same survey, the posting frequency was also significantly lower, with a small minority (2%) posting new content daily. Instead, most bloggers publish new content weekly (24%) or several times a month (24%) [7].

What are the most popular types of blog posts?

The content format a blogger uses determines how successful the blog post becomes. In 2022, most bloggers chose the “How-to articles” format – 76% of them. Other popular types of blogs are lists (or listicles) (55%) and long-form guides, and eBooks (43%) [7].

Which country has the highest number of bloggers?

Each country has people who use blogs for various reasons, and, unfortunately, there is no way to determine the number for each country. Nevertheless, several analyses have explored this question and most agree that whenever blogging is in question, the United States always wins.

For example, one survey found that 92.64% of 1,005 respondents were American [9]. Although this may indicate that the sample was biased, it still speaks volumes regarding the blogging culture. Never mind that blogging originated in the US. Another (older) survey established that 60-65% of respondents were US residents [10]. Again, the results may be biased because a US-based company conducted the study. Still, this is evidence of a vibrant blogging culture in the country.

Before we explore other details, why do bloggers blog?

Various motivations push people into blogging, but as of 2020, making money from blogging topped the list. 71% of bloggers earning at least $50,000 annually agreed that money was the most significant motivation for slaving away in the blogosphere. Others said interest in the topics they cover (60%) was the biggest motivation, and others blog because they want to help people (44%) [11].

Demographics of Bloggers 🌐

Who are bloggers?

It is easy to throw around figures about blogging, but do we know the people behind the blogs we read daily? Here is a peak into their world:

Only a small number (14%) of bloggers are professional, and the rest (86%) are not yet professionals [10].
A study that surveyed over 2,700 creators, including bloggers, found that 46.7% of them work full-time, 42.7% are part-time creators, and the rest (10.6%) are hobbyists [5].
Also, most bloggers are female (62%), which, perhaps, may help explain why the majority of these creators (52%) have children [10].

How old is the average blogger?

The average blogger is likely to be between ages 25 and 44. And unsurprisingly, teenagers and senior citizens are the least involved in blogging [10].

Is the typical blogger married?

Yes. Most bloggers (59%) have intimate partners and are under some type of arrangement that passes as marriage. However, some (9%) have intimate partners but have not formalized their relationship into marriage. The rest are either single (22%), divorced (5%), separated (<1%), widowed (<1%), or prefer not to disclose their marital status (3%) [10].

How educated are bloggers?

Most bloggers are highly educated; a survey found that an average blogger has a bachelor’s degree (37.57%). Another significant chunk of these creators has advanced degrees (master’s (22.52%) and doctorate (5.24%)). However, the space is also open to the least academically qualified individuals [9].

Blog Readership Statistics 📚

How many people read blogs?

As stated earlier, it is impossible to estimate with pinpoint accuracy certain aspects of blogging, and the number of people reading is one of those aspects. Nevertheless, some estimates provide a vital sneak peek into what this number could be. For example, one estimate claims that 409 million people view over 20 billion pages of blogs monthly [13].

What is the average number of comments per blog post?

There is no definitive figure for the average number of comments per blog post but a cursory look at WordPress, the largest blogging platform by market share, provides a glimpse of what the picture might look like. About 70 million blog posts are generated monthly on WordPress.com, and in turn, readers make 77 million new comments [13]. Accordingly, we can estimate that the average number of comments per blog post is only 1.1.

What is the most common source of traffic for bloggers?

When asked if they promote the content they post, most bloggers (80.29%) said they do some kind of promotion for their blog posts [9].

In a separate study, bloggers were asked how they drive traffic to their blog posts. Most bloggers said they use social media (92%). The second most used strategy is a close race between SEO (66%) and email marketing (67%) [7].

Ironically, the two most effective traffic strategies, influencer outreach and paid ads, are the least popular. Most bloggers have lost interest in paid services and influencer outreach/collaboration over the past six years as strategies for promoting content.

What are the most important blogging metrics and KPIs?

Of course, bloggers must be able to analyze the performance of shared content to determine the effectiveness of their strategy. To this end, they use various metrics and KPIs and a survey established that most bloggers measure success based on page visits (38.64%). Another group of bloggers (18.93%) believe they are successful when they see many social shares, and some measure success based on email subscribers (15.44%) [9].

An audience allows the blogger to turn the website from a personal journal into a business. In fact, most professional bloggers (56%) get at least 100,000 visitors annually, whereas a mere 18% of non-professionals can manage this level of traffic [10].

Blogging Revenue Statistics 💰

What percentage of blogs make money?

The blogging lifestyle is enticing, but it would be a life full of struggles if you can’t sustain yourself as a full-time blogger. Fortunately, only 22.52% of bloggers did not generate revenue in 2020 [9]. This is a considerable improvement from 2012, when only 8% of bloggers made enough money to support a family. In 2017, only 66% of blogs made money [14].

How much money does the average blogger make?

Most bloggers (49.51%) made $1,000 or less in 2020. On the other hand, only 16.80% earned between $1,001 and $3,000, while a small minority of 5.83% received a monthly paycheck worth $10,001 and above [9].

What are the most profitable topics to blog about?

The most profitable topics explore niches that generate the highest income. Since the food blogging niche generates the highest monthly income ($9,169), it is fair to say that topics covering this area are the most profitable. Other profitable niches are personal finance ($9,100 average monthly income) and lifestyle/mommy ($5,174 average monthly income) [15].

What is the most popular monetization method for bloggers?

Several factors, such as the blogging niche, affect how bloggers generate revenue from their sites. Nonetheless, there are a handful of strategies common across the board. For instance, most bloggers (16.80%) agree that selling products or services is the most popular revenue-generating strategy. Affiliate marketing (18.74%) and ad placement (via Google AdSense and other channels) (15.05%) are also effective methods for monetizing blogs [9].

Blogging Platform Market Share 🛒

What are the most popular blogging platforms?

WordPress is the king of blogging platforms, hosting 40.32% of all blogs worldwide. Interestingly, most blogs use the WordPress.com platform (22.35%), which covers all users’ hosting needs. A self hosted version of WordPress is mostly attractive to bloggers who wish to host their own sites. Besides WordPress, Blogspot is a popular platform, cradling 19.14% of blogs [9].

Most Popular Blog on the Internet 🏆