In part 1, I discussed blogging frequency and quality vs. quantity. I concluded that waiting to post is essential to me, so I can have the time necessary to think and get inspiration. After asking myself the blog frequency question I went online and did a bit of research, and here’s what I found.
The Other Side of the Coin… Go for it!
Further research on blog posting frequency encouraged me to flip the coin on my argument. Cecile’s Writers started this blog because we wanted to attract people to our magazine (one of the rules for writers: world marketing – yes writers need marketing even though it might just be about the last thing on your list when you think about writing). Marketing is a fickle B!‡c#, and to get readers and hits, you have to publish preferably one or two times a day. (That’s right, no typo, you read that correctly a day, even 3 or 4 times if you can!) The more hits you have, the more Internet space you occupy, then the more readers you are likely to have. Blogging is like newspapers, to have a following you have to have loyal readers who want information; that’s what Susan Gunelius (http://weblogs.about.com/bio/Susan-Gunelius-39478.htm) on About.com (http://weblogs.about.com/od/startingablog/qt/BlogPostingFreq.htm) says. You are not going to have a high frequency of readers if you do not post frequently, they conclude. I gasped when I read this. Have I been deluding myself after all this time? Should I have posted every day? (I cannot even manage to post everyday on Facebook). So the answer to marketing for Cecile’s Writers is blog everyday.
Wait one second… Hold Back
However, the advice of Jennifer Beever (http://www.newincite.com/blogging/how-to-blog-how-often-should-i-blog/), a marketing consultant, is that if you become an expert, you can get away with posting once a week. Here quality versus quantity counts, but as About.com also says, growth of readership is probably also going to be more slow. But I would assume more steady and less fickle than the marketing ploy, which is blown up as full as an air baloon and as soon as you miss one day you probably loose much of the readership.
Somewhere in the Middle?
Now, Heidi Cohen (http://heidicohen.com/increase-blog-post-frequency/) mentions that you can post whenever you want to, but take into account that “it’s important to deliver content on a recurring schedule to encourage regular reading habits.” I totally agree with her, and of all the blogging frequency advice, I find hers to be the most sound. Instead of explaining it, I will let her say it:
Depending on your goals, this may not be optimal for your blog. If you’re looking to grow your readership or business, Hubspot’s research showed that you’ve got to blog two to three times a week to gain traction. While blogging multiple times a day yields higher results, blogging two to three times a week yields most of the benefit. Further, it’s critical to ensure that your audience is interested in that quantity of content.
Thank you Heidi, now I get it!
Drum Roll
Thus, Cecile’s Writers need to blog frequently. For me personally, I post once a week and if my fellow writers do the same, plus the occasional guest post, then we have enough posts a week. Hopefully, we have a reasonable balance between quality and quantity.
So how often do you blog?
Sofia
