I get asked from time to time by new bloggers how often they should be writing new content for their blog. I usually try to answer the question by saying as often as possible! The reason you want to write as many posts as you can for your blog is that you are giving the search engines more pages of content, creating new pieces of to be shared with your subscribers and also causing the search engines to revisit your page to index the newer content. So if you are writing new content daily, you are hopefully seeing increases in traffic regularly.
If you are a new site without hundreds of pages of content being indexed by the search engines, you need to create your own buzz on your site by writing consistently & often. The more often & consistent you write, the better the results will be. Sharing your content onto other sites like Facebook, Twitter, & other social media platforms is also a great way to garner that traffic in the early stages. But of all of these tactic, the thing that will bring more people to you is to continuously generate new quality content for your blog.
I recently did an analysis of a clients Google Analytics for their blog just to see how much more traffic her site received on the days she posted new content compared to those she did not. The results really blew me away. On the days that a new blog post was published, the site would receive anywhere from a 200%-500% increase in traffic over that 24 hour period. Here is a screenshot of her analytics that she gave me permission to share:
This site has phenomenal other statistics as well. Their bounce rate stays consistently under 30% and average time on the site hovers around 5-7 minutes with most consumers viewing at least 6 pages on each visit. So, can you imagine what it would do for her business if she wrote a blog post each day instead of one every week? Her site traffic would skyrocket as well as her client base!
So if you are not writing regularly, take time today to develop a writing schedule. If you are someone like me, you have to literally schedule it into your daily routine or you will find your time filled in with other tasks & projects. At the bare minimum, I feel you should be contributing at least 3 posts a week. If your weekdays are too busy, then take the time on a Saturday afternoon while watching a movie to write your three posts for the week. Place all into draft mode and then publish a post on Monday, Wednesday & Friday. That way your site has a consistent flow of new content. Developing a successful writing strategy can be the biggest factor between normal & extraordinary amounts of traffic to your site.
On the other hand, those who mention writing blogs in under 10 minutes time, I give a word of caution to developing this type of habit. Very few people can do this successfully. Till you brainstorm your thoughts, get them typed out with correctly labeled photos & links, you are probably looking at 30 minutes per blog post. Remember while quantity is key, it should NEVER trump the quality of your work.
Jeremy Blanton to Jason show details Jun 15
Originally Posted at: 210 Consulting- Social Media Advisors
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Hi Jeremy, thanks for the post. I know how important it is to blog on a consistant basis. It is fun as well.
Thanks Liz & Marcia for stopping by & commenting!
Very good information! You are right the more you blog the better your results. Looking forward to more great posts from you!
That graph is pretty powerful visual proof of the importance of consistency! And i like your suggestion to write several posts when you have time if fitting them in more frequently is a problem.
I have a steady backlog of posts, but I do not post regularly. Sometimes it's 5 in one week, sometimes just 1. I didn't realize that it's important to post consistently so that's my new plan.
I started a blog for our company site in March. We have a team of about 20 and post once to twice daily. Here's what our analytics look like before & after:
Hi Jeremy. I should update my other blogs more so have since written a spreadsheet to manage updating them.
This is fascinating, Jeremy. The numbers speak!
Hi Jeremy! One of my goals is to better manage my time by doing as you suggest.....writing several posts in draft mode and have them ready to post throught the week.
Hope you and your family are well! :o)
Hey Jeremy, I love your blog. Thanks for all the good information you post;)
Thanks Jeremy, You continue to provide us with great information. I am now a regular follower of your blog...
Jeremy,
You've just taught me several new ways to analyze by Google Analytic stats! I'm getting business; my traffic steadily increases - the 2 most important to me. I do post regularly and spend a good amount of time on each.
Down side? My bounce rate and time on site both stink. Would my calls increase if those improved?
Yes! If people stay on the site for longer & don't bounce out of the site as often will increase the number of calls to you. Some ways to help with this is to add some great features onto your site like a media tab, adding mor photos and more. If you want to see an example, check out the media tab on my site. http://210consulting.com. It is getting some good hits with only being connected to my site for just over a week.
Huh, a media tab huh. I will check it out and start "mediating". Thanks, Jeremy. Great advice.
Jeremy those numbers are really quite amazing. Thanks for the info and the inspiration to do more
Jane- The media tab is powerful. To get it set up, you will need to create a posterous account, then set it up as a subdomain of your blog. If you don't you will be giving your Google Juice to posterous instead of your personal site. Hence why mine is http://media.210consulting.com instead of http://jeremyblanton.posterous.com.
Also, you can have it skinned to look just like your website look & feel if you know CSS. I know someone who can help you with all this if you need assistance accomplishing it.
Hi Jeremy,
WOW ! Some good information
Thanks
I agree! The more I post, the more interactions I get. :)
Thank you Jeremy, your information is absolutely priceless. Yes, we go sometime into blog hiatus, and I can see that is not a good idea. The graphics are great, as usual, your post has been bookmarked.
Antonio
I think that this is not only the most important thing but the hardest also.
Thanks for posting the analysis. I knew that consistent blogging was important, but now I have some real numbers to work with.
Holy crap! Those statistics are amazing! I write regularly, but not daily. But according to those stats, daily should be the goal!
Lisa- As mentioned at the end of my post, one thing to always remember is Quality should NEVER trump quantity!
I'm looking at your blog and things like the snapshot are not showing. Even without them your information is always great.
JEREMY: thank you for the great advice and motivation to get me to realize that I need to post on a consistent schedule. I was impressed seeing that visual analysis of what happens when you blog regularly. Amazing. I have re-blogged your advice
BTW, ♥ your profile photo.
I would love for you to analyze my site and show me how to use/understand google analytics. I've GOT to get on a better "blogging schedule." I write well, but it does take me an hour per post -- to make sure I've got the right percentage of keywords, decide which authoritative links to use, find images . . . My bigger problem is determing topics, and I know I need to write more hyper local.
Great post Jeremy!
Jeremy - I figured that the more often you blog is probably better. You post just confirms that.