American and European bloggers are relatively in agreement when it comes to the most effective ways to drive traffic to their blogs, both citing frequent updates and promotion on social networks as their top 2, per an Overblog study released in June 2012. Yet, when it comes to what defines the ultimate success of a blog, Americans are most likely to cite genuine content, while Europeans stick with frequent updates.
Roughly 3 in 10 American and European bloggers said that updating their blog frequently was the most effective way to drive traffic. Americans were more likely than Europeans to say that promoting their blog on social networks was a key driver (28% vs. 20%), while more Europeans see value from contributing to other blogs or sites (14% vs. 8%).
More than 3 in 5 Update At Least 2-3 Times Per Week
Data from the study indicates that a plurality of American (33%) and European (31%) bloggers update their blog (or main blog, if they run many) 2-3 times a week. A significant proportion update every day, with Europeans slightly more likely than Americans to do so (29% vs. 24%). Europeans also have an edge when it comes to updating more than once a day (7% vs. 4%).
For corporate bloggers, recent research has demonstrated that blogging frequency certainly has a positive effect on customer acquisition. Data from a HubSpot e-book released in March 2012 found that 92% of blog users who posted multiple times a day acquired a customer through their blog, a figure that decreased to 66% for those who blogged monthly and 43% for those who posted less than monthly.
SocNets Play a Key Role, Especially for Americans
The Overblog study finds that social networks are a critical aspect of blog promotion and syndication, to the extent that American bloggers spend 64% of their time publishing and managing their communities on social networks, compared to just 17% publishing their blogs and reading and responding to blog comments. Of note, roughly two-thirds of professional American bloggers publish other content on social platforms that is not on their blog, as do half of professional European bloggers.
Americans’ leaning towards social networks results in their adoption of newer networks, at a greater rate than European bloggers. For example, 3 in 4 are members of Pinterest (compared to 13% of Europeans), and 48% use Instagram (versus 11% of Europeans).
Other Findings:
- 4 in 5 professional American bloggers say that their blogging activity generates consulting income, while half say that it results in brand partnerships.
- 94% of American bloggers post about products, brands, or companies, compared to just 52% of European bloggers. When blogging about a product or a brand without being paid, an overwhelming majority say they blog in mostly positive terms.
- 39% of American respondents classify their blogs as niche, compared to 6% of European respondents.
About the Data: The Overblog data is based on an online survey of more than 5,000 American and European professional and part-time bloggers conducted in May 2012 in partnership with BlogWorld and NEw Media Expo 2012.
