Coming straight off from my blog last week about 9 Tips for curing bloggers block, I wanted to explore exactly how often you should blog – in an advisory capacity of course!
One thing I’ve learned on this blogging journey of mine is that everyone is different and every blog is different, therefore, one size does not fit all. However, if you want to avoid burnout and bloggers block, it may be a good idea to reconsider exactly what you post and how often.
How often should you blog?
Blogging multiple times a day
I have never (and probably will never) blog every day, let alone multiple times a day. I have no clue how some bloggers, working independently, manage to push out 2-3 blogs a day (this does not include reblogs).
Someone dropped by my blog the other day boasting about how much traffic their blog was getting despite having only a small number of subscribers. When I checked, I noticed they were blogging about six times a day. For reals!
In my opinion, the quality of your blog will suffer considerably if you copy the aforementioned blogger unless you outsource your articles or are a full-time blogger. Personally, I’d much rather focus on building a community than getting better stats. I think cultivating a good reputation is far more valuable than getting stats + money.
I have to mention that there are certain situations where multiple posts a day are important, even called for. I’m talking about news and/or entertainment blogs. If you manage one of those, then go for it! I’m impressed.
Blogging every day
I’ve always heard that quality over quantity is key if you want to build a successful blog. The last thing in the world you’d want is to spam your readers with SEO duds – you’ll lose subscribers with little to no reward. You absolutely risk doing this if you blog every day. No one wants to have their email or news feed inundated with low-rate articles!
If you do insist on blogging every day, the secret is writing quality articles that will stop your subscribers from hitting the ‘unfollow’ button. You will also want to focus your energy on generating outside (organic) traffic.
This is where Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) comes in. I am by far not an expert on SEO, so please digest my tips with a pinch of scepticism. However, I do have a very simple beginners trick you can use to improve your SEO. When writing a blog post, think of a unique search term people are likely to use through a search engine. Once you figure out your search term, you need to put it in:
1) the title of your article
2) at least one heading designated by ‘h’
3) at least two times in the body text
4) the title of your images
I did this for one of my articles by accident, Submitting Your Manuscript to the Big 5 US Publishers. This article continues to perform exceptionally well and is currently getting 10-15 organic views a day (for me, that’s a lot!) It drives most of my traffic!
Blogging 2-3 times a week and why it works
Blogging no more than 2-3 times a week is my happy medium and I believe it’s the main reason why my blog has grown. That being said, I don’t always follow the 2-3 times a week rule – as you may have noticed!
The point I’m trying to throw at you: when there’s minimal pressure to push out content, you’ll have plenty of time to come up with interesting content and plan your SEO accordingly.
Your readers will love you for it and will be able to recognise immediately when you’ve put a bit of time and effort into your articles, just as they’ll recognise when you haven’t. Trust me, they will.
Here are some tips for creating engaging blogs that will have readers coming back for more:
1) Hook them with an interesting title (but no clickbait!)
2) Include high-quality stock photos from sites such as pexels or pixabay
3) Use headings, bullet points and small paragraphs to break up the text
4) Create content that is interesting, engaging and relevant for your subscribers. I.e. They didn’t sign up for a food blog, they signed up for a writing-centric blog!
5) Editing! You can use a free program such as Grammarly to ensure your posts will not send your readers insane because of too many typos and poor grammar
There is no way in the world I would have the time to do all of the above if I was blogging seven times a week!
Ad hoc blogging? Consistency is key
When I first started blogging, I did so in a completely random pattern, ranging anywhere from two times a week to two times a month! I wrote when I was inspired and most often than not… I wasn’t inspired. If you do decide to blog once or twice a month, I recommend you keep your blogs consistent so your readers know when to expect a post – and that you haven’t completely abandoned them aka. dropped off the face of the planet.
I’m currently working on setting some realistic goals and a blogging timeline. Hopefully, this will help me to improve both the quality and content of my posts. If I overextend myself (as you have seen happen in the past), I tend to burn out and disappear! Blogging in an ad hoc manner also leaves me uninspired and listless – I like making plans 😉
Since returning from my most recent blogging siesta, I have decided I will be blogging two times a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Choosing two specific days during the week to blog has really helped me be more consistent. I absolutely recommend you do the same!
Only have time to blog on weekends?
If you’re like me and have a full-time job, you can always write and schedule your posts ahead. I often write my articles on the weekend and schedule my blogs a month in advance. It’s just how I like to work.
Let me make it clear, this does not mean I write all eight articles ahead of time! Instead, I brainstorm my topics and then carefully plan when I’ll be sharing them. More often than not, my drafts contain nothing but a solitary title. This article you are currently reading was first started three months ago, but edited 10 minutes before it was published! I like to live dangerously.
Flexibility is my favourite part about blogging, so you’re just as likely to find me planning special blogs months in advance or writing them on the fly! That’s the best part about blogging in my opinion, the freedom to express yourself when and how often you like. However, I will definitely be attempting to align this freedom of expression with a schedule so I can avoid any future blog siestas (scheduled freedom? lol).
Anyway, please do let me know if you have a strict schedule for posts or if you prefer to dabble in loose expression – I’m super curious now!
The Cat's Write 
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