Over 4 million blog posts have been written today.
Let that marinate for a second. That’s one and a half blog posts for every person living in the City of Toronto. That’s a post for every person living in Oklahoma, 2 for every person living in New Mexico, and 7 for every Wyomingite.
So… is it worth it? No simple answer: It depends on what you are after. If you are in search of piles of cash, overnight internet fame, and celebrity status … move along. However, if you are blogging on a passion of yours, find writing fulfilling, or otherwise enjoy storytelling — by all means, toss your hat in the ring.
We blog because we dig cool content, because its an outlet for our creativity, want to show off what our awesome users come up with, and frankly to show that we aren’t just a collection of coding nerds!
Motivation from this blog post stems from –you guessed it– another blog post. On Scribblrs. Without further ado, we present the data behind blogging in 2016…
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1. 3.4 Billion Folks are Online, Nearly Half the World’s Population
Who is your audience? This essential question must be answered before beginning your blogging endeavor if it has any hopes of being successful. Fortunately, there are a mammoth amount of folks online nowadays, so whether your blog is about Pokémon GO, Korean Pancakes, or how many times Donald Trump blamed global warming on China, someone out there will share your interest.
2. The Competition is Also Huge …
While your potential audience is pretty massive, so is your competition. At the time of writing this blog, there were 1,088,653,627 websites. That’s over 3 websites for every person living in the United States or about 30 for every person living in Canada.
Chances are, someone is already blogging on your topic of interest. Browsing the competition will give you a feel for “what’s out there” — and might stimulate you to provide a fresh take.
3. Google is Infinitely Important
In 2012 there were more than 1,000,000,000 (1 trillion) more Google searches than in 2000. It’s safe to say that during 2016, Google searches may be near or exceed 2 trillion. What does that mean? Well, for one, Google is a fantastic way to drive traffic to your site BUT you must be SEO-savvy.
4. Your Google Result is also Infinitely Important
Reinforcing the need to be SEO-savvy … the top 4 Google results get 83% of page one organic clicks.
5. Choose an Intuitive Blogging Platform
Wordpress powers nearly 60% of all blogs (almost 10 times its closest competitor) and 25% of all websites, reported W3Techs. Why? Redditors describe the Wordpress interface as “ridiculously flexible, free and easy to use, allows anyone…to get the job done!”
6. Some Domain Names are Insanely Expensive … Yours Doesn’t Have to Be
While your domain name won’t cost $90m like lasvegas.com, a thoughtful, catchy domain name can play a key role in promoting your site and building a killer online brand. Scribblrs says, “It needs to be memorable, easy to spell, and not too long.”
In most cases, your domain name should only cost about $20 a year.
7. Not All About Text
A picture is worth 1000 words. The one below speaks for itself.
8. Growth in Online Video Usage
Online video usage grew significantly between 2014 and 2015 across Europe and in Japan. This may be a hint that the future of blogging involves short and “snackable” videos that keep the user engaged and craving more.
9. Content Posted vs Shared by Weekday
According to eMarketer.com, Tuesday and Wednesday are the most popular days to post content. However, only 14.1% of the 18% of content posted is shared socially.
On the other hand, Saturday is the most popular day to share content. Use this information to your advantage — perhaps publish your content on various days of the week, at different times. By trial and error, you’ll figure out what works best for your blog.
10. Can You Make a Living?
Using ProBlogger readers as a “proxy” for those who blog for a living, it is revealed that a majority of folks –38%– make less than $10 a month on their blog. A mere 13% make more than $1000 a month or more, and about 10% of folks pull in a livable income. So, in short, if you’re in it for the money, blogging might not be for you.
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