How Often Should You Blog? (The Answer Will Surprise You)
So, you've chosen a topic for your blog. You've even put some thought into how you will structure your blog to be search engine friendly. Naturally, the next thing to worry about is how often you will post new content.
This is not always an easy decision to make. First, if you have a busy life outside of blogging, choosing how often to post is directly related to how much time you can commit to creating new content. Second, you want to be able to post new content at a rate that will satisfy search engines, as well as your readers, without over-posting.
I'm happy to report that owning a blog does not mean haphazardly cranking out new content or stressing yourself out about the subject of your next blog post. In fact, doing either of these two things is sure to lead to burnout and, quite frankly, a very unsuccessful blog.
Related Article: Creating the perfect homepage for your blog
Below, I'll explain how content frequency impacts your blog's SEO and what factors you should consider when deciding how often to post.
Does Posting Frequency Impact SEO?
This is one of the main questions that I hear from fellow bloggers: does the frequency of blog posts impact SEO? The short answer is: it does, but not as much as you might think.
The frequency with which you post to your blog has at least some bearing on whether or not search engines consider your blog a trusted source of information. However, the exact frequency of posting that “satisfies” search engines is largely unknown.
For example, blogs that post every day do not necessarily have an advantage over blogs that post once a week, or even once a month. In addition, posting frequently does not mean that your newest content will get the most exposure in search engines. It may bolster your overall rank within the search engines, but chances are you will have older posts that always rank higher.
Why is this? For one, the frequency with which you post new content to your blog is just one of many factors that contribute to your blog's overall SEO. However, you will always have certain blog posts that consistently rank higher in the search engines. This overall SEO boost simply serves to give each of your blog posts extra points towards their individual ranking within search engines.
Consistency is Key
As you may have picked up on, I have been hinting at the fact that consistency is much more important than frequency for improving blog SEO. Search engines do not care as much about the frequency with which you post, as much as they do about the consistency with which you post.
Although we do not know for certain what search engines consider “too little” in terms of posting frequency, there is some consensus within the professional blogging community as to how often you should post.
Unless you are a maverick within the blogging community, with a readership that is eager to see your content posted every day, your posting frequency need not be unmanageable.
First, you should decide the average length of your articles. This can vary greatly based on niche and writing style. Most bloggers choose to write posts that are between 500-1500 words. You should pick an average length that allows you to thoroughly answer questions within your niche.
Posting consistent quality content is more important than the frequency with which you post. For example, posting a longer, more thorough blog posts once a week (or even once every 2 weeks), will likely be more beneficial than posting shorter posts once a day.
The exception to this rule includes niche blogs that focus on newsworthy content, tech updates, sales, etc. In this case, it will be important to keep your blog updated on the newest developments within your niche.
Quality Over Quantity
As I mentioned, the quality of your content is much more important than the quantity. You want your content to be something that visitors will stay on your blog and read. Your readers should always feel like they have gotten some kind of value from your blog posts.
Unless you are in a niche where newsworthy content is expected to be uploaded frequently, you should mainly focus on creating valuable evergreen content. This is content that will be valuable for readers for years to come. Learn more about evergreen content here.
Posting Frequency for New Blogs
If your blog is new, you may be thinking that these guidelines do not apply to you at all. I will admit, it is certainly nice to start out a new blog with a wealth of valuable content.
You may be tempted to write several times a week (or even every day) in order to fill your blog with content. After all, who likes to go to a blog and see that there are only three or four posts available?
However, unless you can ensure that your posts are of the highest quality, you could be hurting your new blog before it even gets started. Google will be crawling your new blog to see what kind of content it contains. If it looks “spammy”, i.e. filled with low-quality, short, blog posts, it could hurt your SEO for months to come.
One solution is to write several high-quality blog posts ready to be uploaded before your new blog goes “live”. It can also save a lot of time to have a list of article ideas or a content calendar planned out when you first start your blog. This will allow you to plan your content ahead of time, making sure that you have consistent quality content. Don't know what to write about? Read my blog about doing keyword research in your niche.
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<< Last post I discussed Evergreen Content: What Is It and How Do You Write It?.
>> Next I'll be talking about Evergreen Content Ideas.
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