Complete disclosure, I believe my group and I are somewhat embarrassed. Imagine it or no longer, running a blog is more or less our major factor right here at The HubSpot BLOG — so the truth that it‘s taken over a decade for us to position in combination our first-ever record at the state of running a blog isn’t the most efficient glance.
However howdy! As that Chinese language proverb says, “The most efficient time to plant a tree is twenty years in the past. The second one absolute best time is at this time.” That is why we surveyed over 500 entrepreneurs throughout more than a few industries and corporate scales to get a pulse at the present state and long term destiny of running a blog.
We coated the entire large bases, together with:
- Do corporations nonetheless submit weblog content material?
- Why do corporations weblog?
- What sort of content material are corporations publishing?
- The place does weblog site visitors come from?
- How is AI remodeling the apply?
- How are blogs adjusting within the generation of E-E-A-T?
- The place is running a blog headed?
- So a lot more!
Test it out! Yeah!
Do corporations nonetheless submit weblog content material?
Brief resolution? Yeah, they do — for excellent explanation why.
Our survey signifies that 65% of entrepreneurs are hired by way of corporations that deal with blogs, and so they typically put up lovely diligently. Our analysis discovered that:
- 22% of companies that deal with blogs submit content material each day.
- 37% submit two to a few occasions every week.
- 30% submit weekly.
- 7% submit bi-weekly.
- 5% submit per thirty days.
Maximum of the ones respondents additionally say running a blog continues to be lovely the most important to their broader advertising and marketing methods. Of our respondents whose corporations submit weblog content material:
- 47% cite it as being crucial.
- 46% cite it as being vital.
- 5% cite it as being impartial.
- 2% cite it as being much less vital.
That‘s why running a blog stays a horny important staple of many advertising and marketing orgs’ budgets. In step with our analysis:
- 24% of entrepreneurs from blog-producing companies say they devote lower than 10% in their advertising and marketing 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 the ones figures make sense while you imagine the returns running a blog generates for a number of companies. Our analysis discovered that:
- 50% of entrepreneurs from companies that deal with blogs say they noticed the next ROI from running a blog in 2024, relative to 2023.
- 31% stated it was once more or less the similar yr over yr.
- 15% noticed a decrease ROI.
So it is sensible that numerous blog-publishing companies are leaning into the method. In step with our find out about:
- 45% of entrepreneurs from blog-maintaining companies say their corporations are going to speculate extra price range in running a blog in 2025, relative to 2024.
- Handiest 13% are going to speculate much less.
- 40% are going to stay their funding constant yr over yr.
So by way of the appearance of it, running a blog continues to be fashionable and no longer going any place anytime quickly — however why is that the case? We dug into that as neatly.
Why do corporations weblog?
Running a blog is a horny flexible apply. It will probably assist quilt numerous bases at the advertising and marketing entrance, however our analysis signifies that the majority companies that leverage it are doing it to garner consideration. Our find out about discovered that:
- 66% of blog-maintaining companies submit content material for emblem consciousness.
- 53% do it for buyer engagement.
- 49% do it for lead era.
- 34% do it for Search engine marketing-related functions.
- 26% do it to venture idea management.
Naturally, the ones targets align with the KPIs maximum of the ones corporations use to gauge their content material’s good fortune. We discovered that extra emblem awareness-oriented metrics have been the most well liked with companies that submit weblog content material. In step with our analysis:
- 54% of blog-maintaining companies use pageviews to measure their blogs’ good fortune.
- 53% use social stocks.
- 46% use conversion price.
- 45% use time on web page.
- 22% use one way links.
In the end, weblog content material is — in the beginning — a promotional play for many companies. Whilst some use it for arduous conversions, maximum blog-producing companies are simply on the lookout for some other road to get their emblem in entrance of possible shoppers. Whilst the ones targets are typically constant, there are so much of how to succeed in them.
“Weblog content material” is a horny huge catch-all that covers a number of content material codecs — and the entrepreneurs we surveyed noticed price in quite a lot of them.
What sort of content material are corporations publishing?
An organization weblog may also be a very good medium for setting up longer-term credibility via evergreen content material and rapid clout with extra trend-responsive articles, and the entrepreneurs we surveyed typically submit a mixture of the 2. In step with our analysis:
- 40% of shops that produce weblog content material produce evergreen and well timed content material at a 50/50 break up.
- 24% break up their content material 75% evergreen and 25% well timed.
- 18% break up their content material 75% well timed and 25% evergreen.
- 7% submit evergreen content material solely
- 2% submit well timed solely.
Our analysis additionally signifies that blog-producing companies see forged returns from a rather wide selection of various content material codecs. Our find out about discovered that:
- 51% of blog-producing companies to find that how-to guides carry out neatly for them.
- 45% to find that business information plays neatly for them.
- 42% to find that case research carry out neatly for them.
- 34% to find that encyclopedic articles explaining ideas related to their verticals carry out neatly for them.
- 23% to find that product listicles carry out neatly for them.
However the way you construction the content material you produce is just a little of a non-factor if you’ll’t distribute it successfully — and as any content material strategist will inform you, that is without doubt one of the maximum (if no longer the maximum) difficult sides of keeping a weblog.
The place does weblog site visitors come from?
Getting engaged eyes in your content material is each bit as tough because it is very important — and in a panorama dealing with seismic shifts triggered by way of components like volatility in natural seek and the popularization of short-form content material, keeping 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 find out about discovered that:
- 83% of companies that deal with blogs distribute their content material via social media.
- 47% leverage e mail newsletters.
- 47% leverage paid commercials.
- 36% leverage natural seek.
- 33% leverage influencers.
- 23% leverage paid seek.
Our analysis additionally signifies that companies with blogs are typically break up on sourcing site visitors organically as opposed to via paid avenues. Our survey discovered that:
- 38% of companies with blogs most commonly sourced site visitors organically.
- 21% sourced it essentially via paid avenues.
- 36% sourced it with a most commonly equivalent aggregate of the 2.
Whilst we are in terms of nice-to-haves turning into need-to-haves, let‘s check out how AI is enjoying into companies’ weblog methods.
How does AI play in?
AI — particularly generative AI — is one of the disruptive part ever presented into the arena of content material advertising and marketing (and possibly the arena typically, however that is neither right here nor there.)
It is presenting an actual “adapt or die” second for bloggers, and our respondents appear to keep in mind that. Our analysis signifies that:
- Handiest 4% of bloggers by no means use AI equipment to give a boost to content material introduction.
- 21% use it to give a boost to lower than 25% of content material introduction.
- 37% use it to give a boost to 25-50% of content material introduction.
- 19% use it to give a boost to 51-75% of content material introduction.
- 16% use it to give a boost to greater than 75% of content material introduction.
Bloggers additionally use AI at more than a few issues within the content material introduction procedure. Our find out about discovered that:
- 43% use AI to give a boost to modifying and proofreading.
- 38% use it to give a boost to define introduction.
- 37% use it to give a boost to first-draft writing.
- 31% use it to give a boost to symbol introduction.
- 30% use it to give a boost to subject analysis.
- 26% use it to give a boost to meta-description era.
Of the AI sources to be had to bloggers, the most well liked have been:
- ChatGPT with 68% of respondents referencing the use of it for content material introduction.
- Google Gemini with 50%.
- Replica.ai with 13%.
- Claude with 12%.
- Jasper with 11%.
- HubGPT with 8%.
- 5% used different sources.
As you’ll most definitely think, one of the vital number one advantages of incorporating AI equipment into bloggers’ workflows has been an building up in content material manufacturing quantity. Our analysis discovered that:
- 19% of respondents noticed their manufacturing considerably building up after folding AI sources into their content material manufacturing.
- 48% noticed it relatively building up.
- 17% noticed no exchange in content material manufacturing quantity.
- 9% noticed it relatively lower.
- 3% noticed it considerably lower.
AI‘s emergence isn’t the one part that lately rocked the arena of content material advertising and marketing. Those previous couple of years noticed Google pivot to E-E-A-T (Enjoy-Experience-Authority-Accept as true with) — a brand new search-grading standards that puts additional emphasis on related, first-hand enjoy with the subject material bloggers quilt.
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 spread of approaches to get there.
One key think about appeasing the E-E-A-T gods is setting up creator credibility, and respondents whose corporations submit weblog content material went about that a couple of tactics. Our analysis discovered that:
- 43% of blog-producing companies established creator experience by way of referencing printed works and citations.
- 42% used creator bios with credentials.
- 40% integrated hyperlinks to skilled profiles.
- 27% referenced business certifications.
- 8% have been undecided.
Incorporating analysis and information may be a large assist when E-E-A-T-ifying weblog content material — making it one of the vital extra fashionable approaches our respondents took. In step with our find out about:
- 8% of our respondents featured knowledge in 0-20% in their weblog content material.
- 23% featured it in 21-40% in their content material.
- 28% featured it in 41-60% in their content material.
- 26% featured it in 61-80% in their content material
- 13% featured it in 81-100% in their content material.
- 3% have been undecided.
On the other hand, loading your content material with knowledge will not be sufficient to chop it on SERPs in this day and age. Once more, the extra “E” in E-E-A-T stands for “enjoy” — that means firsthand perception is lovely mission-critical when seeking to make headway within the present seek panorama. In step with our analysis:
- 45% of blog-producing companies venture firsthand enjoy by way of highlighting non-public reports from group contributors.
- 36% supply unique quotes from material mavens.
- 35% reference case research from precise shoppers.
- 33% function skilled interviews.
- 25% proportion product checking out effects.
- 10% do not particularly file enjoy.
- 6% have been undecided.
In the end, E-E-A-T represents what may well be essentially the most huge shift in natural seek ever, so naturally, it‘s essentially formed a number of blogs’ content material building procedure. In step with our analysis, those are the main tactics our respondents have tailored:
- 39% higher quotation of number one assets.
- 34% carried out skilled overview processes.
- 36% added unique analysis and information.
- 31% carried out enhanced fact-checking procedures.
- 20% added creator credentials and bios.
- 12% did not enforce any important adjustments.
- 7% have been undecided.
So with the entire moving tides, turmoil, and uncertainty that‘s been shaping the panorama of content material advertising and marketing today, there’s actually just one query to invite — the place is running a blog headed?
The place is running a blog headed?
Neatly, regardless of the entire fresh headwinds and “all-over-the-boardness” that numerous my fellow content material strategists can talk to, lots of the entrepreneurs we surveyed have been constructive about the way forward for running a blog.
Our analysis discovered that:
- 56% of entrepreneurs who paintings for blog-maintaining companies say they see the function of running a blog of their content material business plan increasing one day.
- 32% say it’ll keep the similar.
- 7% they are going to be decreasing center of attention on it.
- 5% are undecided.
Nonetheless, content material advertising and marketing is ever-evolving, and companies can‘t lean strictly on their blogs to power engagement going ahead — and maximum of our respondents acknowledge that. That’s why they are additionally making an investment in different content material codecs. In step with our find out about:
- 81% of blog-producing companies also are making an investment in video.
- 53% are making an investment in podcasts.
- 46% are making an investment in newsletters.
- 39% are making an investment in webinars.
- 20% are making an investment 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 some distance from out of date midway throughout the 2020s. Numerous adjustments have rocked the apply lately — the popularization of AI and the advent of E-E-A-T standards being two of essentially the most transformative — however bloggers seem to be adapting.
Running a blog continues to be one of the crucial efficient cars advertising and marketing orgs have at their disposal for facilitating key targets like lead era and producing emblem consciousness. And the truth that the entrepreneurs we surveyed nonetheless see sufficient price within the apply to stay making an investment in it speaks to how flexible and productive it may be.
So what is the state of running a blog? In a phrase — forged.
It is ever-changing and essentially other than it was once … however nonetheless forged.
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