Number 1 in a series, Business Blog FAQs, culled from my business blog consulting practice.
For Business Blogs, Publishing Consistency and Quality Beat Frequency
Avoid Business Blog Burnout
Not to worry. Publishing quality material on a consistent basis is far more important than publishing frequently. Here’s why.
- If you commit to more posts than you can comfortably write, quality suffers. Poor content is the surest road to a small audience.
- Your subscribers have plenty of other things to read. If your posts are valuable, they may actually like the fact you aren’t compelling them to read every day.
- It’s easier and looks better to increase publishing frequency than decrease it.
- We are creatures of habit. Publishing on a random frequency and readers will have a hard time getting into the flow … and drift away.
- Until you have built up readership, not many people are going to be reading those initial posts – all the more reason to focus on a few, good posts which you can point your customers to and whet their appetite.
- If you publish twice or even once a week, you’re still generating enough new content to keep the search engines interested in your blog.
True, more frequent posting accelerates the SEO impact of your blog, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. A business blog is a long term proposition with long term benefits for your organization. Better to proceed at a manageable pace than watch the blog fizzle after an over exuberant start – a common fate for marketing initiatives of all kinds.
Bottom line – I’ve seen blogs succeed brilliantly by publishing once per week. If you’re concerned about publishing pressure, start there and work your way up.
Over to You
Make sense? Please let’s hear your comments and start up experiences. And, if you have ideas for future FAQ posts, please let me know!
I like what you suggest here about a steady pace – just enough to write well, keep readers interested and stir creativity. The notion of blogging once or twice a week is a great goal. I want to get on that path!
Robyn, You are a fabulous example of the point I’m trying to make here. Your blog is one of the best, and you’ve never seemed hell bent on publishing multiple times a week, if that. In your case, absence truly does make the heart grow fonder: when my reader pops up with an unread Brain Biz post, I can’t wait to get to it, which I imagine goes for your many other fans as well.
I honestly believe that so long as you’re honest with your readership, they’ll be happy with your posting patterns. If you say, ‘Look out for my next post!’ and then it doesn’t arrive for a month, they’ll get annoyed. But if you say, ‘I’m working on something great, but it might take a while due to other commitments,’ then they’ll likely cut you some slack!
Consistent posting is absolutely important, but so is making sure that there’s a face behind the words. A person with a real life to attend to from time to time. Smashing post Brad.
I think consistency has a lot to be said for it – to get into a rhythm and to break down the huge task into something manageable (as you’ve said). I think it also helps to generate ideas – your brain knows there’s a post to be written next week, and will look for the material for it. That’s it works for me anyway (though as you know I tend to have too much rather than too little material.)
The other point of reassurance I’d make is variety – you don’t have to write a long thoughtful post all the time – there’s lots of options like linking out, sharing a quote, a video, a story, a cartoon… as you well know
Iain, I’ve read that it is not a good idea to post about your posting schedule, but I tend to lean your way. Blogging, even corporate blogging, is best when it’s informal and personal. Sometimes when a blogger goes inexplicably mute for an extended period, readers get concerned. To prevent unnecessary worrying, if nothing else, is a good reason to keep readers informed about breaks in posting patterns.
Joanna, You are one of the best at maintaining a blogging rhythm – your monthly themes were a great idea, and editorial strategy that’s held up very well, it seems. Some caution against a lot of variety in posting style, but obviously we both find that “mixing it up” comes naturally and, perhaps for that reason, is well received. I suppose the formula is, stay on message, but change the style.
@Brad Yes, I think it’s probably not great to post about your posting schedule, certainly not often, and particularly if you post say, three or four times a month, like I do. I chose to put my ‘disclaimer’ in my about page, for that same reason.
I don’t think I HAVE a schedule anymore, though I did when I started. I decided, though, that it didn’t matter so much if I stuck to a schedule as that I (1) don’t disappear for long periods of time, (2) don’t bombard people’s readers/inboxes because we’re all too busy for that and (3) provide–I hope–something interesting whenever I DO post. Other than that? I try not to ever let more than two weeks go without a post, and try not to send more than two a week, but usually end up somewhere in the middle (grin).
It really depends on why you’re blogging and the place your blog has in your business.
If your blog is the business then you’d better post somewhat regularly. For example, sites like Problogger have new posts every day. Most of Problogger’s readers won’t read each post, but pop in from time to time. If you want a “community” feel, then I can see limiting posts to 3 or 4 a week so regular visitors don’t become overwhelmed. There are places for both types of blogs.
If your blog is just a part of your business, then your focus should probably be search engine placement and posts which build authority. An online community might make you feel all warm and fuzzy, but it’s not going to do much for your bottom line.
Having come down a mite from my original everyday posting, I can tell you – keeping up that kind of pace is tough for one person! Nowadays It’s usually 2-3 per week.
I think you’re right about NOT publishing your schedule, though; just keep fairly consistent and folks’ll be happy with you.
I’ve learned not to force it, but consistent writing and deadlines seems to encourage inspiration.
Deb, It may be more important for new bloggers to post regularly, so they stay on people’s radar. After that, “fairly consistent” should be good enough. As a reader, I don’t pay much attention to publishing schedules anyway. Blogging isn’t like newspapers, where if the paper doesn’t show up in your driveway at the appointed time panic sets in. (Maybe that’s where bloggers get the idea they need rigid publishing schedules?)
Terry, You are so right that blogging objectives dictate publishing patterns and much more. For that reason, I actually have two tracks for business blogs in my consulting practice – the SEO and the Social Media tracks. There are many good reasons for firms to engage in social media, but doing it for those warm and fuzzies, or because everyone else is doing it, are not at the top of the list.
Robert and Fred – You two gentlemen like to write long, intricate, and well crafted posts. I don’t think anyone would expect output of 3-4 posts per week. Quality is much more important than quantity!
Brad,
I have been blogging three times a week since January this year. Sometimes that’s quite a challenge, but the fact is that on the day I have to write the blog post somehow suddenly I get an idea of what I could write, show, present. More than three times however would be too much for me.
Ulla, Some people write well under pressure – you sound like one of them. I prefer to write posts well in advance whenever possible, so I try to stockpile ideas and write them out whenever I have downtime. Every blogger probably approaches things a little differently.
Brad, thanks for the thumbs-up. I just posted a blog after not being able to post for quite awhile. I need to go back and make a link to what you say here because it truly impacts the overall ideas I wanted to express. Thanks.
I’m going with once a day. For a small business. And quite possibly per blog, if you have more than one.
nothing