Full disclosure, I believe my staff and I are slightly embarrassed. Imagine it or not, running a blog is sort of our important factor right here at The HubSpot BLOG — so the truth that it‘s taken over a decade for us to place collectively our first-ever report on the state of running a blog isn’t the most effective look.
However hey! As that Chinese language proverb says, “One of the best time to plant a tree is 20 years in the past. The second finest time is true now.” That is why we surveyed over 500 entrepreneurs throughout numerous industries and firm scales to get a pulse on the present state and future destiny of running a blog.
We lined the entire large bases, together with:
- Do companies still publish blog content?
- Why do companies blog?
- What kind of content are companies publishing?
- Where does blog traffic come from?
- How is AI transforming the practice?
- How are blogs adjusting in the era of E-E-A-T?
- Where is blogging headed?
- A lot extra!
Test it out! Yeah!
Do corporations nonetheless publish weblog content material?
Brief reply? Yeah, they do — for good motive.
Our survey signifies that 65% of entrepreneurs are employed by corporations that preserve blogs, and so they usually publish fairly diligently. Our analysis discovered that:
- 22% of companies that preserve blogs publish content material every day.
- 37% publish two to 3 occasions per week.
- 30% publish weekly.
- 7% publish bi-weekly.
- 5% publish month-to-month.
Most of these respondents additionally say running a blog remains to be fairly essential to their broader advertising methods. Of our respondents whose corporations publish weblog content material:
- 47% cite it as being essential.
- 46% cite it as being necessary.
- 5% cite it as being impartial.
- 2% cite it as being much less necessary.
That‘s why running a blog stays a reasonably important staple of many advertising orgs’ budgets. In accordance with our analysis:
- 24% of entrepreneurs from blog-producing companies say they dedicate lower than 10% of their advertising price range to running a blog.
- 31% say they allocate 11-20% to it.
- 25% say they allocate 21-30% to it.
- 18% say they allocate greater than 30% to it.
And people figures make sense when you think about the returns running a blog generates for a number of companies. Our analysis discovered that:
- 50% of entrepreneurs from companies that preserve blogs say they noticed the next ROI from running a blog in 2024, relative to 2023.
- 31% mentioned it was roughly the identical 12 months over 12 months.
- 15% noticed a decrease ROI.
So it is sensible that a number of blog-publishing companies are leaning into the technique. In accordance with our examine:
- 45% of entrepreneurs from blog-maintaining companies say their corporations are going to take a position extra price range in running a blog in 2025, relative to 2024.
- Solely 13% are going to take a position much less.
- 40% are going to maintain their funding constant 12 months over 12 months.
So by the seems to be of it, running a blog remains to be fashionable and never going anyplace anytime quickly — however why is that the case? We dug into that as effectively.
Why do corporations weblog?
Running a blog is a reasonably versatile follow. It might probably assist cowl a number of bases on the advertising entrance, however our analysis signifies that the majority companies that leverage it are doing it to garner consideration. Our examine discovered that:
- 66% of blog-maintaining companies publish content material for model consciousness.
- 53% do it for buyer engagement.
- 49% do it for lead era.
- 34% do it for Web optimization-related functions.
- 26% do it to venture thought management.
Naturally, these objectives align with the KPIs most of these corporations use to gauge their content material’s success. We discovered that extra model awareness-oriented metrics have been the preferred with companies that publish weblog content material. In accordance with our analysis:
- 54% of blog-maintaining companies use pageviews to measure their blogs’ success.
- 53% use social shares.
- 46% use conversion price.
- 45% use time on web page.
- 22% use backlinks.
In the end, weblog content material is — initially — a promotional play for many companies. Whereas some use it for onerous conversions, most blog-producing companies are simply in search of one other avenue to get their model in entrance of potential prospects. Whereas these objectives are usually constant, there are quite a bit of the way to attain them.
“Weblog content material” is a reasonably broad catch-all that covers a number of content material codecs — and the entrepreneurs we surveyed noticed worth in a variety of them.
What sort of content material are corporations publishing?
An organization weblog may be a superb medium for establishing longer-term credibility by evergreen content material and rapid clout with extra trend-responsive articles, and the entrepreneurs we surveyed usually publish a mixture of the 2. In accordance with our analysis:
- 40% of retailers that produce weblog content material produce evergreen and well timed content material at a 50/50 cut up.
- 24% cut up their content material 75% evergreen and 25% well timed.
- 18% cut up their content material 75% well timed and 25% evergreen.
- 7% publish evergreen content material solely
- 2% publish well timed solely.
Our analysis additionally signifies that blog-producing companies see strong returns from a reasonably wide selection of various content material codecs. Our examine discovered that:
- 51% of blog-producing companies discover that how-to guides carry out effectively for them.
- 45% discover that business information performs effectively for them.
- 42% discover that case research carry out effectively for them.
- 34% discover that encyclopedic articles explaining ideas related to their verticals carry out effectively for them.
- 23% discover that product listicles carry out effectively for them.
However the way you construction the content material you produce is a little bit of a non-factor if you cannot distribute it successfully — and as any content material strategist will inform you, that is likely one of the most (if not the most) difficult features of sustaining a weblog.
The place does weblog site visitors come from?
Getting engaged eyes in your content material is each bit as tough as it’s important — and in a panorama dealing with seismic shifts prompted by elements like volatility in natural search and the popularization of short-form content material, sustaining a various vary of distribution channels is transitioning from nice-to-have to need-to-have for bloggers.
The entrepreneurs we surveyed mirrored that sentiment. Our examine discovered that:
- 83% of companies that preserve blogs distribute their content material by social media.
- 47% leverage e-mail newsletters.
- 47% leverage paid advertisements.
- 36% leverage natural search.
- 33% leverage influencers.
- 23% leverage paid search.
Our analysis additionally signifies that companies with blogs are usually cut up on sourcing site visitors organically versus by paid avenues. Our survey discovered that:
- 38% of companies with blogs largely sourced site visitors organically.
- 21% sourced it primarily by paid avenues.
- 36% sourced it with a largely equal mixture of the 2.
Whereas we’re as regards to nice-to-haves changing into need-to-haves, let‘s check out how AI is taking part in into companies’ weblog methods.
How does AI play in?
AI — particularly generative AI — might be essentially the most disruptive aspect ever launched into the world of content material advertising (and perhaps the world on the whole, however that is neither right here nor there.)
It is presenting an actual “adapt or die” second for bloggers, and our respondents appear to know that. Our analysis signifies that:
- Solely 4% of bloggers by no means use AI instruments to help content material creation.
- 21% use it to help lower than 25% of content material creation.
- 37% use it to help 25-50% of content material creation.
- 19% use it to help 51-75% of content material creation.
- 16% use it to help greater than 75% of content material creation.
Bloggers additionally use AI at numerous factors within the content material creation course of. Our examine discovered that:
- 43% use AI to help enhancing and proofreading.
- 38% use it to help define creation.
- 37% use it to help first-draft writing.
- 31% use it to help picture creation.
- 30% use it to help matter analysis.
- 26% use it to help meta-description era.
Of the AI sources obtainable to bloggers, the preferred have been:
- ChatGPT with 68% of respondents referencing utilizing it for content material creation.
- Google Gemini with 50%.
- Copy.ai with 13%.
- Claude with 12%.
- Jasper with 11%.
- HubGPT with 8%.
- 5% used different sources.
As you possibly can most likely assume, one of many major advantages of incorporating AI instruments into bloggers’ workflows has been a rise in content material manufacturing quantity. Our analysis discovered that:
- 19% of respondents noticed their manufacturing considerably enhance after folding AI sources into their content material manufacturing.
- 48% noticed it reasonably enhance.
- 17% noticed no change in content material manufacturing quantity.
- 9% noticed it reasonably lower.
- 3% noticed it considerably lower.
AI‘s emergence isn’t the one aspect that lately rocked the world of content material advertising. These previous couple of years noticed Google pivot to E-E-A-T (Expertise-Experience-Authority-Belief) — a brand new search-grading standards that locations further emphasis on related, first-hand expertise with the subject material bloggers cowl.
How are blogs E-E-A-T-ifying?
A number of blogs have discovered themselves scrambling to regulate to those new requirements, and our respondents took a variety of approaches to get there.
One key consider appeasing the E-E-A-T gods is establishing creator credibility, and respondents whose corporations publish weblog content material went about that just a few methods. Our analysis discovered that:
- 43% of blog-producing companies established creator experience by referencing printed works and citations.
- 42% used creator bios with credentials.
- 40% included hyperlinks to skilled profiles.
- 27% referenced business certifications.
- 8% have been not sure.
Incorporating analysis and knowledge can be an enormous assist when E-E-A-T-ifying weblog content material — making it one of many extra fashionable approaches our respondents took. In accordance with our examine:
- 8% of our respondents featured knowledge in 0-20% of their weblog content material.
- 23% featured it in 21-40% of their content material.
- 28% featured it in 41-60% of their content material.
- 26% featured it in 61-80% of their content material
- 13% featured it in 81-100% of their content material.
- 3% have been not sure.
Nonetheless, loading your content material with knowledge may not be sufficient to chop it on SERPs these days. Once more, the extra “E” in E-E-A-T stands for “expertise” — which means firsthand perception is fairly mission-critical when making an attempt to make headway within the present search panorama. In accordance with our analysis:
- 45% of blog-producing companies venture firsthand expertise by highlighting private experiences from staff members.
- 36% supply authentic quotes from subject material specialists.
- 35% reference case research from precise purchasers.
- 33% characteristic professional interviews.
- 25% share product testing outcomes.
- 10% do not particularly doc expertise.
- 6% have been not sure.
In the end, E-E-A-T represents what could be essentially the most monumental shift in natural search ever, so naturally, it‘s essentially formed a number of blogs’ content material improvement course of. In accordance with our analysis, these are the first methods our respondents have tailored:
- 39% elevated quotation of major sources.
- 34% applied professional assessment processes.
- 36% added authentic analysis and knowledge.
- 31% applied enhanced fact-checking procedures.
- 20% added creator credentials and bios.
- 12% did not implement any important modifications.
- 7% have been not sure.
So with the entire shifting tides, turmoil, and uncertainty that‘s been shaping the panorama of content material advertising as of late, there’s actually just one query to ask — the place is running a blog headed?
The place is running a blog headed?
Effectively, regardless of the entire latest headwinds and “all-over-the-boardness” that a number of my fellow content material strategists can converse to, a lot of the entrepreneurs we surveyed have been optimistic about the way forward for running a blog.
Our analysis discovered that:
- 56% of entrepreneurs who work for blog-maintaining companies say they see the position of running a blog of their content material advertising technique increasing sooner or later.
- 32% say it can keep the identical.
- 7% they’re going to be decreasing deal with it.
- 5% are not sure.
Nonetheless, content material advertising is ever-evolving, and companies can‘t lean strictly on their blogs to drive engagement going ahead — and most of our respondents acknowledge that. That’s why they’re additionally investing in different content material codecs. In accordance with our examine:
- 81% of blog-producing companies are additionally investing in video.
- 53% are investing in podcasts.
- 46% are investing in newsletters.
- 39% are investing in webinars.
- 20% are investing in ebooks.
So what’s the state of running a blog in 2025?
In the end, if our analysis is any indication, running a blog is way from out of date midway by the 2020s. A variety of modifications have rocked the follow in recent times — the popularization of AI and the introduction of E-E-A-T standards being two of essentially the most transformative — however bloggers look like adapting.
Running a blog remains to be one of the vital efficient autos advertising orgs have at their disposal for facilitating key objectives like lead era and producing model consciousness. And the truth that the entrepreneurs we surveyed nonetheless see sufficient worth within the follow to maintain investing in it speaks to how versatile and productive it may be.
So what is the state of running a blog? In a phrase — strong.
It is ever-changing and essentially totally different than it was … however nonetheless strong.
