I wanted to put this in the Copywriting section because I want the perspective of actual writers, not marketers running blogs for advertising profits. Recently I started my own blog, and it was a long time coming. I have been freelancing for years, but haven't wanted to put the time or energy into starting my own site. Now that I have, and one unrelated to my career, it has me thinking: how often should I post? Of course I know the advice from gurus, contradicting as it is. Several times a day for fast growth, or ignore the content until you have readers, or a few times a week. Everyone has their own advice. I basically post when I have something to say, which is four or five times per week. Most of my focus is on social media engagement through Facebook and Twitter, including connecting with groups and pages I have been on for years. It is going well enough. So tell me, writers...how often do you post to your blog? How has growth been? Using any other social media to promote it, and if so, how is that going? Let's share tips for writers, not marketers!
If you're a writer, you blog everytime idea is knocking. If you're a marketer, you are more into tight schedule and deadline, so it will be more often. I personally use FB, twitter, google+ and social bookmarking sites.
I think you hit it on the head. you write whenever you get a good idea. if your writing is forced, it will come through and may not appear sincere. While blogging is very casual, I think it's also important that it be genuine. If you're only posting for posting's sake, it will not have the desired effect. Also when your blog begins to gather some followers, and they comment on your postings and on each others's comments, you will have more fuel for your writing as well.
I own 3 tech blogs since 2011 and I receive good traffic, post panda/penguin updates. Site 1: 120 articles till date. PR1. Each article targets a keyword and has 3-4 images. Concentrated on ON PAGE factors and IMAGE optimization. NO social promotions - (Twitter/G+ = 0) & (FB = 210 likes) NO SEO (only 24 backlinks so far). Result: 400-500 'unique' visits daily. Top page ranking in Google only for 4-5 articles. But several images found in first page on google images & 20-40$ adsense income per month. Site 2&3: 200+ articles till date. PR2. Each article targets a keyword. 1-2 images in posts but not in all posts. ON page SEO factors considered. No image optimization. Strong social promotions - (Twitter/G+ = 2k+ each) & (FB = 25k likes), yes, 25'k'!!! Link building done. Sites have 250 backlinks each. Result: 600-800 'unique' visits daily. Top page ranking in Google for 30+ articles. No images from google image search. 50-100$ adsense income per month. This is my real time experience. Let me know if you need anything else!!!
I learned from MOZ a good way to write and it is basically this: I write every time when a good idea go through my mind AND I see a different angle to write about the topic, so the content become more unique.
Personally, i post a couple of times a week. Maximum of 3 thus far if i remember right - mostly because i'm busy with my other work and personal commitments. I get good traffic even on weeks that i only manage to chalk up a single blog post though. I've noticed a recurring pattern over the years i've been writing - always focus on the content at hand. Write if you've got something good to say, or something that people are interested to read about. "Filling in the gaps" with mediocre content just to hit the target of 4-5 times a week will actually do you more harm than great content pushed out 2x a week. Think of (especially) the first-time visitors to your site. They'll be skimming through your content, and many mediocre posts as opposed to a select, hard-hitting few would do little to have them hooked onto your site.
I own just the one blog and I tend to try and post every other day, did notice however when there were a decline of posts due to how busy I was I was still getting good traffic to my blog. The important thing to remember is that if you are going to blog quite frequently the content has to be good otherwise like Referral Candy said it can really harm your blog.
I use to post one post per 3 days. I'm blogging from 4-5 weeks and Gets only 50-100 unique impressions on my blog daily. If you need help with SEO, you may contact me and we can discuss and make better results. I'm not professional but I have some basic knowledge.
Well, back when I did have a blog, it was updated fairly often. I found that I lost interest after a few months because it felt forced. I think I know where I went wrong now. Creating a list of blog ideas with full outlines should make it easier to stick to a schedule. Again, this is just a theory. Guess I'll see what happens after I get back into blogging for myself.
At the start every day - after few weeks one article per 2-3 days - after months one article per 5-7 days - after year looking for help
I think it depends on your goals for your blog. AND it depends on your other activities. Meaning, in the time you aren't writing are you promoting your content or doing client work, or maybe you have a 9-5 and a family... It all starts with figuring out what you want. You don't have to post everyday to get loads of traffic, but you do have to promote your content everyday. But I can tell you that the more I blog, the more traffic I get and the more Google loves me. It's just something I noticed. When I blog for 5 days in a row my blog gets a big surge in traffic and rankings.
I think the same rules apply for a "writer's" blog as an IM blog - you post as often as possible. I wouldn't post multiple times a day, just because I personally think it's too much. I won't ever post more than twice a day. If I have more ideas than that, I write them and save the draft for the following day. But that's a personal preference.
I'm an editor of a coffee related blog, and one thing I can tell from experience is that your results will be better if you post daily. Content is the KING! Every now when you post a new, fresh content you are inviting Google to index your blog over and over again. I start with posting 3 articles per week, and gain a little traffic. When I started to blog daily, the results improved. However you will need a lot of patience and work to find the best solution and the get the best results.
I find myself writing down notes throughout the day, either in my phone or on a small notepad I can fit in my pocket. Therefore, when I'm at my day job I can keep my ideas flowing during a caffeine binge while remembering them for later articles / posts.
We recommend blogging everyday with consistency (if at all possible). Your visitors will likely start counting on your blogging frequency, and so will the search engines!