A blog is one of the most powerful pieces of content you can create. When done right, it can help feed your email newsletter, build your SEO, and help make creating social media content a TON easier.
Blogs are an oldie but goodie, and while I LOVE trying new things, blogging can be one of the best tried and true techniques you can use!
However, before you dash off to start your new blog page, Orbit Media recently conducted some research. I found it fascinating and wanted to share it with you all; I’ll link it in the resources section if you’re interested in following along.
Time Commitment
They found that while 80% of bloggers report that their blogs deliver some or strong results, most blogs took 74% more time than they did to write back in 2014.
WOW!
The average time it takes to write a blog post is currently over 4 hours! It was less than 2.5 hours back in 2014. Why?!?
Well, this statistic makes sense if you think about it. There is so MUCH content out there that we hold ourselves to a higher standard while writing. Our content needs to stand out to receive traffic from it and engage our target audience.
I also think we are more aware of what we need to deliver. One of my favorite blogging concepts is to create Pillar and cluster content. You write a long, great, robust piece of content and then build some shorter pieces as support.
Their survey also showed that bloggers who spend more than 6 hours on their blogs receive stronger results.
Average Word Count
Now that you’ve invested all this time, how many words are you writing? The average length of a blog post is 1,376 words in 2022—up from 808 words in 2014.
Keep in mind that this average word count is boosted by a small number of bloggers who go big: 12% of respondents say their typical blog post is over 2,000 words!
65% of bloggers say their typical post is between 500 and 1,500 words.
Is Blogging Right For Me?
The short answer is—it depends!
So, what’s the biggest challenge for bloggers? You guessed it. TIME! It takes a LOT of time to create and promote content.
Are you already blogging? Should you be blogging?
The answer to both questions depends on your marketing strategy and audience. Are they reading your blogs? Do your blogs offer value?
Next, I want you to think about yourself. Will you micromanage the blog until it takes three months to write 1000 words? Maybe blogging isn’t right for you!
My final point is this: do not assume that blogging is automatically good or bad for you. It’s all about what your strategy is, what your goal is, your style, and your audience.
If you’re unsure, try a few experiments! Do some research! Don’t ever assume that what’s right for someone else is also right for you—it rarely is.
Resources:
Orbit Media’s 2022 Blogging Statistics
What works for the experts may not work for you and your company—and that’s okay!