Are you confused about how often you should blog? It’s a question that comes up time and time again.
Some people say you should blog daily while others don’t subscribe to that idea at all. There are so many ideas about how often you should blog and there is no exact answer.
In this article, I share 5 worthwhile ideas about this topic to help you decide a blog post frequency that works for you.
Blogging Frequency and Your Schedule
There are so many factors that go into your decision about how often you should blog. Your schedule and how much time you have available should also take into consideration the other points in this article.
How much time do you have available on a daily or weekly basis to write a high-quality blog post.
As you plan out your blog publishing strategy, consider your schedule and available time. If you decide to blog 6 to 7 days a week, is that really sustainable in the long-term on a consistent schedule?
Keep in mind that it’s not just about writing. Here are some of the tasks that go hand-in-hand with writing a blog post that will definitely play into your schedule:
- Keyword research
- Blog article research
- Title generation and analysis
- Image creation
- Length of time it takes to write a blog article (see other factors below)
- Promoting your blog post in social media and to your email list
Those are just the basics to keep in mind.
Sometimes people start out enthusiastically writing 5 or 6 blog posts a week only to discover that they really didn’t have the time to consistently keep up that schedule.
Be realistic with how much you can handle. Ultimately your time and schedule will be the determining factor as to how often you should blog.
Whatever you decide, stick with it and be consistent no matter what.
Quantity or Quality?
Which is better: writing 5 to 7 blog posts a week or 1 to 2 blog posts a week? I disagree with the blog every day practice.
To attract first time and repeat visitors, you need high quality content. Is that realistic on a daily basis? Unless you are a big company with employees or have the ability to outsource, writing high quality content on a daily basis may be out of reach.
Can you really create great content by blogging every day?
The quality of your blog posts may suffer because you are posting too often.
What if I told you that you can blog less often and get more traffic?
I did an experiment a few months ago as I was trying to figure out how often I should blog. I was posting short-form content a few times a week and my website traffic was going down.
I switched to a new model where I posted twice a week but the content was long-form content with multiple images. My website traffic started increasing as did social media shares.
I also have another aged blog that I post in once a week. The blog gets tons of traffic and ranks on Google page one for hundreds of keywords.
Huh?
Take a look around the Internet. You’ll see tons of useless content over and over again. People want more.
It all comes down to blogging strategically instead of frequently. Create a high-quality standard for your blog post and strive to be better than others in your niche market. Quality always trumps quantity.
Are you truly maintaining a high quality blog or just meh?
Does Blog Post Length Matter?
How long should a blog post be? The length of your blog post can be the determining factor for many things. Let’s dig a little deeper in to this concept to understand it. SerpIQ studied dataabout the type of content that ranks higher in Google.
What they discovered is the highest ranking pages have content that exceeds 2,000 words. You can see in the graph below, that the first 10 positions are all 2,000 words or more.
In trying to figure out how often you should blog, consider these factors if you want to rank well in Google.
Back in the old days, blogging often with at least 400 words was the way to go. But content marketing and SEO have changed a lot over the years.
In determing how often you should post, consider this: Google has stated that your content should be:
- Valuable
- Useful and Informative
- High-quality
- Engaging
Google is not just looking for keyword usage on your page. Instead, Google wants to know what your content is about. Your content should be of high-quality with the topic focused around your keyword.
Google Indexes Many Elements in a Blog Post
In addition, search engines index many elements on your blog post such as the Headline, Subheadings (H1, H2, H3 and so on), metadata , image alt tags and much more.
The longer your blog post, the more elements get indexed.
The more that gets indexed, the better your pages can rank in Google.
That brings us to images in your blog post.
BlogPros analyzed 100 high ranking blog posts. As a result, they found that one image per every 350 words works best. For a 2,000 word blog post, you’ll have about 5 to 6 images.
Via: blogpros.com
Each image needs to be appealing and optimized.
Do you have time to do that on a daily basis?
Another advantage of writing lengthy blog posts is that you can rank for multiple long tail keywords simple because a 2,000 word article will discuss several aspects of a single topic.
I’ve given you a few things to consider about the length of your blog post. This should play an important role in determining how often you should blog.
Blog Post Frequency and Blog Promotion
Is blog post promotion part of your daily schedule? Creating content is just one aspect of blogging. Factor in promotion as you decide how often you should blog.
I like to use the 80-20 rule. That is, spending 80 percent of the time promoting blog content.
That means the majority of your time should be spent in promotion.
Derek Halpern of Social Triggers, said it best: “If you spend time writing a piece of content, and that content only gets 1,000 readers, chances are there are one million other people in the world who can benefit from what you wrote.”
It’s a smart move to promote the content you already wrote to get more traffic to your content. If your content is of high quality, promotion can potentially gain you a huge audience that will benefit from it.
Conclusion
I’ve given you a few ideas to consider for figuring out how often you should blog. There is no exact way to know.
Take the time to come up with a strategic plan that takes into consideration creating high quality content creation as well as promotion.
Don’t be afraid to experiment and try different blog post lengths and promotion efforts. Track your results over time.
How often do you blog? Have you created longer more detailed posts? If so, what changes have you noticed in traffic and social media?
Hello Lisa and thanks for your visit to my place.
Wow this topic about how often we should blog is something I have been wrestling with this year. It was interesting to read where on your older blog where you post only once a week you get heaps of traffic.
Last year on another blog we had I was trying to post every day and that put a huge strain on me.
Sure it was not so hard to create the content like a brief video but the problem not having the time to properly syndicate my posts. In addition, I did very little blog commenting simply because of the time contraints I had put myself under.
Now I blog once a week and try to make that post substantial both in terms of quality and quantity. I usually post on a Tuesday and then spend 8 to 10 hours spread across the rest of the week doing something I love – blog commenting like I’m doing right here with you.
The blog commenting has resulted in me learning heaps from the top bloggers in my niche, lots of wonderful new online relationships plus it has significantly boosted the traffic to my blog – and that traffic is highly targeted….just love that as well!
For yur interest I also leverage my blog content when each week I use the same new blog article to create a podcast and a slideshare presentation – all part of my free traffic strategy.
By the way loved your infograhic about the perfect blog post – I should have used a numbered list for my last post title!
Thanks for sharing this great content Lisa – will be back again for more.
Have shared your excellent for you as well.
Best wishes from a remote Thai village blogger
Peter
Hello Peter and thanks so much for stopping by!
I can see why attempting to post daily was a strain. It also reduces the quality of the content since it would be difficult to write in-depth, above average content on such a schedule as well as other activites aimed at alternate traffic sources.
I love your blogging schedule! You get the quality as well as the ability to spend time on additional sources of traffic to your blog.
Glad you brought up repurposing your content. I also use my blog content and turn it into videos and downloadable PDFs. It’s a great way to get more out of one piece of content especially since people like to consume information via different mediums.
Thanks again for your feedback and I hope to see you hear again soon!
Best always
Lisa
Hi Lisa. A good post with some very useful info….having gone back to basic’s myself i have been intensely studying blogging techniques from various sources due to the fact my “copy ” STINK’S. The longer form’s do appear to gain more interest combined with good imagery & some humour sprinkled here & there. Having locked myself away studying solely on this aspect of my business for the best part of a month i have got some genuine clarification on copywriting, certain point’s of which you have covered in your post…..at the minute i am letting this info settle in to my system before i start afresh . On a final note this last month has taught me one very important lesson RESEARCH….i even surprised my self with ideas i was coming up with from the most basic of sources…All the best
Darren Thompson
Hey Darren! Thanks so much for stopping by. You are on a path to success! It’s so important to take a step back at times and learn new skills, as well as learn about a changing marketplace. People want to read great content and they are not willing to settle for mediocre these so it’s up to use to provide that for them.
The way that people search online has changed a lot too which also affects the content we create.
Kudos to you for taking a step back to research and learn! I can’t wait to read your next blog post and hope you will stop by again!
Happy Blogging!
Lisa
Hey Lisa,
I remember when I first started blogging and I was told back then to write every single day because the search engines loved new content. The problem was, I wasn’t that great of a writer so there was no way I could write that much.
I still hear that same thing today from a lot of people. I think it’s horrible advice because like you said, who can keep up with that kind of schedule and then you don’t have time to promote each piece and get anything else done.
I think the longer posts are more popular in the search engines due to what they are looking for. The longer the post then the more you can put your keywords in and they aren’t stuffed like people used to do them. I can’t write that much content though but for the most part I think we just need to keep in mind what our audience wants. Keep giving that to them on a schedule that fits you best. I think that’s much more realistic.
Thanks for sharing this with us. It’s a topic that still gets lots of attention today. Everyone has their own thoughts on this one.
~Adrienne
Hey Adrienne!
Thanks so much for your insights. I got the same message: blog every day. You are so right, I hear the blog daily mantra all the time. I feel strongly that the quality decreases trying to keep up that type of schedule.
The long-form content is definitely a challenge but I find that I enjoy writing it much more than short-form content.
You brought up a great point which is keeping in mind what your audience wants. And you are so great at figuring that out and connecting so well with your audience.
Have a great day.
Lisa
Great discussion on choosing blogging frequency. Truly building better quality content is key! I really enjoyed the infographic you included, lots of great information from that and I look forward to applying some of those stats to my blog.
Thanks Emily! So glad you like the infographic. I am with you….quality content is the way to go. There is so much content on the Internet and we all should strive to provide the very best value.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
Lisa
Lisa,
The infographic is really nice.
About the blogging frequency, it depends on the type of blog as well. Say if I write about gadgets, then I must keep the frequency more because everyday new gadgets are being launched.
On the other hand, if I am writing about blogging and business tips, I can keep my frequency say once in a week or twice in a week. That is enough in my opinion.
I believe in write less and promote more because each of your article gets promoted well enough when you write less. But, if you write everyday, you cannot promote each of your blog post heavily because it will spam your social circle because the frequency of sending posts on social sites will also increase.
So, write less promote more. 🙂
Hi Lisa.
First time here.
Thanks for the very informative post.
I am a believer in only posting when I have something of value to share with my readers. My biggest problem is inconsistency.
I have been reading a bunch of posts about different aspects of blogging and I will be integrating what I have read here with what I’ve learned elsewhere.
I’m done with writing middle of the road posts. I need to make the changes if I want to get to the upper levels as a blogger.
One thing I don’t focus on is SEO. I don’t write for search engines, I write for people. All my current traffic comes from sharing my posts on social media and blog commenting.
I am going to share this post.
Have a great weekend…..Chris
Hey Chris!
Welcome, I appreciate you leaving a comment here.
Glad you found the post informative. How often to blog is such a controversial topic and each person needs to do what works for them and their target market. I used to blog daily but found that the post just were not robust enough to provide the real value that I intended.
You’ve made a wise decision in being done with the middle of the road posts. To stand out, we must go a step or two further than the masses. What type of changes do you intend to incorporate into your blogging?
I focus on SEO and people. Finding a middle ground was a good decision for me.
I really appreciate you sharing the post!
Thanks again for stopping by!
Lisa
Hi again.
I intend to put more focus on my post intros for starters. I already talk to my readers but I need to do more to get them to believe that I will be able to help them with what the subject/problem is. After that, I will go into providing a solution to that problem.
I think by doing this, it will also bring my word count up drastically. I usually write between 500-600 words.
Like anything, it will be work in progress. As long as I keep doing it, it will get easier.
That’s the plan for now, anyway.
Have a good one……Chris
Good stuff Chris! Looking forward to hearing how your blog evolves with your changes.
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Blogging daily is quite unrealistic unless you’re a company or you outsource some of the tasks. Of course, there’s also a third case – the one that involves low quality, no real promotion, etc. In such a case someone can write a lot of articles per day. But they may not help anyone, not even the writer 😉
Hello Adrian!
Thanks so much for your insights about how often to blog.
You brought up a great point…that is, they may not help anyone not even the writer.
I have to admit, when I search for information on the Internet, much of what I run across is low quality and rarely answers my question. It’s frustrating as a seeker of information to constantly hit the back button and move on until something of value is found.
Thanks again for stopping by and hope to see you again soon.
Lisa
Hi Lisa
Thanks for posting this. You have mentioned some really great guidelines in here.
It is good to know that you do not have to – and in fact should not – blog all that often. As you point out, it is necessary to spend quite a bit of time on promoting the posts. Manage your time and keep the right balance. This post certainly opened my eyes on how to do this.
It is understandable that Google like long blog posts. The more you write the better for SEO. You don’t argue with the big G but personally I like to say what I have to say and rather spend time engaging with my visitors rather than padding my posts to be a mile long. That’s just my opinion.
Thank you for pointing out the importance of images as well.
Great post
Igert
Hello Igert!
You are welcome. I appreciate your comment!
Lisa