So you want to start a blog; great! One of the toughest questions that both new and experienced bloggers ask is how frequently they should be posting. It’s a tough question to answer. There’s no real formula for success, no magic number. There are guidelines, though; guidelines that can apply to practically any blog out there.
Should I really be blogging every day?
Do you have the time and content to publish a quality post every day? Chances are, unless you have employees that focus specifically on blogging, you probably don’t. A general rule of thumb to follow is to post at least once per week to provide a steady stream of content that will help your website in search engine rankings. Blogging less than this will not really impact SEO because there won’t be enough new content to consider modifying your ranking.
A realistic number for most companies is 1-3 blog posts per week. It’s enough to keep your audience engaged, but not too large of a time commitment for smaller companies. However, it’s important to make sure that you have plenty of topics to write about. If you have five great ideas and write posts about them all in one week, what are you going to write about the following week? Try and keep the regularity of your posts consistent to keep search engine rankings strong and make your voice heard in the market.
Factors to Consider
When trying to figure out how frequently to blog, there are several things to keep in mind. The most important things to consider with any marketing are: who is your audience and what information are they looking for? If your target market is looking for information that requires frequent or in-depth research, such as a new car or diet plans, then by all means give the people what they want! However, if you’re in an industry with products or services that people only seek out on occasion, it’s okay to dial back to weekly posts.
Another important factor to consider is how much time you have to dedicate to writing on your blog. If you only have a few hours a week, then you’re better off publishing one quality post versus three mediocre ones. And that’s okay; every company has a different bandwidth, so you have to find what works for you. Once you determine how much time you have to write, create an editorial calendar to schedule out your posts. This will ensure that you post consistently as well as plan out topics in advance.
Benefits of Regular Blogging
You might be wondering if there are any tangible benefits to regular blogging, aside from the fact that “everyone’s doing it” so you should be too.
There are several advantages to blogging, from increased website traffic and lead generation to social sharing. By readers sharing your content on social media, you reap the two-for-one benefits of engaging a social audience and potentially boosting future website traffic.
According to industry research, companies that blog at least once a week have more than twice the website traffic of companies that don’t. If you increase that number to about two posts per week, you have the potential to nearly double your inbound leads.
In addition to increasing traffic, you will also be able to increase the number of returning visitors and readers. If you are publishing quality content on a consistent basis, your loyal following is going to keep coming back for more. And quality content is much more likely to get shared on social media, which in turn can increase your readership even more.
As I mentioned before, blogging can have a positive impact on your company’s search engine rankings. By increasing the volume of content on your blog, search engines have more keywords and content to work with when it comes to placing your website. Also, they will take note if you are consistently adding new, quality content for your users, and likely positively reflect that in your rank.
So you’re not only attracting readers because of the content itself, you’re also making yourself easier to find.
Where should you begin?
If you’re just getting started, it can be a little overwhelming wondering where to begin and figuring out how you’re going to maintain it. With a new blog, it’s especially important to build up a library of content quickly so you establish yourself as a thought leader and ensure readers are engaged from the beginning. You don’t want people to come to your blog and find only one entry! But remember, you do have to be consistent in the frequency of your posts. Don’t post 10 entries all at once and then neglect your blog for the next month because that’s no way to build up a following.
If there are three things I hope you will take away from this post, it’s these:
- Make sure you have plenty of content to write about (not just enough ideas to last a couple weeks).
- Establish a posting schedule and stick to it! An organized approach will take a lot of stress off your plate.
- Blogging is well worth the time commitment, from lead generation to improved SEO.
It’s not easy to get a blog up and running or maintain one that keeps readers coming back time and time again. What’s important is that you write about topics that will be of interest to the reader, will educate them, and is a bit more personalized than typical “business speak.” Be yourself in your writing to make that personal connection. If you can establish a regular flow of blog posts that educate and entertain, you’ll be in good shape!
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: How Often Should You Be Blogging?
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