Survey: 3 crucial questions can help forge great blogging habits

The results reveal prominent writers’ and marketers’ secrets to success. Frequency matters, as does length—as long as you’re providing useful information and not just meeting a word count.

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It comes down to three habits:

That’s according to a survey of 1,377 bloggers conducted by Orbit Media. Certainly, there’s an art and science to attracting and building an audience, but grit and determination also play a key role. The Orbit survey provides useful benchmarks for unlocking a winning blog formula. Here are a few takeaways:

1. How long does it take to write a blog post?

The average time spent composing a blog post in 2017 was three hours and 20 minutes. That’s up by four minutes from the previous year, but the trendline points to greater investments of time.

For example, 39 percent of bloggers spent more time on a routine post than they did in 2014, and some are spending significantly more time:

How much time you spend on a post may vary, depending on topic familiarity and deadlines. However, there is a correlation between the time invested in blogging and the results earned. As Orbit writes: “Forty-nine percent of bloggers who spend more than six hours on each article report ‘strong results’ from blogging.”

Successful bloggers invest significant time in their trade.

2. How long should a blog post be?

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