There are over 8 million blog posts uploaded to the internet every single month. In order for yours to stand out, you need to stay on top of trends that are readers are expecting. Here are the top blogging trends of 2022 that you should be aware of, along with tips to incorporate them into your blog.
1. Mobile Oriented Content
More and more users are logging on with a mobile device. These include cell phones, tablets, and even some portable gaming systems. The mobile versions of each website are usually much different then the desktop version since the viewing screen is usually much smaller. In the past, developers put their efforts into their large desktop content, and the mobile version was very minimal. Now, most bloggers are recognizing a large shift to mobile devices. They are now developing their blogs to be most readable on a mobile device.
When you create your mobile oriented content, its important to keep in mind is how it will appear on mobile devices. Mobile devices tend to have smaller viewing screens so having shorter sentences, and breaking up paragraphs is encouraged. This can make navigation on a mobile device easy as your content becomes easier to scan for what the reader is interested in. Make sure not to use text wrapping for images. This can look great on a desktop site, but makes things very hard to read on a mobile version. If you want to see more specific ways to optimize your site for a mobile device, check out this great article by Neil Patel
2. Visual Content Blogging Trends of 2022
Visual content is one of the very import blogging trends of 2022. There was a study done years back that showed readers remembered over 60% of visual content they had seen for up to five days later. This shows that most readers will gravitate towards and remember visual content. Your blog will continue to grow and become more detailed over time. You need a visually appealing way of displaying all this content to your users that they will remember. Keep in mind that you should gravitate your visual content toward being mobile friendly per the blogging trend of 2022 shown above. Less then 20% of users will look at everything on a web page word for word, so make sure to keep your content scannable. This way users are able to find what they need quickly and efficiently.
One way to improve the visual content of your blog, is to add images that pertain to the topics in the blog posting. These will help break up long paragraphs and help demonstrate to the reader what the posting is about. Try to use original images of your own, but stock images can help out when you are in a pinch. Another great visual content that I always encourage is adding videos when appropriate. These can help you connect with users who may not have time to read your posts. One study done shows that almost 40% of people would rather watch a short 5 minute video then read a small article.
3. Include Estimated Reading Time
Estimated reading times are something that has started popping up in blog posts recently. If you have 10 minutes to kill between meetings or picking up kids, you don’t want to start reading a 20 minute article. You may instead search for a 10 minute article to read if you see times listed. If a reader is borderline interested in a post, they may be more likely to read it if they know how long it will take to read. Including these estimated reading times may also help with search engine rankings. Search engines notice how long readers spend on your pages. If they click the article and leave quickly, it can seem more like spam. If the user clicks the article and takes the time to read the whole thing, it can show search engines that your page has quality information.
Calculating the estimated read time manually can be quite easy. The average reading speed for adults is between 200 and 250 words per minute. Normally what I would do, is take the number of words in your blog, and divide it by 225. This will give you the number of minutes it might take the average adult to read through the post. For example, if your post has 2000 words, dividing that number by 225 gives us 8.89. This means I list the estimated reading time as 9 minutes. There are also word press plugins, and free calculators that will show the estimated reading time for you as well.
4. Include the Too Long; Didn’t Read Summary When Applicable
Commonly listed as “TL;DR”, the too long; didn’t read summary can give readers a general idea of what the post contains. Sometimes when readers need to find information quickly, they may not have time to read long articles to see if they have what they need. Including a TL;DR summary at the top of the post, will give users some important info without having to read the whole post. This is also important because studies have shown that the average attention span has decreased over the last 20 years. The other thing you can include in your TL;DR summary is resolutions to problems, or recommendations for solutions. If a readers is trying to find consulting services, they dont want to read 9 paragraphs to finally see the recommendations at the bottom. Include a recommendation at the top as this may be the only thing the readers is after.
This TL;DR summary should be the first thing that readers see when they click your post. Summary paragraphs, bullet points, and referral links are all good formats to use. Try to use the same format throughout your blog so your readers can become familiar with what to expect with them. This area should be as focused as possible so make sure to keep it short.
5. Beware Of The Critical Readers Blogging Trends of 2022
Another one of the many blogging trends of 2022 is the amount of critical readers. Critical readers have been a growing pool of people every single year. Critical readers are very skeptical of any information out there so be prepared to back up your statements. In order to reassure readers that your information is correct, be sure to include citations, sources, and statistics. These show that your statements are correct, and the options you draw from them are educated.
When writing for these readers, make sure to keep a few things in mind. Your content needs to be honest and backed up by reputable sources. You can even include these sources in backlinks in the text, or in footnotes below the posting. Don’t make any claims that you are not able to prove or back up. In addition to that, do not promise the readers anything you can not deliver on. You can not have them thinking that by reading one blog post, they are qualified to do something like fly a helicopter.