How often should I publish blog posts?
It's a question asked by millions of new bloggers.
In this article, we'll let the data, along with your blogging goals, show you the answer.
Let's get started.
What the blogging industry says about posting frequency
When building a sustainable content strategy, it's always a good idea to see what the "experts" are doing.
A 2021 survey published by Orbit Media Studios attempts to identify the correlation between certain practices and blog success.
Here are some conclusions:
How often do bloggers post?
Overall, the blogging industry posts a little less than in previous years. Only 16% of bloggers post more than once a week, while 22% post once a week.
Interestingly, bloggers who post frequently are more likely to get "strong results".
How often do successful bloggers post?
59% of bloggers who post at least once a week get better results. In contrast, only 21% of bloggers who post monthly achieve the same level of success.
Looking at the numbers, it's clear that posting more often is good for your blog.
This is consistent with data from other studies.
For example, data from HubSpot reveals that publishing 3-4 posts per week can help small blogs gain traction. The same report states that blogs can increase brand awareness by posting at least 1-2 times per week.
So does that mean you need to post multiple times a week to be a successful blogger?
If you can consistently publish a few posts a week, that's definitely a plus.
But when measuring the best posting frequency for a blog, there's one key ingredient you need to keep in mind: quality content .
The role of content quality in blog post frequency
Andy Crestodina, co-founder and CMO of Orbit Media Studios, wrote something interesting in the aforementioned study.
According to him, there is "almost no overlap" between bloggers who post frequently and those who spend more than 6 hours per post. This means that bloggers who post more than once a week aren't necessarily creating long, high-quality posts.
Data shows that 33% of bloggers who spend more than 6 hours are more successful than those who write content faster.
In addition, it has been observed that bloggers who write more words per post outnumber those who write less.
30% of bloggers who write between 1,500 and 2,000 words per post produce excellent results. 36% of bloggers who wrote more than 3,000 words looked similar.
Remember that it is easy to publish a lot of content per week if you write weak and incomplete articles. But if you are not confident that you can create long, interesting and quality articles, it might take you more time to complete your next article.
Related: 41 Key Blog Post Stats and Tips (For 2022)
The key here is to focus on frequency consistency .
It doesn't matter how many posts you can post in a day or a month. The most important thing is that you consistently publish quality, comprehensive articles to keep readers coming back for more.
It's the golden rule of traders like Mark Schaefer.
The importance of a consistent blog schedule
When I say consistency, I'm not just talking about quality content and attention to detail.
This includes having a consistent writing and publishing schedule.
Let me show you the benefits of doing this:
- You can make blogging more sustainable: Setting a time to blog throughout the week will help you develop a sustainable writing routine. In no time, your mind and body will be conditioned to maintain a high level of productivity during working hours.
- Readers will know when to come back; there's a reason to get excited whenever the next episode of your favorite show is about to air. This preview will allow you to generate repeat traffic, especially if your readers know they are waiting for the best content.
- This allows you to plan and adjust your schedule in advance: full-time bloggers often struggle with non-work commitments such as childcare or grocery shopping. By setting a blogging schedule, you can save time for these activities without disrupting your daily workflow.
- It can help eliminate distractions: When you know when to write, you can eliminate potential distractions before you even begin. You can answer all those important emails, eat breakfast, clean the table, anything to make sure you're really focused.
- You can focus on the big picture: having a blog calendar allows you to set, measure and optimize your long-term goals. It can be the number of blog, email subscribers or repeat traffic you get.
As you can see, a consistent blogging schedule ultimately affects your content quality and productivity. Both, in turn, will have a positive impact on your audience's reading experience.
Delighting readers is the key to building relevance, authority and presence. All three will help you build a successful blogging brand and make money.
Now that you understand the benefits of a blogging program, let's talk about how to get started.
How to create a successful blogging program that works for you
First, you need to set up your blog's editorial schedule before you can set up a blog calendar.
A blog editorial calendar is basically a list of blog posts scheduled with a predetermined publication date.
This can be done with a simple spreadsheet tool like Google Sheets, which also includes a handy calendar template.
An editorial calendar ensures that your daily blogging efforts drive your long-term goals.
It also adds a sense of urgency, which is always good for a blogger's productivity.
To access your editorial calendar, use the buttons below to jump to that month.
Let's say you want to post on Friday, January 8th .
Click on the cell for that date and enter the name of the message.
Pro Tip: Be sure to format your cells to match the text. This will ensure that your blog post title does not overflow the cell.
The date you choose is basically the deadline for your publication.
So make sure you set realistic dates to ensure quality content.
How long does it take to write a blog post?
Good question.
Answer me by showing you how to set achievable deadlines for blog posts.
To learn more, check out my guide to creating a blog editorial calendar . Everything you need to know about blog post planning, scheduling, and tracking tools is here!
How to set specific deadlines for each post
To make sure you have enough time to complete the message, you need to do two things.
First, you need to set up your target word count.
According to industry best practices, you might think that your goal should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. However, a better strategy is to review the top articles on your chosen topic.
For example, you want to write an article about cooking brown rice.
All you have to do is use Google to see the best articles on this topic. Enter the relevant query for example "how to cook brown rice".
The next step is to review the top blog posts and measure their word count.
Copy the text from the blog post, paste it into a word processor and check the word count from there. But if the blog you're viewing doesn't allow users to copy text, use a tool like WordCounter.net.
All you have to do is enter the URL of the post and click on "Word Count".
After a few seconds, this tool will show you the total word count of the message. As a bonus, it will also include a list of keywords that you can use when building your build.
Keep doing this until you get the average word count of the three Google results. For the example above, the average word count of the top results is 2,104 words.
This is your minimum word count goal.
With that done, it's time to figure out how much you can write per day.
That, of course, depends on each person.
Some bloggers feel comfortable producing 2,500 to 3,000 words a day. Others, on the other hand, can only write 1,500 words a day, five days a week.
Let's say your average typing speed is 2,000 words per day.
This means you will be able to complete your post in less than a day.
That's right, go to your blog's editorial calendar and set a deadline for your new posts.
Tips for setting a publishing deadline
- Try to exceed the average word count of the first posts; ideally your posts should exceed the word count of the top articles on your chosen topic. Try to avoid writing nonsense and focus on adding useful and valuable information.
- Give yourself an extra day: It 's a good idea to give yourself a day of grace for the unexpected. After all, creating great blog posts isn't just about writing, it also involves hours of research, optimization, and editing.
- Don't forget to take a few days off. Believe me, writing and blogging seven days a week is slow torture. To avoid burnout, take 1-2 days a week to restore your creativity.
- Set reminders: Use the calendar app on your phone or computer to set reminders when a day is left. This ensures you don't miss a deadline and is consistent with your publishing schedule.
- Notify your readers about your next post: When you reliably publish your post on time, you can let your readers know when your next post will be published. Promote it through your blog and social media channels to build expectations.
Fill your calendar with
An editorial blog calendar makes sense if you have a series of blog posts planned in advance.
Consider spending at least an hour researching content ideas, setting your target word count, and planning deadlines. At this point, you should be planning for at least a month's layoff.
With the example schedule above, I would post about two articles per week .
good
Best of all, your schedule doesn't depend on the frequency of your target blog posts. Instead, it's about creating quality content.
Generating blog post ideas requires a strategic approach. For details, read our list of 25 Strategies for Generating Blog Post Ideas .
Tips for completing the content schedule
- Try to write long and comprehensive articles - Although writing a comprehensive guide will take more time, the rewards will be great. Articles longer than 3,000 words can attract more traffic, get more backlinks and rank higher in search engines.
- Combine related topics into a single post: To write longer posts, write related subtopics into a single post instead of posting separate posts. You can check out my blog post structure guide to help.
- Spy on your competitors for content ideas: To get faster results with your blog, check out your competitors' best posts and prioritize discussion on the topic. Always remember that the goal is to make a much better version, not just a generic, boring copy.
- Don't be afraid to make changes - if you miss a deadline, see how this month's post affects it. You can even write more words in one day or work while on vacation to get back on track.
Plan your weekly blogging schedule
Awesome: Now you can schedule your monthly blog posts efficiently.
The final step is to set up a routine for consistent weekly blogging and posting.
Creating an editorial calendar will help you manage your blogging goals. However, creating a weekly routine will help you manage your time.
You can set up a weekly routine using any application that lets you create spreadsheets, such as Google Docs and Microsoft Word.
Notion also offers a weekly planner template that you can use to plan your blogging routine:
You can do this with the free plan, so I recommend giving it a try while you're at work.
Here's what a basic blogging routine looks like:
The purpose of a daily blogging routine is to make sure you have time for your blog and everything else.
You can structure your days according to the messages scheduled for each week. For example, if your goal is to write 2,000 words on Monday, your schedule would look like this:
The next day, you can plan initiatives to promote your content.
Of course, routines also give you time to rest.
Making sure you get enough rest is one way you can make your blogging routine sustainable.
Tips for organizing your weekly schedule
- Plan your daily non-blogging activities: When establishing a weekly routine, I recommend starting with your essential non-blogging activities. This includes taking the children to school, cooking, taking out the trash, etc.
- Work on your typing speed: It's not rocket science, typing faster will get you through your blog writing tasks faster. Websites like TypingTest can help you improve your typing speed with skill tests and challenges.
- Allocate Recovery Time: You can allot yourself extra recovery time if you're falling behind on your daily blogging goals. Of course, you are free to spend that time on other things if you do your work on time.
- Try the Pomodoro Technique: To boost productivity, start blogging for 25 minutes, followed by a short five-minute break. Repeat four times and increase each break to 15-30 minutes; continue until your work is done.
- Write Now, Fix Errors Later: Many professional writers have a bad habit of revising and editing each paragraph as they write. While it will help you craft an elegant element, constantly looking back and forth will disrupt your flow.
- Use automated review tools – A review tool like Grammarly will save you time in the review process. It works by automatically detecting errors and suggesting fixes and improvements.
Bonus: Automate your content publishing
You can spend 100% of your time blogging if you automate your content publishing efforts.
Of course, the word "automation" can sound intimidating, especially to new bloggers. But with tools like IFTTT and Zapier, you can easily create automated content publishing workflows in minutes.
The automation platform works by connecting two different applications. Whenever you do something with the first app, the second app automatically does something else.
For example, IFTTT has an "applet" that automatically shares new WordPress posts to a Facebook page.
To use this applet, click "Sign In" and enter your WordPress blog details.
In the next step, you need to link your Facebook account. Click Connect, log in to Facebook and select the page you want to use.
Finally, you can create custom text for each shared message. You may use "materials" that refer to specific elements of your blog posts, such as post titles, images, tags, etc.
When finished, click "Save".
Congratulations, you have now automated your blog content publishing.
IFTTT lets you use other widgets for free, or you can create your own. You can browse other widgets by using the search bar and selecting the app you want to use.
Setting up automation flows for all your promotion channels can take some time. But once you're done, you can stop worrying about promoting the content, which will save you a lot of time in the long run.
So how often should you blog?
At this point, it should be clear that the answer depends.
The best way to determine the optimal posting frequency is to create a schedule around your blogging goals.
It doesn't matter if you post daily, weekly or monthly. As long as you focus on quality content and finish on time, their posting frequency is perfect for you.
However, this does not mean that you should stop experimenting.
Determine the optimal posting frequency for your blog
Changing the frequency of your blog posts can have a huge impact on your blog's performance. Here are some strategies you can use to optimize your posting frequency:
1. Get feedback from readers
Always remember this: every decision you make from here on out should be made with your readers in mind.
This includes adjusting the frequency of your blog posts.
Simply run a social media poll or ask readers to leave comments. Ask them if they want to see more posts or if they are satisfied with the frequency of your blog posts.
2. Choose longer posts
If you're happy with your blog's current performance, try longer posts that take longer to create. From there, use a tool like Google Analytics to measure its impact on traffic and reader engagement (shares, comments, etc.).
If longer posts increase traffic, create longer and more valuable posts. Keep repeating this process until you find the perfect length and frequency for your message.
3. Try procrastinating
Sometimes delaying a post and publishing it at a specific time can dramatically increase your visibility.
According to research, the best time to post is Monday around 11am. If you want to generate more comments, consider posting on Saturday mornings.
The WordPress post editor should have a scheduler that allows you to specify the date and time of the post. You can view the tool after clicking "Publish".
Last words
Consider the following points when planning your blog posting schedule:
- Try to post several times a week, focusing on quality content.
- Create consistency to increase the productivity and quality of your content
- Use automation to save time in the long run
- Ask your audience how often they want your posts
- Experiment with different pin lengths
- Post your content at specific times to maximize engagement
Always remember that blogging doesn't have to be easy.
If you can't commit to posting frequently and regularly, don't expect to make money from your blog. Millions of other bloggers are willing to do whatever they can to beat the competition.
The question is, are you?
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for future articles, please leave a comment below.
Good luck!