How Often Should You Blog? Tips For Ideal Posting Frequency via @sejournal, @ronlieback

1 week ago 1

Anyone with an internet connection can start a blog.

But just having a blog isn’t enough to attract traffic, customers, or recognition. You need to feed the beast, regularly giving it fresh content to chew on and attract an audience.

That’s where the question of the frequency of blog posts comes in. How often should you publish to really see results?

Let’s be transparent: There’s no magic number, no one-size-fits-all answer.

It comes down to your niche, the size of your audience, and how much your content actually engages rather than being like everything else online, which is mostly fed into ChatGPT and puked out to sound exactly the same as everyone else.

Then, finding the right posting schedule that works for your individual blog is crucial.

The ideal pace depends on several factors. But one thing is clear: Neglecting your blog for weeks or months at a time will not do you any favors before search engines or your audience.

Factors To Consider

Let’s start with some simple factors.

First, consider your overall goals. What are you hoping to achieve with your blog? Are you trying to build brand awareness, become a thought leader, drive sales, or something else?

The Content Marketing Institute reports that many B2B marketers struggle to find partners with the right expertise, showing that clearly defining your goals can make a difference.

Next, think about your audience. Who are you writing for, and how often do they want to hear from you? What works for a daily news site won’t work for a blog that publishes in-depth technical guides, and vice versa.

Even a small business blog can experience significant growth through blogging. It’s a matter of finding the right rhythm for both you and your target audience.

Blog Maturity

A new blog is like a tiny sapling trying to get a foothold in the vast forest of the internet. It needs a lot more attention and care to establish itself.

Publishing several high-quality blog posts every week initially can help build momentum and visibility, bringing you more quickly to Google’s attention.

Once a blog has been around for a while and ranks well for certain topics and keywords, it can afford to publish a little less frequently.

Consider how my agency blogs for two different service-based clients, one in pest control and one in auto glass repair. The scope of topics is drastically different.

A pest control company can cover all kinds of seasonal pests, prevention tips, home remedies, and even the latest industry regulations. While still important, auto glass just doesn’t have the same breadth of potential blog topics. It’s important to understand this.

Based on my experience working with individual bloggers and small businesses over the past decade, scheduling depends on the goals. Individual bloggers often lack a set cadence, while those working to build their brand presence usually maintain a stricter schedule. They polish their content more to meet different objectives.

Does your editorial calendar need a refresh? Now might be the perfect time to analyze data and create a posting schedule that aligns with your goals.

Content Depth & Complexity

This matters more than many people realize. Are you writing short, snackable blog posts or in-depth guides that take a lot of research and effort to put together?

From my agency’s experience, word counts between 1,000 and 1,500 generally do well in keeping a reader engaged, but you shouldn’t set word count as your primary goal.

Aim to produce content that’s informative and helpful without becoming bloated or repetitive.

For complicated subjects that require a ton of digging, prioritize quality over quantity. It’s better to publish less frequently if that’s what it takes to deliver a truly valuable piece to your readers.

This is where topic clusters can really make a difference in streamlining your efforts and creating a library of content surrounding core areas of expertise.

Resource Availability

It’s tempting to aim high and tell yourself you or your team will churn out multiple amazing blog posts each week.

But this quickly becomes unsustainable without the right support system. How much time can you actually dedicate to researching, writing, and editing?

This often ties back to goals.

If you’re a small business or solo blogger and simply looking to expand your presence, sticking to a sustainable pace makes sense.

Those looking for greater SEO gains and actively marketing to specific buyers need a more consistent cadence with targeted topics and formats.

If you have the means to scale content creation by hiring more writers or outsourcing work, a strategic content agency can help you accelerate things.

My agency produces well over 100 blogs monthly for clients ranging from local service-based businesses to mid-eight-figure ecommerce clients, which allows them to focus more on what they do best.

Of course, using AI for strategy and outlines is a must to save time (but never the finalized writing itself!).

Frequency Of Blog Posts: Does Quantity Or Quality Win?

Both quantity and quality have their advantages in the blogging game. You can publish more to get higher visibility with search engines, giving them more to index and rank.

Alternatively, you can publish less often but really invest in creating detailed, evergreen content designed to stand the test of time.

HubSpot recommends building your brand with one to four blogs a week to maximize visibility, especially when resources are limited.

Ultimately, this brings us to a more balanced approach: publishing consistently with high-quality, SEO-optimized blog posts.

Like with any form of marketing, truly understanding your audience makes a big difference. Our agency blog visitors are primarily digital marketing professionals or business owners looking for information and in-depth solutions.

This means we can get away with publishing one to two times weekly.

For clients with higher churn content, publishing several times each week is crucial for maintaining their position in the rankings. We have one client that publishes five to seven new long-form blogs weekly!

Competing Against Other Experts: Building Authority

Search engines notice several factors. Google doesn’t only look for content quality and consistent publishing – it’s always changing things up.

The search engine giant rolled out a hefty number of updates in 2023, as you can see in this snapshot on its website. SEO isn’t about setting things up and then leaving them to stagnate.

Here’s the thing: In a highly competitive niche like investing services, insurance, or law, publishing once a month just isn’t going to cut it.

You’re battling with brands that have a ton of content, solid SEO practices in place, and deep authority within the industry. You’ve got to make yourself known. Pushing your brand’s frequency of blog posts can really help you compete against giants.

Look at those who are already considered leaders in the niche you want to occupy. How often are they publishing content? How comprehensive is it, and how much traffic does it get?

What type of format are they prioritizing (informational articles, listicles, reviews, how-to’s, or case studies), and what kind of engagement are they getting from comments and social shares? Are they using any curated resources to provide even greater value for their readers?

Check these stats but never, and I repeat never, simply copy what they’re doing from a content perspective. That’s boring, and you’ll never create your own voice or content that resonates. Be you above all!

Sometimes, you just have to accept reality and move at a more manageable pace. When resources and bandwidth are tight, consider publishing fewer pieces but pouring your heart into them.

Back each claim and point with statistics, examples, and internal or external links to bolster your content’s weight and helpfulness. I really strive for thought leadership here to build that much-needed authority even with less frequency.

Refreshing older content can also play a big role in authority building and regaining traffic for articles that were once doing well but have fallen by the wayside.

I recently wrote about this in my article Content Decay and Refresh Strategies to Maintain Relevancy. Google values recently updated content. This could mean polishing up existing pieces or completely overhauling information or style to better suit search intent.

Even sprucing up content on pages ranking right outside of the first page can bring results, giving you a greater advantage in your corner.

Lauren Funaro, the head of content at AI-powered documentation tool Scribe, made great strides in revamping older content. Combining fresh writing with an update brought more traffic, greater search engine presence, and, ultimately, higher conversions.

Additional Factors

FactorHow It Influences FrequencyWhat You Should Do

Your ability to write fast and efficiently	Impacts your ability to produce a lot of content in a short period.	Consider outsourcing if you need to ramp up content production.
Your budget	Limits your ability to hire writers or use paid tools.	Start small with a few quality pieces and slowly grow as your budget allows.
How much social engagement you want	Regular content gives you more to share on social media and potentially attract visitors.	Consider the blog posts most appealing for your chosen channels. Promote consistently with enticing excerpts or quotes from each article to encourage clicks.
Your content strategy	Should outline the topics, types of posts, and promotional plan to follow for best results.	Re-evaluate if the current strategy works and if there’s room to streamline or pivot to maximize potential.

Consistency In Publishing Is Crucial

Let’s say you start with a very aggressive content schedule, publishing daily for a few weeks, but then completely forget about your blog for several months.

That inconsistent approach does you more harm than good. In this digital age, it’s easier than ever to build a personal blog and crank out daily content.

Companies usually maintain a firmer schedule to support marketing efforts and generate more qualified leads.

This can turn off your readers and make your content less appealing in the eyes of search engines, too.

Google appreciates sites that update consistently, establishing a rhythm of high-quality new information to share. It signals a level of dedication, building trust both for humans and search algorithms.

Optimizing For SEO: Factors To Keep In Mind

Keywords matter for SEO – no doubt about it. But cramming in every single relevant keyword you can think of is more likely to backfire than get you top ranking.

Use your primary keywords naturally throughout your posts, avoiding the overuse of technical terms unless you’re sure your readers understand them.

Link these to supporting internal content on your own site whenever you can, weaving it in without sounding repetitive.

This can really improve the blog posts that aren’t doing well in the search results and give older pages a little push upward. Don’t be afraid to link to external content from high-authority websites, either.

Here’s a little insight: Did you know only 3% of bloggers maintain a daily posting frequency? That’s something to consider if you’re debating taking on a crazy workload to try and conquer a niche.

Think about quality over quantity here, not only for your sanity but also for your brand’s authority.

Over half of all brands that post content on a daily basis see strong, consistent results.

If you can swing this type of publishing schedule with in-depth content on a brand new blog, there’s nothing stopping you from reaching top rankings and getting the desired results faster than those in a more relaxed schedule.

The amount of effort required might mean pivoting content marketing resources toward blog creation and utilizing writers.

According to Content Marketing Institute, successful content marketing frequently depends on collaboration. A sizable majority actually utilize a mix of freelance and marketing agency work to support content generation.

What do you have more control over – your schedule or your competition’s content strategy? Don’t waste time comparing yourself.

Instead, analyze their success and work to outshine them within your own content schedule, offering fresh perspectives on already established information or new content covering an area no one has touched yet.

Promoting Content Across Social Platforms

It’s easy to get caught up in the mechanics of SEO and think that posting optimized blog posts is enough to drive traffic. Social media can be your best friend here.

Promoting your latest content across platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook expands reach and keeps you in front of a broader audience.

In addition, when you consistently post fresh new content on the blog, you’ll share more valuable and helpful content for your audience. This ultimately drives people back to your site, drives organic traffic, boosts visibility, and gets your name out there.

Make those links in your posts visible and clickable in the description to grab interest, especially for the types of blogs with a broader appeal – lists, recipes, how-to guides, and thought-provoking opinion pieces that spark discussion.

It might surprise you what resonates most with your followers, giving you the information you need to create content they love in the future.

Repurposing those blogs into short social media videos is also a great way to grab interest and keep you consistently active with more than basic written posts.

Don’t discount the power of email marketing in gaining traction for blog content, either. A well-timed email blast to your subscribers highlighting that week’s latest posts could give you the edge you need

Finding the perfect frequency of blog posts isn’t just about numbers – it’s about achieving the perfect balance. Aim for consistency first, and produce high-quality content to support those posting goals.

Then, you’ll have the content foundation needed to gain search engine visibility, drive traffic to your website, and meet those big marketing or audience growth goals.

FAQs

What is the ideal number of blog posts per month?

It truly depends on your niche, audience, and what you’re aiming to achieve with your blog. Start with one to two posts per week, then see how they do and scale as needed.

How often should I post on my blog in 2024 and beyond?

Focus on quality over quantity – aim to publish a minimum of one quality blog post per week that really helps your audience solve a problem. Increase as needed once you start analyzing performance and have the resources in place to produce that much content.

How many blogs should I post in a week?

Again, it depends. Start with two high-quality blog posts and work from there. But if you’re able to post five blog posts, great. As you can tell, there is no single frequency of blog posts that’s best for everyone. Experiment a bit, see what happens, and adjust as needed to build that rhythm of consistency that works.

How regularly should you blog?

Consistency in blog publishing is crucial, even if that means publishing just once every month or twice a month. Whatever cadence you choose, be consistent. And don’t stop paying attention to your blog. Even evergreen content needs periodic updating and a bit of sprucing up every now and then to keep readers interested.

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