As The Work at Home Wife approaches its third birthday, I often reflect on just how many things have changed over the years. One of those things is my blog posting frequency. When I first started this blog, I was trying to pump out posts seven days per week. For a long time, I posted every weekday. That is what a lot of bloggers in my niche do after all. And that is what I was told was best when I first started. So, I did just that.
The theory is that if you throw more and more posts at the wall, something will stick. Someone somewhere will like something and take your post viral. However, I found the more frequently I publish, the quicker my posts were being buried for eternity. These were some great posts! Maybe they just didn’t land in front of the right person at the right time. Now they have rolled off of the homepage and out of CommentLuv options. Their only hope is search traffic.
A short lifespan isn’t the only drawback I have noticed with daily publishing. There may come a point where your readers suffer from burn out. Honestly, how many actionable posts are you able to follow through on each week? My guess is you see them, bookmark them for a better time, and then forget all about them as another is coming at you tomorrow. Spreading things out a bit allows readers time to follow through. If your audience thought you had great information before, imagine how great you are going to look when they actually have time to implement it and see it work!
Here are a few more benefits I have seen from posting less frequently:
- I have more time to market important posts. I can share it with my own community Day One. Day Two and Three I am out leaving the link on CommentLuv blogs and in forums.
- I have more time to research important posts.
- I have more time to connect with my readers. This has been especially important with Facebook recently. I try to avoid flooding my followers’ Newsfeed, but now I don’t have to worry about that. One day I share my latest post. The following day I can share a photo, ask a question or share an important post from another blogger.
This isn’t a crazy tactic. In fact, many extremely popular, successful blogs have adopted the “Publish Less, Market More” mentality:
- Think Traffic – Why Posting Less Frequently Can Drive More Traffic to Your Blog
- Michael Hyatt – My New Blogging Frequency
One caveat: News-driven sites may need updated more frequently. For the rest of us, it is finding a balance between creating content for our blogs and marketing them to their utmost potential.
What is your blog posting frequency? Has it changed over time?
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Angie Nelson
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Good points, Angie! I still post daily. With 7 categories, I write one post per week in each category following the same schedule. For those readers who prefer one day over another, I’m not sure I want to choose which to implement.
It is a lot of work, and I do not market well or rely on social media. I’m sure I will change as I go. My blog will turn 2 in February. Right now, I am enjoying the process.
Thanks for the food for thought on this Cyper Monday!
It’s a journey, Tracy. Your blog will adapt as you do.
Thanks for stopping by today!
That’s an interesting theory. I know that I get burned out trying to publish five to seven times a week, but I’ve done that for so long that my readers now expect it.
One thing I’ve done a few times is dig up old posts that have gotten buried and sticking them to the front page for a day or two to kind of revive them. This is great for those days that you just don’t feel like writing but you want to give your readers something to look at.
Anna,
I read your blog and always wondered how you keep up the everyday posts but, yes, I am accustom to it now and I just pick and choose which ones pertain to me at the time.
I guess the frequency is determined also by whether or not the author can keep up. And if the readers want to.
~Allie
Many times you are posting about companies that are currently hiring. Those I would put into more of a news-driven camp. You need to get the information out there while it is useful.
The same goes for my deal blog. There are often weeks that I am posting seven days per week if not multiple times per day. It may be time sensitive material that needs published while people can use it.
These are really great points, it’s so much easier to promote your work when you’re spreading it out through the week instead of trying to do everything today and starting over from scratch tomorrow.
I know I have been reaching a lot more people with this strategy other than relying on someone else to pick it up and run with it because I don’t have time.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, Loretta! It’s much appreciated.
Angie,
So true! Our type of sites have loyal readers and to have a post a day, they simply can’t keep up with everything.
And your point about promoting is right on. It is so hard to promote that often, so tiring.
I’ve tried 3 times a week to once a week. RIght now I publish a post on Tuesdays and a very short video with a tip on thursdays. I have more content than I can publish but I hold back.
~Allie
I think I started rethinking my strategy when I saw you promoting for a guest posting contest you were doing. Even though it was several days or weeks since you published, you were still getting it out there in front of new people each day.
There was another great post from Problogger that I forgot to include that weighs both sides of the scale, http://www.problogger.net/archives/2011/07/28/you-must-post-every-day-on-your-blog-misconceptions-new-bloggers-have-2/. With a “how to” site that is posting tutorial-type information, I know some readers can get overwhelmed to the point they just stop following along. It’s all about finding a balance that both parties can handle.
This is a really good point and have found that as long as I am consistent with my posts (ex. every Tuesday and Thursday) then I have found that I get more time market that one post and get more targeted traffic to it. This is also really important for SEO to be updating your content consistently in my opinion…. Mind you I do have to say that if you were posting every week day and were leveraging RSS and blog syndication directories than you would be receiving a higher volume of links which could gain you more traffic and search rankings. But I think the personal touch in marketing a post instead of set and forget style is much more effective.
These are EXCELLENT points! When I first started blogging I was posting (almost) everyday because I thought, from reading different tips around the web, that that was what you were supposed to do. I quickly found myself burnt out and had to cut way back. Unfortunately due to school and work I haven’t been able to post for quite some time, but I do hope to get back into the groove of things once I get more time, but posting every day, I don’t think, will ever be an option for me. It’s just too much for me and I think it was a bit too much for my readers as well.
I am in total agreement with you — from the perspective of both a marketer and blog reader/follower. I can’t tell you how many times I would bookmark a post telling myself that I would get back to it the following day. Then, there would be something new posted, and I would always feel like I got behind on a reading assignment as if I were still in school…ha, ha, ha.
From a marketing perspective, you want people to see your stuff without getting overwhelmed and having the feeling I described above. Also, when I first started, I found it rather difficult to post on a daily basis or even several times a week. I guess it’s because in real life, I’m the kind of person that only speaks when I have something of value to offer.