Written on July 21st, 2009 at 12:07 am by Darren Rowse

22 Why Reasons People Go Online: Which is Your Blog Connecting With?

Other Income Streams 71 comments

This afternoon I came across the results of an interesting study called the Ruder Finn Intent Index which I think makes useful reading for bloggers.


In essence it surveys those going online on the reasons that they go online. Here’s a screen grab of the results (although it’s well worth visiting the site because this chart is dynamic and you can drill down further by clicking on different areas of it).

intent.png

Overall they classify people’s reasons for going online into 7 broad categories:

  • Learn
  • Have Fun
  • Socialize
  • Express Yourself
  • Advocate
  • Do Business
  • Shop

Interestingly the order they’re listed above is the order from highest to lowest that they found people go online for.

Within the categories ‘pass time’ was the most responded to result with 100% of people saying that they go online for this reason.

You can also look at the results based upon gender and age. For example

  • Men go online to do business, be informed of news and be entertained more than women
  • Women are more likely to go online to socialize and express themselves than men)
  • Youth go online more for socializing, advocating and self expression than seniors
  • Both Youth and Seniors are going online to have fun

Other highly rated areas (80% of responses or more) included:

  • Educate Self (96%)
  • Connect with Others (92%)
  • Research (89%)
  • Share (86%)
  • Be Entertained (82%)

As I read through the categories and sub categories I realized that this list of reasons for people to go online is gold for bloggers looking to improve their blog (or particularly for those starting out and wanting to choose a topic that has every chance of being successful).

I’m constantly talking about how a blog needs to be useful or needs to be fulfilling a need that a potential reader has. Here’s 20+ such needs that people have that a blog can help fulfill. Which one is your blog positioned to connect with.

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71 Responses to “22 Why Reasons People Go Online: Which is Your Blog Connecting With?” - Add Yours

  • Startup Booster Blog

    July 21st, 2009 12:46 am

    Thanks for sharing this information. It made my day! My blog is educational for new entrepreneurs. You are right, a good blog has a huge potential because it provides necessary information for a user – information on topics they may want to educate themself or doing research for others.

    I will check that site to dig in a bit further.

    -Guna
    Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/startupbooster/

  • NorthandClark

    July 21st, 2009 12:48 am

    I hope people see my interview blog/podcast as a way to have fun and to learn. But I am always concerned that because my interviews cover a wide range of topics I may be too scattershot. Still in order to get compelling interview subjects I am willing to sacrifice some specificity in the service of creating the most entertaining/enlightening blog I can create.

  • The Casual Observer

    July 21st, 2009 12:50 am

    I see The Casual Observer fitting mostly into learn (educate self, keep informed) and have fun (be entertained).

    Interesting study.

  • Joshua Elliot

    July 21st, 2009 12:50 am

    Hi Darren,

    This is great stuff you are showing, the numbers will never lie, and they tell us something.

    I really think that this chart or findings will help us as marketers online to understand more about the online users, and how we can position ourselves to ride on the wave.

  • Andrew - We Build Your Blog

    July 21st, 2009 12:53 am

    Priceless information – thanks for sharing.

    Should be able to use to determine whether you need to stlye and write specifically for men, woman, old and young.

    Andrew

  • Ben Goulding

    July 21st, 2009 12:53 am

    Interesting post Darren. Interesting 28% compare prices online. I guess this will continue to rise.

  • Jessica

    July 21st, 2009 12:57 am

    Thank you for sharing Darren. It is interesting to see the way they broke down the sub-categories. I’m definitely going to go over there and check it out more in depth. The blog network that I am building will focus on educate self, connect with others and entertain.

    Do you think that a blog should focus soley on one area?

    Jessica

  • Eric Hamm

    July 21st, 2009 1:15 am

    Well, at first glance it definitely looks like the key to making money online is to find a way to directly connect the biggest reason to go online (to learn) with the smallest (to shop). Do that and you’re good to go.

    That’s pretty much what you pointed out at the end of your post. A good blog does precisely this, by drawing people in with useful content and then bringing products and services to their attention. It’s a tried and true model that many of us fail to effectively follow.

    I’d like to say that my online voice is built around this framework, but that’s for my visitors/readers to decide.

    Excellent, thought provoking post! Eric

  • Steve

    July 21st, 2009 1:21 am

    As a marketing person, I would like to see more people online to shop.

  • kangzj

    July 21st, 2009 1:25 am

    Interesting. I am for fun.

  • Eric C

    July 21st, 2009 1:26 am

    I like that learning is the most popular segment. I think it bodes well for society, and says a lot about us. Also, it is what my blog is going for.

  • Sudeep

    July 21st, 2009 1:31 am

    I think so my website first reason is to educate and let my readers learn more from me .. I assume that’ why they come to it ..
    What surprises me is business or money is pretty low in this category .. wohhh ..
    Thanks for this read …

  • Asswass

    July 21st, 2009 1:37 am

    I’m in for all those reasons except shop. But I agree with the first two reasons. I go online to learn and definitely have fun.

  • Nicole

    July 21st, 2009 1:38 am

    Nice find Darren.

    I think my blog is positioned to connect with people who go online to be entertained and to be educated. I will be working more towards those who want to be educated so that there is a nice balance between the entertainment and learning posts.

  • Maria Reyes-McDavis

    July 21st, 2009 1:39 am

    Great spot, thanks for sharing. If you look at the list, it’s also a great one for understanding how/why the social web has taken charge online :-)

  • Matt Harris

    July 21st, 2009 1:53 am

    I’m guessing learn/have fun side, because I try to be helpful however I usually come off as sarcastic

  • Chanda | BizDharma.com

    July 21st, 2009 2:16 am

    Good info.

    My blog revolves around one idea – Business EduTainment
    This is what symbolizes, justifies, explains every thing that I write

    cheers

  • Money Savin' Momma

    July 21st, 2009 2:19 am

    Very interesting stuff here! I would say people come online to our blog to educate themselves about saving money and making money online. They can also “shop” on our site, but many of the things we post are totally free, so I guess you could say they come on our site to shop for free too, lol!

  • Wallpapers

    July 21st, 2009 2:22 am

    Many of my sites more often then not try to either entertain people or to inform and educate.

    I don’t have many other kinds of sites and I’m fine with that.

    PS: Your titles a little off… (22 Why Reasons People)??

  • Seth W

    July 21st, 2009 2:31 am

    I am looking for the learners on my blog that hope to become earners. Anyone really interested in succeeding needs first to be interested in learning.

  • Eric Roberts

    July 21st, 2009 2:38 am

    This along with recent Google Analytics data for my blog validates the traffic that my self-help posts are getting. Good data. Thanks

    Eric

  • Patrick Parker

    July 21st, 2009 2:57 am

    This is a truly fabulous post. Very informative, practical, factual (stats-based) and immediately usable. I like and appreciate most all of what you post on this blog, but this is one of the best articlae I’ve read here.

    As for my blog, I explicitly intended it to meet the ‘educate self’ and ‘pass time’ categories – looks like I picked the right niches.

    Thanks again for such useful info!

  • We Fly Spitfires - MMORPG Blog

    July 21st, 2009 3:02 am

    Very interesting chart. I guess as a blogger I’m right in the middle of the learn/have fun/socalise audience. A good place to be!

  • 2Lincolns.com

    July 21st, 2009 3:20 am

    Good post. This showed me that my blog has a good hybrid appeal. My posts are sometimes educational, sometimes opinionated, but mostly lighthearted and fun. Hopefully my assessment of broad appeal is true with my readers!

    Jeff
    2Lincolns.com

  • darius

    July 21st, 2009 3:21 am

    you’re title’s a little off grammatically, but there are also way more than 22 reasons. it’s more like 500 reasons in this survey!

  • Steve @ Freedom Education

    July 21st, 2009 3:23 am

    Hey Darren,

    What a fabulous resource. Thanks so much for sharing it.

    I see that there is a demand to watch video. This is what I suspected and good news for me and other bloggers like yourself who are using video media to share their expertise and knowledge.

    Surprisingly, I still don’t see that many bloggers using video as a means to share their message with their readers. Not sure of the reasons why…. any thoughts???

  • Tracy

    July 21st, 2009 3:25 am

    Thanks for sharing! Not surprising that men look for news and girls and women just yak yak yak :)

  • Parth

    July 21st, 2009 3:42 am

    I wonder how many people are specifically looking to purchase information products.

  • Evan

    July 21st, 2009 4:07 am

    Interesting Post.

    It’s important for any company to know that the customers they are going after are also looking to use their service. It’s even more important to know who your customers are. This survey can help you figure which segments your business should be going after.

    Thanks for the information.

  • Ben Moreno

    July 21st, 2009 4:38 am

    Very useful information in this post. I never even thought to look for a study like that. That is why I read this blog, to find great information like this. Thanks.

  • Susan Young

    July 21st, 2009 4:38 am

    This is fabulous information and a great chart. All can be used in training and better understanding the scope and needs of the ever-changing marketplace. I train people on how to write content-filled timely blogs that play a key role in sales and visibility.
    Thanks for the information and insights Darren.

    Susan

  • Rebecca Laffar-Smith

    July 21st, 2009 4:43 am

    Wow! What a fantastic resource!

    There is a wealth of information in this index but it would be fantastic to have similar break-downs of particular niche or keyword information. Imagine if keyword analytic tools allowed you to learn more about why people are searching particular keywords.

    Did someone who searched the word, “landscape gardening” want to know how to introduce a water feature to their garden or did they want to find a local landscaper to hire or maybe they wanted to find out where to order fresh lawn seed or tropical trees or did they want to find environmental ways to minimize gardening water consumption? One very popular keyword phrase could have had a thousand different, more specific needs.

    If there is a resource that could drill-down THAT kind of information it would be an incredible (and valuable) tool for bloggers. Meanwhile, Ruder-Finn’s Intent Index is a tasty sauce to get started with. :-D

  • HAVOC MARKETING

    July 21st, 2009 5:54 am

    My blog tries to do a little bit of everything. I try to offer variety to my blog readers.

  • Dragan Mestrovic

    July 21st, 2009 5:58 am

    Hi Darren, this is a great source of information. Shows a lot of potential to find a bloggign niche. Great info, thank you.

  • Melinda

    July 21st, 2009 7:29 am

    Darren,

    Thank you so much for this outreach! Someone on Yahoo Answers referred me here and now I will be referring everyone I know! It has completely changed how I blog. I am only on Day 3 but feel so much more focused! As a Realtor and mother of 2 I’ve decided to focus my blog in this area.

    My List Blog is called Smooth Move -7 tips to help your kids adjust to a move and can be found at http://www.allaboutrealestate.com/blog/smooth-move-7-tips-to-help-your-kids-adjust-to-a-move.html

    THANK YOU!

  • Debbie Summers

    July 21st, 2009 7:49 am

    Perfect resource for bloggers and website owners alike. I’m sitting here thinking about the chart and how I can make my blogs even better by filling these needs. The wheels are turning…

  • David Porter

    July 21st, 2009 7:55 am

    Darren,

    Thanks for sharing this valuable information. Intuition made a great deal of this information suspect, but now we have some empirical evidence for our beliefs.

    Certainly shows us the sweet spot of the Internet.

  • Jhay

    July 21st, 2009 8:12 am

    This is neat! And I though I should stop blogging about my homework and other school work thinking that they’re not that valuable to web surfers.

  • SURVEYS FOR MONEY

    July 21st, 2009 8:32 am

    Not surprised to see learning and having fun on the top of the list. I use my blog for business and to socialize. Using the internet for business is pretty low on the list, but that should increase within a few years with people finding new ways to make money.

  • needmoney.com

    July 21st, 2009 9:10 am

    People are no authorities on themselves.

  • Luke

    July 21st, 2009 9:35 am

    Thanks Darren. I’d love a high res version of this so I can use it as a wallpaper to remind myself of the sweet spots.

  • FunnyFidos

    July 21st, 2009 9:48 am

    Interesting stuff. I’ll definitely have to get visit the site and drill down.

    I would have to say I fit into the “Learn , Have Fun”
    categories. As for my blog, I think the name says it all :)

  • Gordie Rogers

    July 21st, 2009 11:08 am

    It’s great to see that “learn” was at the top of the list. I’m trying to teach about entrepreneurship, blogging and lifestyle design. That’s great to see that people are still looking to improve themselves and their lives.

    Thanks for this, Darren.

  • TheManRevolution

    July 21st, 2009 11:39 am

    My blog is all about self-help and improvement. I think I found a great niche since people will always want to better themselves.

    I give great advice as well so it works out well! I’m glad I can help people out there.

  • Joey Martin

    July 21st, 2009 12:35 pm

    Learning is my # 1 reason for going online so I would have to agree with study. Its nice to know so one knows how to target blog post’s.

  • S.K SHARMA

    July 21st, 2009 2:36 pm

    Blog is the source of Informations related your interest.

  • Lee Ka Hoong

    July 21st, 2009 2:54 pm

    My blog is more going to “Connect with Others” as most of the readers in my blog shares their experiences with relevant topic of my articles. I’m really happy to see this happens in my blog, this means that people is actually like to read what I shared as well.

    Regards,
    Lee

  • krissy knox

    July 21st, 2009 3:03 pm

    Thanks, Darren. This is priceless information. I was thinking, if one were to fullfil a need, as you say, and be useful, one could have a niche blog that could cater to more than one of these “categories.” In other words, the blog could fill the need to provide both fun and help others socialize. Or provide learning and socialization (through for instance forums). I’m just saying it doesn’t have to be limiting. I know that one blog shouldn’t go in too many directions, but it needn’t be completely limiting either. Just a thought, bc I have a particular blog in mind that I want to produce soon, and it falls into two of the categories! I’m hoping that is not branching out too much. I guess I’m going with my instincts…

    krissy knox :)
    follow me on twitter:
    http://twitter.com/iamkrissy

  • Mitch

    July 21st, 2009 4:19 pm

    LEARNING will always be the key. People just want to learn how to do things, how to get somewhere or general information on a certain topic. The quickest method is with words, not video. That’s why video will never completely take over.

  • Make Money

    July 21st, 2009 8:46 pm

    I blog for teaching purposes to tech fellows to earn online.

  • Jennifer Bourn

    July 21st, 2009 10:31 pm

    Ok. I love that chart. It definitely reinforces the need to provide great, high-quality, value added content and help others schieve their goals/solve problems. It also reinforces the importance of building relationships and interacting online, whether it’s on blogs, social networks, forums, or membership sites. But, what I love the most is the focus on fun… if people don’t enjoy your content and have a good time interacting, they’ll leave. Thanks for sharing.

  • fas

    July 21st, 2009 10:49 pm

    Bang on, however I think most go online as a measure of pleasure :p If you get what i mean!

  • Dean Saliba

    July 21st, 2009 10:55 pm

    I think my blog falls into the ‘learn’ section. As it learns people how to make money.

  • Jeffrey

    July 21st, 2009 10:59 pm

    It would be interesting to see an even more detailed breakdown of this information into subject-specific chunks, i.e., “People who are interested in philosophy tend to go online to advocate and express themselves, while people who are interested in news tend to go online to educate themselves and pass the time…” (these are just examples I made up).

  • sikiş

    July 21st, 2009 11:36 pm

    Learning is my # 1 reason for going online so I would have to agree with study. Its nice to know so one knows how to target blog post’s.

  • Charles - Big Idea Blogger

    July 22nd, 2009 12:49 am

    Thanks Darren! This confirms my post of the two main reasons why people read blogs:

    1. Education
    2. Entertainment

    More info here:
    http://www.bigideablogger.net/the-winning-formula-for-blogs/

  • Avil Beckford

    July 22nd, 2009 2:08 am

    Darren, Thank you for sharing information about this index. I have been blogging for less than 6 months and my blog is about learning and development, so I am very hopeful. Avil http://www.twitter.com/avilbeckford

  • Joomla Template

    July 22nd, 2009 5:11 am

    Great points..

    My blog is about Content Management System. I focus on providing Joomla template ….

    After reading this post I think, I have to start serious planning targeting market segmentation…

  • Joe Wallace

    July 22nd, 2009 6:02 am

    Interesting that business is far down on the list. I’m sure 50 other people have noted that as well, but it’s definitely a cue not to miss….

  • I Can Be Taught

    July 22nd, 2009 8:24 am

    This is perfect. It really tells me that I am sure Heading in the right direction with my newest venture (I Can Be Taught), which is to be an online series proving that anyone can learn.

    I am gearing up for a launch date of Jan 1st, and have been wondering how it will be received.

    This study certainly gives me the answer I needed :)

    Thanks!

    Michael

  • Game Site Builder

    July 22nd, 2009 4:03 pm

    Really interesting statistics. No surprise though that most people go online to learn.

  • Ed Hardy bags

    July 22nd, 2009 5:39 pm

    This is perfect. It really tells me that I am sure Heading in the right direction with my newest venture (I Can Be Taught), which is to be an online series proving that anyone can learn.

  • Isaac Yassar

    July 22nd, 2009 9:40 pm

    Targeted market segmentation is indeed important. My target visitors are bloggers and online copywriters.My business is providing tips and ideas to enhance blogging activity positively and profitably.

  • Blogger Make Money

    July 22nd, 2009 9:54 pm

    I accomplishment bodies see my annual blog/podcast as a way to acquire fun and to learn. But I am consistently afraid that because my interviews covering a avant-garde abuttals of accommodation I may be too scattershot. Still in acclimation to get astute annual accommodation I am all-around to abalienate some specificity in the annual of creating the a lot of entertaining/enlightening blog I can create.

  • evl

    July 22nd, 2009 11:18 pm

    I think they forgot to mention “addiction”

  • Janet Smith

    July 23rd, 2009 6:17 am

    Good post. I really liked the graph.

  • lingerie wholesale blog

    July 24th, 2009 12:33 pm

    HI Darren,
    almost every day i need to visit your Article. so good. Thanks for sharing those valuable informations.

  • Kenny

    July 24th, 2009 3:39 pm

    thanks for the chart. I though expression will be the first and most important reason people want to blog. Now I know well about this.

  • Shailesh Shetty

    July 25th, 2009 1:47 pm

    Interesting post Darren! And a very informative one for serious bloggers. Once I know what people are looking for, I can channelise my content to meet those needs.Thanks fo sharing!

  • dvd rohlinge

    September 26th, 2009 8:21 pm

    Interesting post on the online trends. It’s amazing to see how the social community is expanding. Nevertheless, this part of your post This part reminds me with “No Woman No Cry” :)

    Women (48%) are much more likely than men (39%) to go online to advocate for an issue or position.

  • Kiran

    October 8th, 2009 2:28 am

    Nice Post .Very well written. In these internet ruled information world, People go online for myriad reasons. The category of users ranges from Professionals to businessmen, Students to Old people. These categories of people access internet for same and or different reasons. Now a days the score updates of different sports makes sports enthusiast also browse the web for getting the live updates of the scores. Any way wonderful endeavor by you for dwelling in to the reasons to find out the purpose of Internet.


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