Why Blog? Statistics Show the Benefits

I often recommend that my digital marketing clients should start a business blog, and it is also fairly common that the client argues against the benefit of blogging. This is especially true for small business clients who feel they don’t have the time or resources to justify it.

If you are debating whether blogging makes sense for you or your organization, I’d suggest you read through some of the statistics below. Many of the stats show why blogging is one of the most popular and effective content marketing strategies in use today, positively impacting search engine optimization, lead generation, and website credibility. I have compiled these from some of the most trusted digital marketing organizations in the world.

Lead Generation Stats

• Companies with a successfully-run blog generate 67% more leads on a monthly basis, than those that do not have one
   
• Small businesses that blog get 126% more lead growth than those that don’t
   
• Inbound marketing methods, such as business blogging, generate leads that cost an average of 62 percent less than leads generated via outbound methods (such as cold calling)

Customer Acquisition Stats

• Companies that do moderate blog posting between 1-2 times per month have 67% more sales opportunities than companies that do not blog
   
• 60% of businesses who blog acquire more customers than businesses that don’t
   
• 92 percent of business blogs that update several times a day have acquired at least one customer through their blog

SEO & Visibility Stats

• Companies with blogs generate 55 percent more website visits than companies without blogs
   
• Companies who actively blog ended up with almost 7 times more traffic to their website
   
• Companies with active blogs get indexed by search engines a whopping 434 percent more often than companies without an active blog
   
• Companies who blog receive 97% more links to their website
   
• 95% of businesses with a blog report higher SEO rankings than those without a blog
   
• Content creation is ranked as the single most effective SEO technique by 53% of businesses
   
• 94% of bloggers reported seeing measurable SEO benefits from blogging within 12 months
   
• 59% of SEO professionals rate blogging as one of their top inbound marketing activities
   
• 90% cited blogging as important, significantly important or a primary SEO tactic
   
• Blog posts continue to drive traffic and generate impressions up to 700 days after they go live
   
• Blogging continually increases traffic; when you surpass 50 blog posts, your traffic increases 53%; surpassing 100 posts leads to a 300% jump, and surpassing 200 posts causes traffic to increase by a whopping 450%

Content & Social Marketing Stats

• 45% of marketers say blogging is the #1 most important piece of their content strategy
   
• 81% of businesses rated their company blogs as “useful,” “important” or “critical.”
   
• 25% of businesses rated their company blog as “critical” to their business
   
• 1 in 5 social media messages include links to content
   
• Interesting content (including blog posts) is one of top 3 reasons why people follow brands on social media
   
• 79% of best-in-class marketers rank blogs as the most effective marketing tactic
   
• Blogs are the 3rd most influential digital resource (31%) when it comes to making
  purchase decisions, following retail sites (56%) and brand sites (34%)
   
• 86% of Influencers blog
   
• Blogs are 63% more likely to influence purchase decisions than magazines
   
• 70% of consumers prefer to know a company through articles (blogs) rather than ads
   
• Blog Posts that were shared on Twitter and Facebook got 149% more inbound links than those not shared on social media at all

B2B Stats

• 81% of businesses have reported their blog as useful or critical to B2B lead generation
   
• 56% of buyers used blog posts to research B2B purchasing decisions in the past 12 months

Blog Readership Stats

• 23% of top executives say they read blogs regularly
   
• 67% of people read blogs at least several times a week
   
• 46% of people read blogs more than once a day
   
• 46% of people read blogs for initial product investigation

Other Blogging Stats

• Blogs have been rated the 5th most trusted source for accurate online information
   
• Blog articles with images get 94% more views
   
• The top 3 metrics used by business bloggers today include: page views, shares or likes, and time spent on site
   
• US internet users spend 3X more time on blogs and social networks than in email
   
• 70% of customers say blogs influence what they buy
   
• 81% of U.S. online consumers trust information and advice from blogs
   
• 45% of people have reached out to a blogger to inquire about a product when considering a purchase
   
• 84% buy products based on the content they find on blogs
   
• More than two-thirds of bloggers have not updated their blogs in over a year
   
• 80% of average traffic on blogs is made up of new visitors