by Skellie
Photo by Oskay.
One question every blog about blogging covers at one point or another is: how much should you post? I’ve yet to see anyone come to a firm conclusion about this, so I’d like to try.
In truth, some post frequencies are wasteful and others are efficient. This depends on two factors: the size of your readership and the frequency of your posts.
If your blog is receiving a few hundred visitors a day, it can be wasteful to post too much. For a post to gain traction on social media and start to spread through word of mouth it requires a certain amount of exposure.
By posting too frequently you may be taking the post out of the limelight and replacing it with another before the necessary amount of exposure can be reached.
Assuming that you have enough time to produce as much content as you would like, the ideal post frequency for a small readership blog is probably once every two days. (In reality, if you can’t sustain quality content at this frequency then your ideal frequency would be as regularly as you can manage while maintaining peak quality).
A well-trafficked blog is the opposite. Once you’re receiving more than 1,000 visitors a day, it’s wasteful not to post every day (once again, assuming an ideal situation where you have the means to do so). This is because if you’re posting once every two or three days a given post is likely to reach the tipping point of exposure well before it is replaced by another one.
There will be a point where more exposure for the post yields steadily diminishing returns. Ideally, you should move the spotlight onto new content as soon as the tipping point is reached. An efficient post frequency for a big blog will be at least once per day, though in an ideal situation this might be closer to several per day. Blogs like Lifehacker and Kotaku update constantly but they have the traffic to ensure each post reaches peak exposure.
The argument I want to put to you is that an efficient post frequency will increase along with your traffic.
Photo by lynn_smith
I also want to acknowledge that you may not be able to reach your most efficient post frequency while also maintaining the highest quality content you can manage. However, I do want to suggest that this scenario is presented as an ideal that may not be appropriate for everyone.
The best way to determine when your posts reach their ‘tipping’ point is to note down the traffic, number of comments and social media votes received by a given post over the period of several days. Note the rate of drop-off for each day. In an efficient scenario your next post will go up as soon as your previous post hits the point of significantly diminished returns.
Another effective method is to experiment with different post frequencies over several weeks (trialing each frequency for one week) and tracking the results. This isn’t entirely accurate as your content may be more popular on one week than it is on the next, but it should help you to identify general trends.
The factory production-line analogy
A very useful analogy is to imagine a factory belt with a spout that delivers soda into bottles moving along the belt. If there is less soda being poured out of the spout, the bottles will not be properly filled if they’re unable to stay beneath the spout long enough. Each bottle will need to stay under it longer to be filled.
However, if the volume of soda coming out of the spout increases significantly but the bottles stay beneath it for the same amount of time, the bottles will overflow and much of the soda will be wasted. The bottles need to be positioned much closer together on the conveyor belt to be filled just enough without overflowing.
In this scenario, the bottles need to start out spaced further apart and then move closer together as the volume of soda grows. Each bottle needs to be replaced by a new one at the point when it is filled–no less, no more. In a factory, this would be considered an efficient process with no wasted potential.
However, I should restate that if you face the choice between producing one fantastic post per week or seven mediocre posts, you should always choose the first. In this post, I’m discussing an ideal scenario that doesn’t take into account content quality. Lifehacker could not update thirty times a day with any substance if Gina Trapani were in charge of producing every word on the site (as fantastic as she is). A blog like Lifehacker can achieve ideal efficiency because the investments in time and creative output required are shared across a network of people, and as a result, the blog can reach the ‘ideal’ in most areas.
This is something worth thinking about. Are bloggers who try to do everything themselves at a disadvantage when compared to those who collaborate?
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21 Comments, Comment or Ping
Jade Craven
Your last point is definitely one worth thinking about. I tend to be a ‘do it all’ girl because I take pride in my writing. It would be painful to hand over the reigns of any of my blogs.
I’m revamping two of my blogs, and the goal is to post length articles of 5000+ words on a concentrated topic. As I have more than one blog, there is no way I can sustain more than one post a week.
Thats where the tipping point concept comes in - that was something I hadn’t thought of before. I would see sites like Problogger pump out multiple articles a day however I now can see the connection between posting frequency and social media traction.
I’m going to aim for weekly still to maintain high quality however you have definitely given me a lot to think about.
Aug 27th, 2008
Glen Allsopp
I’ve seen a radical shift in the blog-o-sphere recently regarding people moving from short, helpful posts to long, very detailed posts that cover all points.
I guess it helps to show authority in a niche and respect that people want everything in one place.
Great post Skellie
Aug 27th, 2008
dinu
brilliant one
I should consider this before publishing next post.. I think I will be using future post option 
Aug 27th, 2008
Kym
Quality over quantity is what I aim for.
Aug 27th, 2008
nikola
yes “Quality over quantity” is the best solution i agree …
Aug 27th, 2008
Niyaz
I think it is ok to have some mediocre content if you can give lots of high quality stuff regularly..
Aug 27th, 2008
plonkee
It’s true that if there are multiple writers then you can write more good posts per day. But, if your blog is focussed around your own voice, then it’s quite difficult to have other writers - I’ve unsubscribed from a few blogs where the *main author* seems to have wandered off. I guess I’m trying to say that there are also downsides to the multi-blogger set-up.
Aug 27th, 2008
Mary@GoodlifeZen
Hi Skellie!
The demands of our blogs are important. But should they rule our life?
Instead of thinking about what posting rhythm is optimal for my blog, it’s much more important to ask, “What can I deliver long-term without burning out?”
I can deliver one weekly quality post at Goodlife Zen. But not more. Not without getting stressed, that is. I started out with two a week. But it was a struggle. Then I thought, “My readers will have to adjust to me. Not the other way around!” That’s when I started posting in a weekly rhythm.
In the future I could start using guest posts to fill in the gaps. But I’m fussy. I don’t want ra-ra hype, or new-age drivel, or up-in-the-clouds esoteric wisdom, or sermons from the high seat, or glossy made-for-Digg stuff. Yes: fussy.
I must admit I love seeing the pageview spikes that fresh posts bring and hate the sagging line when a post has been out too long.
But most of all I love the fact that I’m still passionate about writing and that my blog is growing steadily.
The outcome of my weekly posting rhythm?
Me: happy
Readers: content
Aug 27th, 2008
Karl - Your Work Happiness Matters
If you post too much there is never any time for people to leave comments. That’s so important to showing the readers that people want to join in on the conversation.
Like Skellie said there needs to be enough time to create substance. If someone posts too frequently all we’ll probaby get is fluff.
Aug 27th, 2008
Daniel Richard
Looks like its’ time to hit the once every 2 days frequency.
Aug 27th, 2008
skellie
@ Plonkee: That’s a very good point. Sometimes the main reason you read a blog is because you’ve developed trust with the voice behind it. I think it’s much easier to be successful with a multi-author model if you start that way as opposed to transitioning into that. That’s really tough. I think ProBlogger is heading in that direction (I really congratulate Darren for his courage) but it will be interesting to see how it turns out.
@ Mary: You’re absolutely right. Maki does the same thing at Dosh Dosh and posts one value-packed post a week. What I’m suggesting is that if we were super-people or could collaborate it would be ideal to post a value packed article once every two days, but if that’s not possible, then you should only do as much as you can while maintaining peak quality. Sounds like you’re doing exactly that
Thank you for the comments everyone!
Aug 28th, 2008
Writer Dad
Wow. Two days in a row and Christmas is still months away.
I post M-F. My posts are like my sit-ups or push-ups; good exercise that keeps my mind in shape. I think it helps that I don’t have a specific niche. I’m not limited in subject matter.
I’m glad you’re posting. I enjoy your words. Thank you.
Aug 28th, 2008
Mikael
I think there is more to this than traffic. Surely you will need to produce quality content but you can generate a lot of traffic from posting “fair” quality more often. Especially if you are going for the long tail keywords. One of John Reese’s major cornerstones of generating traffic is producing enough content.
In my opnion I think that you should produce quality content when you can but not hold back if you can only produce something that is fair. You can expect every post to hit the top10 list at Digg anyway.
Aug 28th, 2008
Angel Cuala
Two consecutive posts in two days, not bad for a comeback, Skellie.
I did not realize you are very good in choosing words and can tackle a seldom being-discussed topic like this one. Anyway, I believe posting frequency depends on many things other than traffic and readers.
It mainly depends on how well you can balance your time and creativity between posting and promoting. We must remember that although Content is King, promotion is the Queen and they cannot live away from each other.
I also like the way you compare it to a production line. I have been working for different manufacturing companies for more than 15 years, and efficiency is our main target. Productivity may be high, quality may be good, but if efficiency is down so as the profit.
Hope you could make such posts frequently, this time.
Thanks for the reminders.
Aug 28th, 2008
Bamboo Forest
I don’t even like the idea of posting every day. Yes, some blogs I really like do this - but I always tend to think it’s unwise.
Part of the goal is not just peak traffic but it is also sustainability. I think three a week is ideal. And more than that goes against my blog philosophy.
That being said, the reality is what’s best is what WORKS. Problogger posts every day and he is huge. Think SImple Now posts once a week and she is growing like wild fire.
There is anything but a single formula for this. But to me, posting more than once a day makes a blog lack a personable feel. You want to know that you are capable of reading every post - if you are a true fan. You want to connect. You can’t really connect to a blog factory. It’s not intimate.
I guess it’s all in the approach. And well, I find three a week is optimal for my blog philosophy.
Aug 28th, 2008
tysdaddy
Skellie,
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and I’m grateful you’ve decided to cover it and give us some food for thought.
At my blog, I tend to publish maybe twice a week. I have a loyal group of readers and I don’t want to waste their time, so I do tend to take a bit more time between posts, both to work on my writing and to give the posts time to simmer and generate some comments.
Also, being back in school and working and raising a family and trying to find time to sleep, I find myself overwhelmed somedays with the blog. I try to keep up on reading and commenting, but often let that sidetrack me.
Any suggestions?
Aug 29th, 2008
Eugene Chan
Another tactic is to break up a longer article that you’ve written over several posts. This keeps the arc of a longer article together and lets your subscribers get something new on a regular basis.
Sep 6th, 2008
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