Posting frequency for a blog plays a vital role in driving traffic, though there is a saying in the blogosphere that “Content is King”. I am in favor of this statement but keep in mind that without consistent blogging don’t ever think of high volume traffic. Let’s make it clear with the help from an example.
Suppose you are sitting in front of a TV and waiting for your favorite program. After some time, you come to find out that it is a re-telecast or a scheduled program from some other day. What would be your reaction? An old or outdated episode disappointed you?
Same is the case with blogging, your readers come to read fresh content but when they see same old stuff they get disappointed. It’s better to have a posting frequency so that they could know when your blog will be updated with fresh content.
Am I supposed to frequently update the content?
Well that’s a question worth asking. You need to concentrate on the example of the TV program in context to your blog. Maybe the broadcasting frequency of that TV program is twice or three times a week, but every time there is a new episode. Same is the case here, develop a frequency and strictly follow it to refresh your blog. Regular posting shows that you are serious about blogging as readers come back daily to check your new posts. You cannot be successful if you do not go by this rule.
Ok, I have opted a frequency to refresh the content of my blog!
Visitors are in expectation of new content and they are simply disappointed if they face the same old stuff every time they visit. You are creating an interest in your audience by serving them with fresh content. Remember, retaining your readership is much more difficult as compared to attracting new visitors. Focus on your loyal readers and target your potential readers by promoting your content.
Is it Matter of Dedication and Grip Over Subject?
Look, if You are updating your content on regular basis, this clearly shows that you have command over a topic to write more and more. It’s also a matter of dedication that you are spending time to write and add some value for your readers. Both are important indicators to show a blogger’s attitude towards his commitment.
If I am fan of a blog but when ever I visit and find obsolete content, I will un-subscribe from its readership because I have perception that the blogger is not committed and treating it like personal blog. He is lacking in ideas to write. So its better to show your commitment to those that are committed to you as a reader.
Does it mean I shall post more than once daily to show, I am a committed blogger?
It depends. If you have news blog, you may post as many as you can to cover the hot stories, but if you have blog like us, it’s better to post single article per day. As per Seth Godin
“RSS fatigue is already setting in. While multiple posts get you more traffic, they also make it easy to lose loyal readers”.
It’s pertinent to mention here that excessive posting results in poor quality content. I will quote the example of viperchill, who posts few but content is of very high quality which keeps his community engaged.
What About Consistency?
If you start posting too many articles, it would be difficult for your readers to digest it. Plus you have little time to promote it. Keep a balance in posting frequency so that you have enough time to promote it. Its much better to opt such frequency which can be easily be retained later. Most of the new bloggers are very excited and post several articles per day, but as time passes they can’t sustain their posting frequency.
Develop a schedule for posting new content and try to follow it. Say we update our blog on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Now we have one day to research and write to post next day and two days of weekend to do other miscellaneous work. Normally, weekend days are not considered good for traffic. So post your article on other days of a week for full exposure. When you successfully developed and followed posting schedule, now increase it from three times a week.
This is a blogging strategy to move towards success. It’s over to you. You need to ask some questions from you.
- Do you follow any posting frequency and have you noticed increase in traffic?
- Have you observed that you engaged your community more effectively?
- Comment on it and on your blogging strategy to share your experience.
Please participate in poll for results on posting frequency
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{ 61 comments… read them below or add one }
I post 6 times a week. I used to post 7 times a week but I was finding my Saturday traffic to be pretty scarce. Monday’s, Tuesday’s and Thursday seem to be my highest viewed days. I think it is because I participate in some regular “blog carnivals” on those days.
For a period of time I was posting twice a day and I did see an increase in traffic but it was way too much work to keep it up. I have found that by focusing on producing good quality content that my numbers have almost increased to the place they were when I was posting twice a day.
Kevin, thanks for sharing your experience in detail. This is general observation that Saturday and Sunday are not good for traffic perhaps people enjoy weekends with their family. Now it seems that you are happy with your blogging frequency. As far as quality content is concerned, stick with consistency from day first. You took good decision as per your ease.
Yes just look at how fast Google indexes pages now, years ago it would take Google sometimes weeks to crawl pages now they want fresh new content and instant information. I believe you really need to keep your blog active in order to stay up in the ranks and build your authority.
Danny that’s true. Page indexation speed increased tremendously with Goggle Cafine. Updating content with consistency is key to success. Fresh content acts like magnet for visitors.
I for more enjoying with the poll result Imran! 20% of the bloggers are following any of the post schedules and 40% are not following any schedule. Would it be interesting to evaluate that some from those 20% are going to be successful?
In long term, it seems to be. Because those 20% are able to engage their community which ultimately results in increased traffic.
For me the key is to try to have a consistent frequency. For me for e.g. posting daily is impossible and also is impossible to me read blogs with this frequency. I can read some times a week at most – I can call this info-toxication
I prefer few and good quality, than poor with big quantity.
Cheers,
Gera
Gera most of the bloggers have same problem. From your comment it seems that you are running various sites and have no blogging partner due to which you have to do each and every task of your blogs yourself e.g maintenance, designing, reading mails etc. You have a suitable strategy to read few but quality blogs. You are quality oriented
Hi Imran
Great article. I started by posting 3 times a week but at the moment I am doing weekly. Not because I don’t have articles I can publish but because I am waiting for my niece to do my graphics. Usually get her to do a few at a time as she is a busy graphic design student. So have to sort that one as I am getting regular visitors now. Fortunately I have several articles that many won’t have read if they just started visiting so they do have other posts to read too. Also, I do believe it depends on your niche how frequently you post.
Patricia Perth Australia
Patricia, niche and type of blog have great significance in context to posting frequency. A discussion blog is not supposed to publish two or three articles daily but a news site do this or even more frequently. I would suggest you to continue your earlier posting schedule to get got amount of traffic. No matter how much time you need to redress your blog. People prefer quality over quantity and site design. lorelle.wordpress.com is awesome site with simplest site design but people prefer to read it on daily basis.
Thanks for that Imran. Appreciate your input as I am still newbie and love coming to blogs where I can learn more about being a successful blogger.
Patricia Perth Australia
Welcome Patricia, keep reading our articles aimed to help the bloggers.
I update my blog nearly daily, sometimes once every two days. But I don’t think this contributes in any way to how often people visit it.
But that’s just the nature of my blog.
Slava, your blog shares information about interesting places in the world. Your have right posting frequency for your niche. People visit your site to see what you have next for them. If you reduce the posting frequency, you will definitely observe change in traffic.
Thanks for the visit and observations
Hi Imran,
As usual, great information for timely use. I referenced this post as professional material in my comments section on a post that did on the subject. Thanks again Imran! Link below.
http://bloggersmarket.com/so-you-want-to-be-a-blogger-lesson-26/
Thanks Jeffery for quoting my article as reference.
Traffic to my new posts ain’t all that in the first few weeks of being published. It only grows when I go round leaving comments on commentluv enabled blogs that I regularly visit
.
You need to participate in community first to spread your name in blogosphere, then you will get traffic.
While I think it is important to update frequently I think is important not to get burnt out.
That’s true, a balance should be kept in posting frequency to avoid fatigue and to receive good traffic. We need to show dedication towards blogging by providing stuff on regular basis along with quality.
Since I started my blog I always maintain a one post per week schedule. Since I believe that quality will count more than quantity I make it sure that my composition will bring value to my readers. Perhaps I may not please Google with my posting schedule but I definitely write with quality for my audience.
Walter if you are able to create good community around your blog, you don’t need to worry about Google. Because desired PR can be easily achieved within 6 months or two PR updates. Create quality content, engage your community and enjoy blogging.
I’d do it daily if I could find the time and inspiration. I’ve only just started and I manage one a week.
Try to increase your frequency to 2 articles per week which is decent updating frequency and concentrate on quality. Use social media to promote your stuff.
having your blog indexed regularly keep it updated , and google + readers know when to come back …
Thats true. Thanks for comment.
Imran, this is excellent advice. I don’t have a strict schedule and guest posting can help get the content flowing out to your readers. I use MyBlogGuest to look for guest bloggers. You can find great guest bloggers there and it’s a community run by Ann Smarty. Let me know if you need the link. Thanksl
Nice to see you here Ileane. I read about guest post pooled by Ann Smarty which was a premier service earlier. As you are already using this service, I will contact you for guidance in this matter. Thank you very much.
Thanks,
I was just asking for opinions on this very matter on my blog and I got a pretty good feel for your opinion on the matter. You make some really good points, thanks!
Ultimately up to daily I personally think people should have some sort of a post daily. But if push comes to shove and it will decrease quality to do it daily, it may be better to decrease frequency
Steve if you can post daily while maintaining quality, better to go with it. But keep in mind that you should allow sufficient time to promote your content. You will definitely observe jump in traffic, cuz you have fresh content to serve your readers on daily basis. But if you can’t write on daily basis, be sure to get update your blog with fresh comments. Try to engage your readers.
Hi Imran, thanks for your insights, I find the discussion here very useful. I started my blog in August. At first I post daily as I was very excited and passionate about it. I was also encouraged when I received visitors and comments. Also I had so many things to write about. But later I decided to lessen the frequency – I agree with your point about giving time for readers to read before posting a new one. I now do new post every other day.
Your observation is 100% accurate. You have opted very suitable strategy for your blog. Allow your readers to marinate the article in their mind and encourage discussion. If you succeeded in engaging your community then you shall increase your posting frequency.
I know, blog needs whole lot of dedication, efforts and subject matter expertise. But the real question is – even though someone writes his/her views better than SEOmoz and SEO journal authors yet the popularity is fallen short that dampens the spirit. Due to lack of time to promote, many bloggers’ good posting suffer. Even a blog post has less time to attract readers due to low maturity period of one or two day at max.
What’s your opinion on the same?
I’m glad you wrote about this! And I think you make some valid points. Especially when it comes to how often to post, and that weekends are not the best time to update and promote.
Even though I’m relatively new at blogging, and still trying to find a rhythm I’m comfortable with, I’m definitely a committed blogger! Now it’s just a matter of attracting and holding on to every valuable visitor!
Thanx for a great and helpful post!
/Alexandra
That’s great that you find your easy to manage posting frequency which will give you peace of mind. No doubt you are a committed blogger, find people within your Niche, network with them, promote their stuff and they will reciprocate it. You have a good personal Blog. Plus, avoid posting on weekends, try to do some promotional, marketing or improving site design related activity on those days. You also can build inventory of articles for your blog in weekends.
i have been posting too frequently 3-4 posts a day !
wish someone gives me a valuable suggestion regarding the same !
good writeup!
thanks 4 shaRE!
Your blog is “News” based blog, you are Ok with your posting frequency. Try to take lead in publishing hot news to get popularity and watch your blog’s analytics.
This is really wonderful for all new bloggers, presently I trying to post atleast one article a day leaving Saturday and Sunday, I will be performing blog maintenance and some design tweaks. As I have seen and experienced Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays are the days where I getting more traffic.
Thanks for this great share.
Imran
Saturday and Sunday is not good for traffic. Use your hosting account stats to find out the most busy days in term of traffic. It will give you more accurate result. Beside this, your selection for posting the article is fine. Monday is ok, try other days except Tuesday, Wednesday. Friday is also a good choice.
Hi Imaran,
Very juicy information, I write twice or some times once a week. I am quite new to blogging atmosphere
even though step into online business 2 years ago . Still learning to improve my blog presentation, your blog is excellent resources.
Thanks Rammesh for liking. Try to increase posting frequency to three articles per week for maximum readers engagement per week.
I have a tendency to post for 6 days of the week and have Sunday off, unless any on my guest bloggers submit a post, in which point I get extra days off
But the posts still remain the the same for the week.
Hive Health Media is a multi author blog. We’ve gone through phases where we’ve had a ton of guest submissions which increased our need to publish up to 4-5 / day. It seemed to have a negative impact on reader engagement and decreased the comment count / social media promotion per post.
On the other hand, publishing too much is less of a problem than not publishing on a regular schedule or letting large gaps in time pass between posts. I’ve made this mistake a number of times in the past on my other site. Usually, I lose RSS subscribers as a result. It also kills off any attempt to build regular visitors.
Thank you for your thoughts Imran.
To update the blog frequently is definitely one of the most important blogger’s duties. However I would maybe add that, especially when you have a new blog, to have an interaction with other people in your niche (commenting, guest posting) is almost as important as writing new content. The reason is not only to develop your knowledge within the industry and socialize, but also to drive the traffic that is already interested in the topic,
This traffic can convert into loyal readers much easier than the traffic from any other source.
Adam
I see blogging as ‘downtime’, so I’m a lot more relaxed about post frequency, and I suspect many others are the same. I tried writing three times a week when I started out and it ceased to be fun pretty fast.
Yes, I think it’s true that you shouldn’t overdo it, because your writing quality will suffer. So, even if you’re only posting once a week on average, it’s better to keep doing this. Your readers will come to know that’s your schedule, and that you won’t disappoint them. So they’ll keep returning every week.
So, the key is regularity as opposed to frequency. This is also good for search engine indexation. Just as you can “train” readers to return regularly, you can do the same to search engines!
Now what you have said here does make sense… but I have read some contradicting articles about post frequency on the net… and don’t know what to make of it.. they say that you should ALWAYS post at considerable gaps thus giving yourself more time to promote each of your article… But I think what you say here makes more sense
Hi Imran,
I am new to your blog and find it very interesting and important to read. I rely on great content and post only once per week. I noticed I build regular visitors and people start to come in the end of the week to see my next video for example. I want to create more traffic and more new visitors to my blog and it seems right now I am struggling with it. I am happy with my readers who usually post their comments to my blog but suffer to have new visitors and new followers. I also visit many blogging sites and leave comments but still no immediate results. Unfortunately, posting often is exhausting for me. Do you have any good advice?! Come to visit, follow and advise: http://pfinusa.blogspot.com
Thank You,
Terrans
I actually made a schedule for when and what time to work on my blogs but its been hard trying to stick to it, I should try and give it more comitment..
hi Imran, your topic is interesting and it is important to maintain constant frequency of posting no matter how much you post within a week but to post in a constant frequency is more important because readers know when there is another post and they come accordingly.
I actually have about 10-15 articles per day. I agree that you have to post frequently and your content has to be unique and good quality. If it isn’t, then people will tend to not come to your site anymore.
They always say “Talk only, no action”! So, I always remember to DO IT! That is the only way to make anything happen. Knowledge is there but you don’t know how to apply it. It’s a waste …
Hi Imran,
Nice post.I think its true that content is the king but you are right about posting frequency.No one would like to read old content .People always praise dynamic things.I liked your example of TV.
I use to write one post every day though sometimes is hard to do it, especially when I see that my traffic is not increasing. It’s frustrating… I think I’m not doing well in the promotion of the content.
You’re right. If you don’t promote your articles, it doesn’t matter if you update your blog very frequently.
Thank you for your tips.
I am extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout for your weblog. Is that this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Anyway stay up the excellent quality writing, it’s rare to peer a great weblog like this one nowadays..
It was paid Thesis theme that Imran customized for me.
Hey SEO,
Did you want his contact details to get your theme done?
I update twice a week but without a fixed frequency. I really appreciate your writing here, hope I can continue to update regularly
Please make sure you take the poll on update frequency.
Thanks,
-Bobby
Interesting information…so it was proved practically then what can be better? Theory is good when you have not started, but usually theory remains theory and practice changes your initial ideas. I liked the article and the proposed experience.
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