I for one prefer to blog when I have something new to share and avoid jumping on a topic just because it’s trending or because all major bloggers are writing about it.
I am not saying that I don´t follow relevant trending topics, but I’m not going to bandwagon jump if I don’t have different opinion than what is being shared or to share something I feel strongly about.
However, that doesn’t answer the question.
Does it matter how often you blog?
There was a time when I updated this blog every day. There was also a time when I owned a very popular blog network that received huge traffic. For each of my blogs, the more I posted, the more traffic I received. If I had a down period, traffic went down. Now, that isn’t to say that search traffic still didn’t bring people in, but a large portion of my traffic was (and still is ) from people who read my blog live after I post.
Does it matter how often you blog? Yes – and here’s why:
- The more you post, the more pages are indexed by search engines: Ten posts mean the search engines have only ten pages to work with. 1,000 posts means the search engines have more to work with – directing more traffic to you.
- The more you post, the more traffic you receive from people who receive your updates: Whether your readers find your posts via the social networks, email, or RSS feeds, they only see what you share with them. The more you share, the more they read. Of course, not everyone who subscribes or follows you will see every post, but if you give them many opportunities to read, they’re more likely to take advantage.
- The more you post, the more potential posts you have for other people to link to: The more good content you share, the more of your stuff people will have to share.
- The more you post, the more you establish your expertise: If you want people to see you as a teacher, or someone who knows his or her stuff, the more you post, the more opportunities you have to share your wisdom and get your name out.
There are benefits to posting often, for sure. However, it’s best to keep in mind that quality trumps quantity every time. If you rewrite the news or other peoples’ blog posts without saying anything new, you’re not really giving people a good reason to become regular readers.
Should you blog every day regardless?
Different bloggers will tell you different things. Yes, blogging every day or at least several times a week is better for traffic and for you as a professional. If you’re blogging to drive sales or advertising dollars, it definitely helps to be prolific. However, if you don’t have anything new, interesting, or good to say, all the blog posts in the world won’t help.
Also, not everyone wants to see links to your blog posts all the time. So if your links are dominating your Twitter feed, Facebook timeline, email and everywhere else you share online, people might get tired of you.
I’m by no means the end all, be all, word of blogging but I know what works for me: always give people something important to consider. Share a good lesson and news people can use. Post when you have good content – as opposed to blindly firing off words – and see how that works for you.
Experiment with topics, times, and how often to post. Analyze your traffic and see what they react to best. In most cases it’s best to know about your online readers and their habits, than it is to post every day with nary a thought to the reader.
Share good stuff and good stuff will get shared.