Have you ever wondered, like me, where the crazy word “blog” came from? Well, the original term for this type of content was “web log.” Since its slow start around 1984, blogging has exploded into one of the world’s primary methods of sharing information. And in spite of its current size, this snowball will undoubtedly pick up even more steam and size as it courses down the hill of time. Here’s a cross section of the surprising facts and stats it currently consists of – enjoy!

Just how many blogs are there out there?

• NM Incite stated that at the end of 2011, there were over 181 million blogs worldwide.¹

• That’s five times as many as in 2006.

How many new blog articles are posted each day?

• Based on stats from WordPress, about 1,654,479. ²

How much are blogs actually read, and when?

• Of the 181 million blogs mentioned above, approximately 54.7 million or nearly a third are WordPress blogs that 330 million people view – at a total of over 2.5 billion pages – each month. If that is typical of the rest, it adds up to a total of 1.1 trillion people, or one in seven.

• Those 181 million blogs (based again on WordPress stats) boast over 1.3 million comments each day.

• A large majority of Internet users read blogs at least monthly, and 46 percent read blogs more than once per day.” ^3,11

• 75 percent read four or more blogs, with 38 percent reading five to ten and 29 percent reading between ten and fifty.⁴

• Post early! Blog reading is highest (80 percent) in the mornings, peaks at 10 AM and decreases throughout the day.⁵

Business blogging stats that speak for themselves:

• 70 percent of marketers blog at least weekly. ⁶

• Blogging frequency matters. Hubspot reported in March of 2012 that 43 percent of “less than monthly” business bloggers yielded a customer from their blog, compared to 92 percent of businesses blogging “multiple times per day.” ⁷

• Companies that blog have 55 percent more website visitors. ⁸

• Business to consumer companies that blog generate 88 percent more leads per month than those who do not, while business to business companies generate 67 percent more leads than those who don’t blog. ⁹

• Companies with more than 51 blog articles experience a 77 percent lift in median monthly leads. ¹⁰

It might be well worth your time to examine the health of your business blog while all these numbers are fresh in your mind. How do you compare? Are you reaping results in line with the above business stats, or would you like to see your business benefit from some blogging improvements?

While you’re at it, how about sharing with the rest of us? What has created the biggest bang on your blog – and what facet of blogging do you think is most important to your business?

REFERENCES
¹ NM Incite, as quoted in nielsenwire.
² http://en.wordpress.com/stats/
^3-5 20 Fresh Stats About the State of Inbound Marketing in 2012, Hubspot.
⁶ 120 Awesome Marketing Stats, Charts and Graphs, p. 80-103, Hubspot.
^7-10 20 Fresh Stats About the State of Inbound Marketing in 2012, Hubspot.
¹¹ The Science of Blogging by Dan Zarella, Hubspot.

Image via Mokra

About the author

Marilyn Buckner

Marilyn thrives on the dynamic duo of order and organization. She is the Mary Poppins of operations; pulling from her purse of expertise, Marilyn has countless capabilities ranging from setting up and implementing accounting software to technical writing. A detail-oriented problem solver with experience in HR administration, taxes and business management, Marilyn is well equipped to keep whatever she touches running smoothly. Her hobbies include oil painting, landscape design and gardening, photography, interior decorating and anything involving travel. At the top of her bucket list is scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef.