HubSpot's 2025 State of Running a blog Report [Data from…

Do corporations nonetheless publish weblog content material?

Quick reply? Yeah, they do — for good cause.

Our survey signifies that 65% of entrepreneurs are employed by corporations that preserve blogs, they usually typically put up fairly diligently. Our analysis discovered that:

• 22% of companies that preserve blogs publish content material every day.
• 37% publish two to a few instances per week.
• 30% publish weekly.
• 7% publish bi-weekly.
• 5% publish month-to-month.

Most of these respondents additionally say running a blog continues to be fairly essential to their broader advertising and marketing methods. Of our respondents whose corporations publish weblog content material:

• 47% cite it as being essential.
• 46% cite it as being essential.
• 5% cite it as being impartial.
• 2% cite it as being much less essential.

That‘s why running a blog stays a reasonably vital staple of many advertising and marketing orgs’ budgets. In response to our analysis:

• 24% of entrepreneurs from blog-producing companies say they dedicate lower than 10% of 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 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 a better ROI from running a blog in 2024, relative to 2023.
• 31% stated it was roughly the identical 12 months over 12 months.
• 15% noticed a decrease ROI.

So it is sensible that a variety of blog-publishing companies are leaning into the technique. In response to our research:

• 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.
• Solely 13% are going to speculate much less.
• 40% are going to maintain their funding constant 12 months over 12 months.

So by the appears of it, running a blog continues to be in style and never going anyplace anytime quickly — however why is that the case? We dug into that as properly.

Why do corporations weblog?

Running a blog is a reasonably versatile observe. It could assist cowl a variety of bases on the advertising and marketing entrance, however our analysis signifies that the majority companies that leverage it are doing it to garner consideration. Our research discovered that:

• 66% of blog-maintaining companies publish content material for model consciousness.
• 53% do it for buyer engagement.
• 49% do it for lead technology.
• 34% do it for Search engine optimisation-related functions.
• 26% do it to undertaking thought management.

Naturally, these targets 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 most well-liked with companies that publish weblog content material. In response to our analysis:

• 54% of blog-maintaining companies use pageviews to measure their blogs’ success.
• 53% use social shares.
• 46% use conversion fee.
• 45% use time on web page.
• 22% use backlinks.

In the end, weblog content material is — before everything — a promotional play for many companies. Whereas some use it for laborious conversions, most blog-producing companies are simply in search of one other avenue to get their model in entrance of potential clients. Whereas these targets are typically constant, there are lots 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 might be a superb medium for establishing longer-term credibility by means of evergreen content material and speedy clout with extra trend-responsive articles, and the entrepreneurs we surveyed typically publish a mixture of the 2. In response to 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 completely
• 2% publish well timed completely.

Our analysis additionally signifies that blog-producing companies see stable returns from a reasonably wide selection of various content material codecs. Our research discovered that:

• 51% of blog-producing companies discover that how-to guides carry out properly for them.
• 45% discover that business information performs properly for them.
• 42% discover that case research carry out properly for them.
• 34% discover that encyclopedic articles explaining ideas related to their verticals carry out properly for them.
• 23% discover that product listicles carry out properly 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 let you know, that is among the most (if not the most) difficult points of sustaining a weblog.

The place does weblog 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 components 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 research discovered that:

• 83% of companies that preserve blogs distribute their content material by means of social media.
• 47% leverage electronic 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 typically cut up on sourcing visitors organically versus by means of paid avenues. Our survey discovered that:

• 38% of companies with blogs largely sourced visitors organically.
• 21% sourced it primarily by means of paid avenues.
• 36% sourced it with a largely equal mixture of the 2.

Whereas we’re with reference to nice-to-haves changing 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 — might be probably the most disruptive ingredient ever launched into the world of content material advertising and marketing (and perhaps the world generally, however that is neither right here nor there.)

It is presenting an actual “adapt or die” second for bloggers, and our respondents appear to grasp that. Our analysis signifies that:

• Solely 4% of bloggers by no means use AI instruments to assist content material creation.
• 21% use it to assist lower than 25% of content material creation.
• 37% use it to assist 25-50% of content material creation.
• 19% use it to assist 51-75% of content material creation.
• 16% use it to assist greater than 75% of content material creation.

Bloggers additionally use AI at varied factors within the content material creation course of. Our research discovered that:

• 43% use AI to assist modifying and proofreading.
• 38% use it to assist define creation.
• 37% use it to assist first-draft writing.
• 31% use it to assist picture creation.
• 30% use it to assist subject analysis.
• 26% use it to assist meta-description technology.

Of the AI sources obtainable to bloggers, the most well-liked 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 main 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 improve after folding AI sources into their content material manufacturing.
• 48% noticed it reasonably improve.
• 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 ingredient that lately rocked the world of content material advertising and marketing. 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 additional 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 spread of approaches to get there.

One key think about appeasing the E-E-A-T gods is establishing writer 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 writer experience by referencing printed works and citations.
• 42% used writer bios with credentials.
• 40% included hyperlinks to skilled profiles.
• 27% referenced business certifications.
• 8% have been uncertain.

Incorporating analysis and information can also be an enormous assist when E-E-A-T-ifying weblog content material — making it one of many extra in style approaches our respondents took. In response to our research:

• 8% of our respondents featured information 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 uncertain.

Nonetheless, loading your content material with information won’t 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 attempting to make headway within the present search panorama. In response to our analysis:

• 45% of blog-producing companies undertaking firsthand expertise by highlighting private experiences from crew members.
• 36% supply unique quotes from subject material consultants.
• 35% reference case research from precise purchasers.
• 33% function professional interviews.
• 25% share product testing outcomes.
• 10% do not particularly doc expertise.
• 6% have been uncertain.

In the end, E-E-A-T represents what may be probably the most monumental shift in natural search ever, so naturally, it‘s basically formed a number of blogs’ content material improvement course of. In response to our analysis, these are the first methods our respondents have tailored:

• 39% elevated quotation of main sources.
• 34% applied professional evaluation processes.
• 36% added unique analysis and information.
• 31% applied enhanced fact-checking procedures.
• 20% added writer credentials and bios.
• 12% did not implement any vital adjustments.
• 7% have been uncertain.

So with the entire shifting tides, turmoil, and uncertainty that‘s been shaping the panorama of content material advertising and marketing 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?

Nicely, regardless of the entire current headwinds and “all-over-the-boardness” that a variety of my fellow content material strategists can communicate 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 and marketing technique increasing sooner or later.
• 32% say it’ll keep the identical.
• 7% they’re going to be lowering give attention to it.
• 5% are uncertain.

Nonetheless, content material advertising and marketing 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 response to our research:

• 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 means of the 2020s. Lots of adjustments have rocked the observe in recent times — the popularization of AI and the introduction of E-E-A-T standards being two of probably the most transformative — however bloggers look like adapting.

Running a blog continues to be one of the vital efficient automobiles advertising and marketing orgs have at their disposal for facilitating key targets like lead technology and producing model consciousness. And the truth that the entrepreneurs we surveyed nonetheless see sufficient worth within the observe 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 — stable.

It is ever-changing and basically totally different than it was … however nonetheless stable.

“Behind the Weblog”: A Have a look at the Ins and Outs of The HubSpot Weblog Crew

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