Conflicting advice is everywhere on the Internet. Write more! Write less. Post frequently! Don’t post often. Get hits! No, wait, get readers! No, no, get noticed!
(groan)
So how often should you post? Well, that depends on the goals of your blog and your purpose for blogging.
One of the first bits of marketing advice we received when our blog began was to “blog the snot out of it.” From an SEO perspective, that made perfect sense. Banging the Internet mercilessly with keyword-rich content would push up our page rank.
But was that really what we wanted? Or needed?
Here are seven decisions (and a bonus!) to make that will help you figure out whether you should blog like a fiend or pull back to a more moderate pace.
- Decide how much value you can feasibly offer to readers based on the frequency of your posts. If daily posting makes you feel like you’re slamming out content just to have a post each day, cut back. Create better posts with plenty of value and publish them a few times a week. Cutting back often brings great results.
- Decide whether page rank is a first or second priority. (Check out number 4 on John’s list of Seven Habits of Highly Successful Bloggers.) If you want your PR to rise for certain keywords, then you do need to create multiple posts often. Write shorter, keyword-rich posts that still provide value to your reader. Quantity over quality never wins.
- Decide what your readers prefer. Overkill can kill your popularity. Many people are getting tired of having to read so much from their favorite blog. They often ask that the blogger post less so they can keep up. Observe reader stats, ask questions, and post accordingly.
- Decide how involved you’d like your readers to be. Posting frequently may drive commentators away. If you want to establish a blogging community, post at a slower pace so that readers can discuss and comment before they move on to the next topic of conversation.
- Decide how much free time you’d like for yourself. If you want to take weekends off, you won’t be available to respond to comments and keep the discussions alive, so publish your posts around the days that you are available to be involved.
- Decide why you’re blogging in the first place. Are you blogging to market and promote your business? Is your blog a personal one where you jot down your thoughts? Business blogging requires more consistent, regular posting. Personal blogs are looser and less rigid in posting frequency.
- Decide what you prefer. If you resent blogging so often or you feel like you aren’t blogging enough, do something about that. Too much blogging burns out creativity. Infrequent blogging kills interest (both your own and your readers’). Figure out how much you’d like to post – and then do it.
BONUS TIP:
Decide if you can afford to blog. Often, bloggers balance posting with work that earns far more income. Those that invest too much time in blogging soon see that the quality of their work suffers or that they’re getting worn out burning the candle at both ends. If you need to earn a living, your time needs to go towards making money first and blogging second.
No matter what posting frequency you finally settle on, it’ll be successful if you focus on building a great blog. John Chow put together a great list of Ten Blogging Mistakes to Avoid. Note that John doesn’t recommend posting more or posting less…
…Just post better. That’s all.
