In case you missed it, Technorati released their State of the Blogosphere report last week. It’s always a highly anticipated report that truly carries a lot of weight in our industry. Technorati’s statistics are the most frequently cited in reference to the blogosphere. Marketers, agencies, business owners and the mainstream media rely on these statistics to plan campaigns, sell clients, and determine our online marketing plans.
I have to say, though, that I was immediately struck by how many women Technorati tells us are blogging. Their numbers state that only 28%-38% of blogs are authored by women (see chart below). I’m not sure I buy it – I’ve heard that there are actually more women than men blogging, which leads me to question whether blogs on sites like LiveJournal have been included or accounted for in thier study.
Segment Snapshot of Bloggers
| Demographics | Personal (N=1015) | Corporate (N=156) | Professional (N=590) | With Advertising (N=695) | No Advertising (N=595) |
| Male | 64% | 70% | 72% | 66% | 66% |
But even if their numbers are spot on, I was floored to see this:
Global Bloggers by Gender
| Demographics | Female (N=438) | Male (N=852) |
| Personal Blog | 83% | 76% |
| Professional Blog | 38% | 50% |
| Age | ||
| 18-24 years old | 9% | 15% |
| 25+ | 91% | 85% |
| Single | 29% | 36% |
| Employed full-time | 44% | 56% |
| Median Annual Investment | $30 | $60 |
| Median Annual Revenue | $100 | $200 |
| % Blogs with advertising | 53% | 54% |
| Sell Through a Blog ad Network* | 16% | 7% |
| Have Affiliate ads* | 41% | 32% |
| Have Contextual ads* | 61% | 73% |
* Among those with advertising on their blogs
There it is in plain sight – women’s blogs are earning on average half the amount as men’s blogs – and they are also putting half the amount of investment into their blogs’ development. The fact that women and men are evenly split on the percentage of blogs with advertising tells me that fairly equal amounts of women want to make money with their blogs, but because they are putting less money in, they are taking less money out.
I honestly don’t have an explanation for this – I wanted to open this up as a conversation, not as a “you should be doing X” for your blog.
What do you think is going on?
I want to know – how much are you investing into your blogs? And do you think that women are limiting themselves by putting less dollars into develop their revenue? Or perhaps there are other factors in effect here? Do share your thoughts!
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