11 Latest Blogging Trends You Need to Watch in 2020

1. Blog Post CTR

• The top-ranked result on Google gets 33% of all clicks (Search Engine Watch, 2019)
  
  
• Almost half of all clicks on the SERPs (search engine results pages) go to the top 3 listings (Advanced Web Ranking, 2019)

Featured snippets steal clicks from the top 3 positions, so these figures will be slightly lower if a featured snippet is present. Nevertheless, it's good to remember that roughly half of all clicks go to the top three positions. That's why a little bit of On-Page SEO can produce a big pay-off 

3. Blog Post Creation

• On average, bloggers take 3 hours 57 minutes to write a blog post (Orbit Media, 2020)
  
  
• A new blog post is published every 0.5 seconds

My blog posts take longer to write than that, but maybe I'm a slow worker!

4. Guest Blogging

• 3% of bloggers write over 100 guest posts per month (Optin Monster, 2019)
  
  
• 60% of bloggers write 1-5 guest posts per month (Optin Monster, 2019)

5. Blog Post Consumption

• 73% of visitors skim rather than read the blog post thoroughly (How To Make My Blog, 2019)
  
  
• The average reader only spends 37 seconds reading an article or blog post (Social Media Today, 2018)

We think people spend far longer reading our articles than they actually do. This is why it's so important to use lots of headings and sub-headings - makes it easier for skimmers (if you can't beat 'em, join 'em).

6. Advantages of Having a Blog

• Companies with blogs produce 67% more leads per month than those without (Demand Metric)
  
  
• Companies who blog receive 97% more links to their website

So the answer is..."No, blogging is not dead!"

7. Blogging Demographics

• In 2018, 69% of bloggers were in the 25-44 age range, and 23% were 45 or older (ConvertKit)
  
  
• The number of bloggers in the United States is set to reach 31.7 million users in 2020 (Statista)

My guess is that these figures will be blown out of the water by the corona virus. When this crisis is over, there's going to be an explosion in blogging as people try to find additional income streams.

8. Blogging Platforms

• 60.6% of all websites with CMS use WordPress (W3Techs)
  
  
• 5.2 of websites with CMS use Joomla, the next most popular CMS after WordPress (W3Techs, 2019)

WordPress is still miles ahead of any other platform, in terms of market share. A big part of WordPress' popularity is the number of plugins (most of them free) that are available.

9. Blog Post Titles

• 36% of people prefer list-based headlines (ConversionXL, 2018)
  
  
• Odd numbered listicle headlines outperform even ones by 20% (Content Marketing Institute, 2017)

Nothing beats a listicle (just ask BuzzFeed).

10. Blog Post Length

• The average blog post length is 1,050 words (Orbit Media, 2019)
  
  
• The ratio of blogs with less than 1,000 words, versus those with over 2,000, is 16:1 (99 Firms)

A big part of succeeding online is doing things that other people aren't prepared to do (aka going the extra mile). By writing more than 2000 words, you give yourself a 16 to 1 advantage.

Interesting fact: The expression 'going the extra mile' comes from Biblical times. During the Roman occupation of Jerusalem, a Roman soldier could ask an Israelite to carry his armour for one mile, and he would have to do it.

11. Blog Posts Are Getting Longer

• In 2018 the average blog post was 1,142 words long, 41% longer than it was in 2014 (Torque Mag, 2018)
  
  
• In 2019, the average word count for a blog post was 1,692 words (Search Metrics)

No rest for the weary - we're going to have to keep pumping out those words!