The State of Blogging: A Comprehensive Look at the Latest Blogging Statistics

By Danica Djokic

February 6, 2024

The blogging sphere has been growing ever since the first blog post was published back in 1994. Although in recent years, the onset of primarily visual publishing formats (e.g., YouTube and TikTok videos, Instagram photos and reels, etc.) seems to have dimmed blogging’s light somewhat, it’s still a relevant creative outlet. Writing engaging and authentic content accompanied by visual media seems to be here to stay, even if it’s not as popular as it was before.

To highlight the state of the blogosphere, we decided to walk you through some of the most telling blogging statistics of 2022. Stay with us and learn what those blogmasters have been up to lately.

Blogging Statistics – Editor’s Choice:

• There are over 600 million blogs in the world.
• Bloggers publish over 7.5 million posts daily, or more than 2.5 billion annually.
• The top three blog niches are food, lifestyle, and travel.
• Food bloggers have four times as many followers as any other blogging topic.
• 33% of bloggers don’t earn any money at all.
• Posts published by those who make $50K+/per year are 2,424 words long on average.
• 90% of bloggers promote their posts via social media, while influencer collaboration accounts for 10%.
• 73% of readers admit to skimming blog posts.

Blogging at a Glance: General Statistics 

Before we dive deeper, let’s look at the overview of the industry. How many bloggers are there? Which blogging platforms are the most popular? How frequently do people blog? We’ll answer all of these questions (and more!) below.

There were 31.7 million bloggers in the United States in 2020.

(Statista)

From 2014 to 2020, the number of bloggers in the US increased by 4.3 million, or 15.7%. These blogging trends indicate the industry is far from slowing down and certainly not on the verge of disappearing.

There are over 600 million blogs in 2022.

(GrowthBadger)

That’s almost a third of all the websites on the Internet. That’s a 20% increase in just three years.

Now that you know how many blogs there are, let’s see what spiked the figures. The increase in the number of blogs is mainly driven by two factors: First, the continuous growth of internet users worldwide, and second, starting a blog has become more accessible. In the past, you needed to have some technical skills and knowledge to set up a website to blog on. Not so anymore.

Bloggers publish over 7.5 million posts daily (i.e., over 2.5 billion annually).

(Orbit Media Studios)

That’s a lot of content! The average blog post is around 1,200 words long, but the most popular posts are longer, and tend to perform better on social media and search engines.

Facts about blogging tell us that many bloggers (27% of them) publish once per week, and 32% of bloggers posting several times a week report strong results.

Roughly 70 million new blog posts are published on WordPress every month.

(WordPress)

According to 2022 research, WordPress is home to a population of bloggers creating around 70 million new blog posts each month, whose readers produce about 77 million new comments.

These blog reader statistics indicate that blogs are a great source of customer engagement and interaction with readers and potential buyers of the product you’re advertising.

Each month, approximately 409 million people view more than 20 billion pages.

(WordPress)

WordPress content is one of the biggest contributors to blogging numbers. Blogs on this platform, wherever they may be hosted, attract significant traffic and attracts a large audience, and it’s only growing. And it’s no wonder – WordPress has a wealth of features perfect for SEO and social media sharing.

Those new to the blogging ecosystem often go with WordPress or Tumblr. These two platforms enable writing and publishing blogs with the most traffic and exposure. On the other hand, if they’re not interested in blogging professionally, aspiring writers can use platforms such as Blogger.

Blog Posts by Topic

So, what are bloggers around the world writing about? We will analyze the frequent categories on each platform and identify the type of content that intrigues consumers worldwide.

94% of travel-focused blogs in the US sell advertising.

(Optinmonster)

Travel blogging statistics reveal that this particular niche is one of the most lucrative in terms of revenue generation. After all, 80% of travel plans are made by consulting the internet, while 33% of US travelers read blogs for assistance.

That said, entering the world of travel blogging is no easy task. The competition is high, and you need to stand out from the rest. But don’t let that discourage you – with hard work, dedication, and a bit of luck, you can make a name for yourself in this industry.

Over 59% of travel bloggers run more than one travel-themed blog.

(Optinmonster)

Blogging facts we’ve gathered indicate that, once you find your place in the travel niche, you’ll probably end up starting another blog dealing with the same topic. Namely, nearly two-thirds of travel bloggers run more than one travel-oriented platform.

The top three blog niches are food, lifestyle and mom blogs, and travel.

(RankIQ)

The holy trinity of blogosphere popular and lucrative niches are food (42.8%), lifestyle and mom blogs (13.3%), and travel (10%). The fourth is related to arts and crafts. The top three niches account for the highest percentage of blogs, with over 50,000 monthly sessions, according to the latest facts about blogs.

They also represent the top three topics that new bloggers choose to kick-start their blogging journey, with lifestyle accounting for 25%, travel for 18%, and food for 13% of newcomers.

There were a steady 4.2 million mommy bloggers in the US between 2012 and 2017.

(Verizon)

​​Mumpreneur influencers were blogging early adopters, and their numbers soon grew to a steady population of roughly 4.2 million. These figures are not surprising; in 2010, there were 18.3 million moms who read blogs at least once a month. Considering how much blogs have multiplied since, it only follows that many more of them now cater to this significant demographic. Some of the common topics remained pregnancy and parenthood, as well as family updates. Unfortunately, there aren’t reliable, up-to-date statistics about mom blogging, and we encourage new research to dig into this niche.

Food bloggers have four times as many followers as any other industry.

(Stella Rising)

Different formats are suitable for various topics, and food and blogs seem to go hand in hand. Some bloggers from this niche even have cooking shows and published cookbooks! Most, however, simply regularly post interesting recipes with photos of their mouth-watering creations. With an average of 23,742 monthly unique visitors, food blogs top the list regarding the number of followers in the sphere.

Blogging Income Statistics

How much a person earns from their blog is one of the best indicators of how their blog is doing. However, this metric will also depend on others. For example, one way of measuring blogging success is how engaged your audience is. A high number of page views and visits is excellent, but if those visitors aren’t reading your content or taking any action, then your blog isn’t really achieving its purpose. Let’s look at how the top earners in this niche are doing – maybe there are some secrets to be learned!

Food is the highest-earning blog niche, with a median monthly income of $9,169 per blogger.

(RankIQ)

Blogging industry statistics gathered by RankIQ reveal that food bloggers have the highest median monthly income, which amounts to $9,169. The food blogosphere is dominated by a few mega-influencers who have built empires around food blogging.

The next on the list of the highest-earning blog niches are the personal finance bloggers ($9,100 in monthly median income), lifestyle and mommy blogs ($5,174), and travel blogs ($5,000).

Food bloggers make 42% of their earnings from ads and only 10% from affiliates.

(RankIQ)

Although you might think the biggest chunk of blog earnings comes from sponsorships or affiliate deals, food bloggers make 42% of their revenues from ads and only 10% from affiliates. The reason behind these blogging statistics and trends is that people interested in food are also interested in buying food-related products. That means that they’re more likely to click on an ad for a cooking product than they are to click on an affiliate link. The other two less lucrative sources of income are online courses and sponsored product reviews.

72% of bloggers making at least $2,000/month use either Mediavine or Adthrive.

(RankIQ)

Professional bloggers use major ad networks to generate their income. Mediavine is at the top of the list, as this network specializes in working with food and lifestyle bloggers, and it’s used by 40% of all blog creators. Blog marketing statistics reveal that another 32% of them use Adthrive for monetizing their content. The rest use Adsense (approximately 21% of users) and Monumetrics (less than 10%).

Around 33% of bloggers don’t earn any money at all.

(Medium)

If all the aforementioned revenue figures inspired you to start a blog of your own, think again. A third of all bloggers make no money. Just 10% of them earn over $10,000 annually. Only the top-performing 0.6% of US bloggers manage to amass over $1 million per year. These daunting blogging statistics paint a much grimmer picture of the carefree blogger life we tend to imagine.

Nevertheless, if you still want to give it a try, start by choosing a niche you can add high-quality content to. The next step is promoting your blog on social media, and perhaps collaborating with other bloggers.

45% of bloggers making over $50,000 a year sell a product or service of their own.

(GrowthBadger)

Just under half of all bloggers earning more than $50,000 per year sell their own product or service. At the same time, only 8% of lower-income bloggers do the same. These statistics on business blogging indicate that those aiming to live on their blogging income need to develop personalized merchandise or an innovative product to market to their audience. Examples include online courses, digital products, or merchandise lines to sell on eCommerce platforms.

Length does matter: Posts published by top-earning bloggers are 2,424 words long on average.

(GrowthBadger)

It seems that longer articles are associated with greater success. Bloggers who earn more than $50,000 per year report that their most popular blog entries contain 2,424 words on average. That makes their top-earning posts 83% longer than those from lower-income bloggers, as statistics about blogging indicate.

Longer articles are more comprehensive and offer more value to the reader. If you want to earn a significant income from your blog, focus on writing in-depth articles with personalized content.

Marketing Stats and Facts

Let’s see how high-earning bloggers promote their content and monetize it. After all, 31% of marketers count on blogging to raise brand awareness. Nowadays, you can easily create a website for free and promote your blog or products via different channels.

For example, social media is a great way to reach many people quickly and generate above-average blog traffic. At the same time, email marketing allows you to build a relationship with your subscribers over time. Let’s see the most popular and effective ways to reach your target audience.

High-earning bloggers offer free products and services 700% more often than those who earn less.

(GrowthBadger)

Higher-income bloggers are seven times more likely to provide free items and services than bloggers in lower income brackets. Giving away free eBooks, templates, courses, and free trials of products or services that you sell can significantly increase your revenue, thanks to backlinks and driving traffic to the platforms you promote.

High-income bloggers focus on email subscribers twice as much.

(GrowthBadger)

Blogging about trending topics, as statistics reveal, isn’t enough to gain followers. Bloggers who earn over $50,000 per year from their blogs are over twice as likely to focus on their email subscribers compared to lower-income bloggers. They also use three times as many email-collection methods as lower-income bloggers.

Even though we tend to disregard it as obsolete, email marketing remains the best way to build a relationship with your readers and sell them products and services over time.

90% of bloggers promote their posts via social media channels, while influencer collaboration accounts for just 10% of blog promotion strategies.

(Statista)

Statistics on using social media with blogging from 2021 show that 90% of online bloggers utilized expert social media management to bring visitors to their blog articles. At the same time, some 10% teamed with other influencers to do the same. Paid services were employed by 13% of respondents, while email marketing was used by 62%. Lastly, 68% of blog posts were marketed using SEO techniques. No wonder, as 51% of all website traffic comes from organic searches.

70% of high-earning bloggers actively promote their posts, while only 14% of lower-income ones do the same.

(GrowthBadger)

The importance of engaging your audience and marketing yourself to them isn’t lost on top-notch bloggers. Namely, blogging stats indicate that over two-thirds (70%) of bloggers who earn over $50,000 annually promote their blogs in an active or very active way. At the same time, only 14% of lower-income bloggers are active promoters of their content.

More than half of lower-income bloggers (54%) claim they are minimally active in marketing their content or products; they primarily just share post announcements on their socials.

Blog posts that contain images receive 94% more views.

(David Hall Social Media)

Visual storytelling is one of the most powerful tools in a blogger’s arsenal. Namely, content without pictures will probably be ignored by potential readers. On the other hand, blog readership statistics clearly show that eye-catching visuals receive nearly twice as many views as pure text posts.

Statistics on Content and Readers

If you’re wondering what kind of content attracts an audience, what are popular platforms and channels for posting them, or do people still read blogs in the first place, you’ll find the statistics and relevant data we’ve gathered very useful. You’ll be able to figure out what’s working and what’s not in the blogosphere and see what influences the level of engagement.

73% of readers admit to skimming blog posts.

(HubSpot)

In research that dealt with content trends, 62% of respondents claimed they pay detailed attention to video content, followed by news articles, multimedia articles, social media posts, and other interactive posts. On the flip side, 73% of respondents admitted to skimming blog posts. Podcasts are even lower on the engagement list, with just 22% of listeners consuming them thoroughly.

Blogging reader statistics show that most readers tend to multitask when reading content. Capturing and keeping their attention might be more challenging than anyone thought.

55% of blog visitors read articles for 15 seconds or less.

(Time)

Speaking of skimming, the average reader won’t spend more than 15 seconds reading blog content. That is, at least 55% of the respondents won’t.

The results improve significantly when you narrow your search to only include article pages. Even so, one in every three visitors spends less than 15 seconds reading articles they come across. This is a pessimistic take on how many people read blogs and how much time they spend on them.

Headlines with a question mark get 23.3% more shares on social networks.

(Backlinko)

When we discuss blog content that can engage the readers, we shouldn’t ignore the headlines, as it seems they can make all the difference. Namely, blog posts with a question mark headline and inquisitive tone will get 23.3% more shares on social networks than those with statement openings.

What’s more, headlines that are longer and contain at least 14 to 17 words generate 76.7% more social shares than shorter ones.

59% of people share a blog post without reading it.

(OptinMonster)

Knowing who reads blogs is less important than knowing who doesn’t, but still passes them on. Namely, 59% of people will share a blog post without reading it first, or ever. This trend indicates that headlines and snippets are becoming increasingly more important in blogging.

Also, it’s worth remembering that creators have to capture our attention quickly and keep it throughout the post. Writing punchy headlines and staying concise are a blogger’s greatest weapons these days.

75% of the audience prefer reading blog posts under 1,000 words.

(SemRush)

Although the most profitable blog posts are long, overall blogging statistics tell us that very few readers read through long articles. Three-quarters of readers prefer blog posts of 1,000 words or less. Short, easily consumable text, further broken up into smaller chunks with catchy headings, gets more traffic. What’s more, posts containing videos and images get a higher click-through rate.