These top blogging trends of 2021 are taken from the Orbit Media 2021 Blogging Survey. This includes responses from 1,067 bloggers and then summarised results provided by marketing experts.
More Time is Spent Writing Blogs
A large majority of bloggers report that they spend roughly four hours on each blog post. This is nearly double the time spent when the survey began in 2014. The survey results also show a clear correlation in time spent writing with the success of the blog post. Those bloggers who invest six or more hours on each post report a measurably higher degree of success.
Longer-Form Content Becomes More Popular
Blog posts seem to be getting longer every year according to the survey, with the average word count in 2021 coming in at 1,416. However, as Andy Crestodina, the author of the survey said: “Every post should be as long as necessary to cover the topic completely, and not one word longer.”
For example, if you’re writing a blog post featuring a recipe, please don’t write your whole life story beforehand! Keep to the optimum word count without whisking the reader away on a journey they don’t want to come on.
How-To Articles Are Trending
How-to articles are currently the most popular blog format. The least popular blog format was webinars and round-ups tied for last place.
However, in terms of returns, round-up mosts are the most effective and how-to articles are the least effective! This may be because how-to blogs are so popular, it’s hard for bloggers to find a way to stand out from the crowds.
Influencer Collaboration is the Most Effective Way to Promote Your Blog
Out of the five main ways to promote – social, search, email, influencers and paid – the obvious top priority for most bloggers was social media. However, even though social media is an effective avenue for blog promotion, it wasn’t the front-runner in terms of effectiveness. Influencer collaboration came out on top, even though it was typically used the least by bloggers.
Marketing expert Jay Baer said, “There appears to be an unmined vein of opportunity for bloggers, and it’s influencer marketing (at least for now).“
Are you going to take advantage of the top blogging trends of 2021?
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