Blogging Statistics 2026: Post Length, Writing Time, AI Use and Results
The average blog post was 1,312 words long and took 3 hours 20 minutes to write in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios' survey of 1,042 bloggers. Posts are 8.1% shorter than at their 2023 peak and take 20% less time than in 2022, calculated by StatisticsGlobal. 92.4% of bloggers now use AI. But only 13.9% say their blog delivers strong results, the lowest figure in the survey's history. On the WordPress.com network alone, about 70 million posts go up each month, or 2.3 million a day.
Key statistics
- The average blog post was 1,312 words long in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios.
- The average blog post took 3 hours 20 minutes to write in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios.
- Only 13.9% of bloggers said their blog delivers strong marketing results in 2026, an all-time low, according to Orbit Media Studios.
- 92.4% of bloggers used AI for blogging in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios.
- WordPress.com and Jetpack sites published about 2.3 million posts a day as of October 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Automattic data.
Blogging statistics 2026
Bloggers in 2026 write shorter posts, faster, with AI. Fewer of them say it works.
For ten years, between 20% and 30% of bloggers in Orbit Media Studios' survey said their blog delivered "strong results". In 2026 the figure fell to 13.9%. That is about 12 points below the 26% reported in 2022, calculated by StatisticsGlobal. At the same time a record 18.9% said they do not know whether their blog works at all.
Orbit does not blame AI. AI users and non-users were equally likely to report strong results. Orbit's reading is that bloggers have cut back on the tactics most linked to success, such as working with influencers, original research and formal editing. The results section below shows those gaps.
The platform blogs run on has barely moved. WordPress ran 39.5% of all websites in October 2026, according to W3Techs, and held 58.2% of the market among sites with a known content management system. For more on the platform see our WordPress statistics.
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Only 13.9% of bloggers said their blog delivers strong marketing results in 2026, an all-time low, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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A record 18.9% of bloggers said they do not know if their blog delivers results in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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About 26% of bloggers said their blog delivers strong results in 2022, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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The share of bloggers reporting strong results fell about 12 points between 2022 and 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Orbit Media Studios data.
How we calculated it: 13.9% in 2026 - about 26% in 2022 = -12.1 percentage points. The 2022 figure is given rounded in the report text.
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92.4% of bloggers used AI for blogging in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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The average blogger spent 50 fewer hours a year writing in 2026 than in 2022, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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WordPress ran 39.5% of all websites in October 2026, according to W3Techs.
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WordPress had a 58.2% share of the content management system market in October 2026, according to W3Techs.
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32.1% of websites used no content management system tracked by W3Techs in October 2026, according to W3Techs.
| Measure | Figure | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average blog post length | 1,312 words | 2026 | Orbit Media Studios |
| Average time to write a post | 3h 20m | 2026 | Orbit Media Studios |
| Bloggers reporting strong results | 13.9% | 2026 | Orbit Media Studios |
| Bloggers who use AI for blogging | 92.4% | 2026 | Orbit Media Studios |
| Marketers using AI to create content | 87% | 2025 | Ahrefs |
| New web pages with AI content | 74.2% | April 2025 | Ahrefs |
| New posts a month on WordPress.com and Jetpack | about 70 million | October 2026 | Automattic |
| Websites running WordPress | 39.5% | October 2026 | W3Techs |
How long does it take to write a blog post
The average blog post took 3 hours 20 minutes to write in 2026, down from a peak of 4 hours 10 minutes in 2022.
Writing time rose for eight years, from 2 hours 24 minutes in 2014 to 4 hours 10 minutes in 2022. It has fallen every year since. The 2026 average of 3 hours 20 minutes is 20% below the peak, calculated by StatisticsGlobal, and back to the 2017 level.
Posts have not shrunk as fast as writing time. Dividing average length by average time gives about 394 words per hour in 2026, against 330 in 2022, a 19% rise. Orbit links the speed-up to AI, which went from almost no use to 93% of bloggers in three years.
Orbit estimates that the average blogger now spends 50 fewer hours a year writing than in 2022. That assumes 57 posts a year, each 50 minutes faster. Over the same period the share reporting strong results roughly halved, so the saved time has not turned into better outcomes.
Source: Orbit Media Studios, Blogging Statistics 2026.
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The average blog post took 3 hours 20 minutes to write in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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The average blog post took 4 hours 10 minutes to write in 2022, the peak year, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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The average blog post took 2 hours 24 minutes to write in 2014, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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Writing a blog post took 20% less time in 2026 than at the 2022 peak, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Orbit Media Studios data.
How we calculated it: (200 minutes in 2026 - 250 minutes in 2022) / 250 = -20%. 3h 20m = 200 minutes; 4h 10m = 250 minutes.
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Bloggers produced about 394 words per hour of writing in 2026, up from 330 in 2022, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Orbit Media Studios data.
How we calculated it: 2026: 1,312 words / 3.33 hours (3h 20m) = 393.6. 2022: 1,376 words / 4.17 hours (4h 10m) = 330.2. Change +19%. Averages of different respondents, so a rough guide.
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The average blogger spent 50 fewer hours a year writing in 2026 than in 2022, according to Orbit Media Studios.
| Year | Time per post | Minutes |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 2:24 | 144 |
| 2015 | 2:35 | 155 |
| 2016 | 3:16 | 196 |
| 2017 | 3:20 | 200 |
| 2018 | 3:28 | 208 |
| 2019 | 3:57 | 237 |
| 2020 | 3:55 | 235 |
| 2021 | 4:01 | 241 |
| 2022 | 4:10 | 250 |
| 2023 | 3:51 | 231 |
| 2024 | 3:48 | 228 |
| 2025 | 3:25 | 205 |
| 2026 | 3:20 | 200 |
Average blog post length
The average blog post was 1,312 words in 2026. Posts grew 76% from 2014 to a 1,427-word peak in 2023 and have shortened each year since.
The average post is still 62% longer than in 2014, calculated by StatisticsGlobal. But it is 8.1% shorter than at the 2023 peak. Length peaked a year after writing time did, and the decline has been gentle. The 2026 figure is close to the 2020 level.
Long posts still matter for results. Orbit counts "six or more hours or 2,000+ words" as one of eight strategies linked to strong results. The average blogger is well below both marks. Orbit's text gives 1,312 words for 2026 while its chart label shows 1,314. The gap is small and does not change the trend.
Source: Orbit Media Studios, Blogging Statistics 2026.
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The average blog post was 1,312 words long in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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The average blog post peaked at 1,427 words in 2023, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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The average blog post was 808 words long in 2014, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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The average blog post was 8.1% shorter in 2026 than at its 2023 peak, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Orbit Media Studios data.
How we calculated it: (1,312 words in 2026 - 1,427 words in 2023) / 1,427 = -8.06%, rounded to -8.1%.
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The average blog post was 62% longer in 2026 than in 2014, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Orbit Media Studios data.
How we calculated it: (1,312 words in 2026 - 808 words in 2014) / 808 = 62.4%, rounded to 62%.
| Year | Average words per post |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 808 |
| 2015 | 887 |
| 2016 | 1,054 |
| 2017 | 1,142 |
| 2018 | 1,151 |
| 2019 | 1,236 |
| 2020 | 1,269 |
| 2021 | 1,416 |
| 2022 | 1,376 |
| 2023 | 1,427 |
| 2024 | 1,394 |
| 2025 | 1,333 |
| 2026 | 1,312 |
AI use in blogging statistics
92.4% of bloggers used AI in 2026. Most use it to edit and brainstorm, not to write whole posts.
AI is now standard in blogging. Orbit found 92.4% of bloggers using it in 2026. A year earlier, Ahrefs found 87% of 879 marketers using AI to help create content, and blog posts were the content type most often made with AI. The two surveys use different samples and questions, but they agree that non-users are a small minority.
Most bloggers use AI as an assistant. Editing (58%) and ideas (53%) lead in Orbit's data. Only 10% let AI write complete drafts. Ahrefs found the same pattern. Only 4% of marketers publish mainly pure AI content, and 80% check AI output for accuracy by hand. Only 16% tell readers they use AI.
The cost gap is large. Ahrefs put the average AI-generated post at $131 and a human-written post at $611, a gap of $480. Yet monthly content budgets were almost the same, $2,475 for AI users and $2,442 for others, only 1.4% apart. Companies are using AI to publish more for the same money. Marketers using AI published a median 17 articles a month against 12 for non-users. See our AI marketing statistics for wider adoption data.
AI text is now on most new pages. Ahrefs' detector found AI content on 74.2% of 900,000 new English-language pages in April 2025. Pure AI pages were rare at 2.5%. Mixed pages outnumbered them 29 to 1, calculated by StatisticsGlobal.
Source: Orbit Media Studios, Blogging Statistics 2026.
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92.4% of bloggers used AI for blogging in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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58% of bloggers used AI to suggest edits in 2026, the most common AI task, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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53% of bloggers used AI to generate ideas in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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39% of bloggers used AI to write first drafts in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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Only 10% of bloggers used AI to write complete drafts in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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87% of marketers used AI to help create content in 2025, according to Ahrefs.
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Blog posts were the most common AI-generated content type in 2025, made with AI by 87% of marketers surveyed, according to Ahrefs.
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Marketers using AI published a median 17 articles a month in 2025, against 12 for those not using AI, according to Ahrefs.
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An AI-generated blog post cost an average of $131 in 2025, according to Ahrefs.
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A human-written blog post cost an average of $611 in 2025, according to Ahrefs.
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A human-written blog post cost $480 more than an AI-generated one in 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Ahrefs data.
How we calculated it: $611 average cost per human-written post - $131 per AI-generated post = $480. Ahrefs averages use the midpoints of cost ranges.
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87% of AI users paid $100 or less per blog post in 2025, against 39% of non-AI users, according to Ahrefs.
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Companies using AI spent an average of $2,475 a month on content in 2025, against $2,442 for non-AI users, according to Ahrefs.
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Companies using AI spent only 1.4% more a month on content than non-AI users in 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Ahrefs data.
How we calculated it: ($2,475 AI users - $2,442 non-AI users) / $2,442 = 1.35%, rounded to 1.4%.
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Only 4% of marketers published mainly pure AI-generated content in 2025, according to Ahrefs.
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80% of marketers manually reviewed AI content for accuracy in 2025, according to Ahrefs.
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Only 16% of marketers disclosed their use of AI in content in 2025, according to Ahrefs.
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ChatGPT was used by 44% of marketers for content creation in 2025, ahead of Gemini at 15%, according to Ahrefs.
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74.2% of new English-language web pages contained AI-generated content in April 2025, according to Ahrefs.
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Only 25.8% of new English-language web pages were purely human-written in April 2025, according to Ahrefs.
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Only 2.5% of new English-language web pages were pure AI content in April 2025, according to Ahrefs.
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71.7% of new English-language web pages mixed AI and human writing in April 2025, according to Ahrefs.
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Mixed AI and human pages outnumbered pure AI pages 29 to 1 among new English-language web pages in April 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Ahrefs data.
How we calculated it: 71.7% mixed pages / 2.5% pure AI pages = 28.7, rounded to 29.
| AI task | Share of bloggers |
|---|---|
| Suggest edits | 58% |
| Generate ideas | 53% |
| Write headlines | 44% |
| Write outlines | 41% |
| Write first drafts | 39% |
| Write promo social media posts | 33% |
| Create visuals | 23% |
| Write promo emails | 21% |
| Write complete drafts | 10% |
| Do not use AI | 8% |
How many blog posts are published per day
About 70 million new posts go up each month on WordPress.com and Jetpack sites alone. That is about 2.3 million a day.
No source counts every blog post on the web. The best public figure comes from Automattic. Sites hosted on WordPress.com, plus self-hosted sites on its Jetpack network, publish about 70 million new posts and receive 77 million new comments a month. That works out at about 2.3 million posts a day and 1.1 comments per post, calculated by StatisticsGlobal. Self-hosted WordPress sites without Jetpack and other platforms are not counted, so the real total is higher.
Readers are concentrated. Over 409 million people view more than 20 billion WordPress.com pages a month, about 49 pages per reader. 71% of WordPress.com blogs are in English. Spanish is second at 4.7%.
Individual bloggers post less often than they used to. In Orbit's survey the share publishing 2 to 6 times a week fell from 28% in 2014 to 13% in 2026, a 54% drop, calculated by StatisticsGlobal. Monthly publishing rose from 9% to 19%. Ahrefs found a different picture among companies using AI, with a median 17 articles a month. The two surveys sample different groups.
Source: Orbit Media Studios, Blogging Statistics 2026, chart "Publishing pace has been falling for a decade".
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WordPress.com and Jetpack sites published about 70 million new posts a month as of October 2026, according to Automattic.
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WordPress.com and Jetpack sites published about 2.3 million posts a day as of October 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Automattic data.
How we calculated it: 70 million new posts a month / 30.4 days (average month) = 2.30 million a day.
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WordPress.com and Jetpack sites received about 77 million new comments a month as of October 2026, according to Automattic.
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WordPress.com and Jetpack sites received about 1.1 new comments per new post as of October 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Automattic data.
How we calculated it: 77 million new comments a month / 70 million new posts a month = 1.1.
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More than 409 million people viewed over 20 billion WordPress.com pages a month as of October 2026, according to Automattic.
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Each WordPress.com reader viewed about 49 pages a month as of October 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Automattic data.
How we calculated it: 20 billion page views a month / 409 million people = 48.9. Both inputs are lower bounds ("over"), so this is a rough average.
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71% of blogs on WordPress.com were written in English as of October 2026, according to Automattic.
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Spanish was the second language on WordPress.com, used by 4.7% of blogs as of October 2026, according to Automattic.
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19% of bloggers published monthly in 2026, up from 9% in 2014, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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13% of bloggers published 2 to 6 posts a week in 2026, down from 28% in 2014, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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The share of bloggers posting 2 to 6 times a week fell 54% between 2014 and 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Orbit Media Studios data.
How we calculated it: (13% in 2026 - 28% in 2014) / 28% = -53.6%, rounded to -54%. Monthly publishing rose 10 points over the same years (9% to 19%).
| Measure | Per month | Per day (calculated) |
|---|---|---|
| New posts | about 70 million | about 2.3 million |
| New comments | about 77 million | about 2.5 million |
| Page views | over 20 billion | about 658 million |
| People viewing pages | over 409 million | n/a |
Blogging ROI and results statistics
Only 13.9% of bloggers reported strong results in 2026. The least used tactics were the most likely to work.
Orbit's data shows an inverse pattern. The cheapest, most common channels are linked to the weakest results. 89% of bloggers promote on social media, but only 14% of them report strong results, the same as the overall average. Influencer collaboration is used by just 7%, yet 36% of those bloggers report strong results. Social promotion is 12.7 times as common, calculated by StatisticsGlobal.
Strategy depth makes the biggest difference. Orbit lists eight strategies, including long posts, collaboration, four or more visuals, keyword research, original research and a formal editor. Bloggers using six or more were 9.8 times as likely to report strong results as those using one or none. Only 24% of bloggers use four or more, and no respondent used all eight.
These are correlations from self-reported survey answers, not proof of cause. Bloggers with bigger budgets can afford influencers, editors and research, and may also have stronger brands. Still, the same pattern has held across years of Orbit data. For search-led promotion, see our SEO statistics.
Source: Orbit Media Studios, Blogging Statistics 2026, chart "The more of these you do, the better it works". Group sizes from 326 (0 or 1) to 36 (6 or more).
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Only 13.9% of bloggers said their blog delivers strong marketing results in 2026, an all-time low, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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39% of bloggers using six or more of eight key strategies reported strong results in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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Only 4% of bloggers using none or one of eight key strategies reported strong results in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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Bloggers with six or more key strategies were 9.8 times likelier to report strong results than those with one or none in 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Orbit Media Studios data.
How we calculated it: 39% strong results (6 or more strategies, n=36) / 4% (0 or 1 strategy, n=326) = 9.75, rounded to 9.8.
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Only 24% of bloggers used four or more of eight key content strategies in 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Orbit Media Studios data.
How we calculated it: 12% (4 strategies) + 8% (5 strategies) + 4% (6 or more) = 24% of respondents. Check by counts: 127 + 87 + 36 = 250 of 1,042 = 24.0%.
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Only 7% of bloggers collaborated with influencers in 2026, down from 25% in 2017, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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36% of bloggers who collaborated with influencers reported strong results in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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70% of bloggers promoted their content by email in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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58% of bloggers used search engines (SEO) to promote content in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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12% of bloggers used paid promotion in 2026, and 25% of them reported strong results, according to Orbit Media Studios.
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39% of bloggers named traffic and other volume metrics as the metrics that matter most in 2026, and 11% of them reported strong results, according to Orbit Media Studios.
| Channel | Share using it | Strong results among users |
|---|---|---|
| Social media | 89% | 14% |
| Email marketing | 70% | 15% |
| Search engines (SEO) | 58% | 18% |
| Paid promotion | 12% | 25% |
| Influencer collaboration | 7% | 36% |
How these sources measure blogging
Most blogging data comes from vendor surveys and platform counts. There is no official or academic series.
Orbit Media Studios, a Chicago web agency, has run the same survey of bloggers and content marketers every year since 2014. The 2026 edition had 1,042 respondents and 24 questions. Answers are self-reported and the sample is not random. Time and length are averages of what respondents say, not measured. Orbit publishes many figures only as labelled charts, and we read those labels directly.
Ahrefs, an SEO software company, surveyed 879 marketers on AI in content marketing and published the results in June 2025. Its cost averages use the midpoints of price ranges, so they are estimates. Its separate page study ran its own AI detector over 900,000 new English pages from April 2025. Ahrefs notes that no AI detector is fully accurate.
Automattic's activity page covers WordPress.com and Jetpack-connected sites only. It is undated, so we record the figures as shown on 30 October 2026. W3Techs measures which content management system websites use, based on its own crawl. It counts sites, not blogs or posts.
Where sources overlap they broadly agree. Orbit (92.4% in 2026) and Ahrefs (87% in 2025) both find most bloggers using AI. They differ on publishing pace because they survey different people. Orbit's sample is mostly individual bloggers and content marketers. Ahrefs' respondents report company output.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the average blog post in 2026?
The average blog post was 1,312 words in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios. That is 8.1% shorter than the 1,427-word peak in 2023, but 62% longer than in 2014.
How long does it take to write a blog post?
The average blog post took 3 hours 20 minutes to write in 2026, according to Orbit Media Studios. That is 20% less time than the 4 hours 10 minutes peak in 2022.
How many blog posts are published per day?
About 2.3 million a day on WordPress.com and Jetpack sites alone, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Automattic's figure of about 70 million new posts a month. No source counts every blog post on the web.
Do blogs still work in 2026 compared with last year?
Fewer bloggers say so. 13.9% reported strong results in 2026, an all-time low in Orbit Media Studios' survey. A record 18.9% said they do not know if their blog works.
Why are blogging results falling?
Orbit Media Studios finds that bloggers have cut back on tactics linked to strong results, such as influencer collaboration, original research and formal editing. Using AI was not linked to better or worse rates of strong results.
How much does a blog post cost with AI?
An AI-generated blog post cost an average of $131 in 2025, against $611 for a human-written one, according to Ahrefs' survey of 879 marketers.
Sources
- Orbit Media Studios, Blogging Statistics 2026: What 1,042 Content Marketers Told Us About What Works, 8 September 2026, accessed 30 October 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- Automattic (WordPress.com), A live look at activity across WordPress.com, undated live page, accessed 30 October 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- W3Techs, Usage Statistics and Market Share of Content Management Systems, October 2026, updated daily, data for 30 October 2026, accessed 30 October 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- Ahrefs, Marketers Using AI Publish 42% More Content [+ New Research Report], 11 June 2025, accessed 30 October 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- Ahrefs, AI Content Is 4.7x Cheaper Than Human Content [+ New Research Report], 18 June 2025, accessed 30 October 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- Ahrefs, 74% of New Webpages Include AI Content (Study of 900k Pages), 19 May 2025, accessed 30 October 2026. Link · Saved data copy
Changes to this page
- : Page published with Orbit Media Studios 2026 survey data, Ahrefs 2025 data, and Automattic and W3Techs figures for October 2026.