Adjust your posting frequency to keep the quality of your weblog entries high
The worst way to start an entry in your blog is by apologising to your readers that you have not posted more often.
So here is what I will do: I would like to apologise for not posting on this weblog over the past two weeks. Partially because I really have not written anything over that period, but mainly because I want to make a point.
Quality vs. quantity
There are many people who say that it is not your posting frequency that attracts readers but rather the quality of your content. While this is true, it is also a blatant lie.
The quality of your content attracts readers, especially RSS subscribers. Yet these readers will quickly abandon your ship if you cannot continue to provide quality content.
Continuity is key
That being said, it is important to find a rhythm. Readers do not expect weblog entries every day, in fact it thoroughly annoys them if their RSS reader gets flooded with posts from only one site.
If you are comfortable with posting every day, do so. If you are comfortable with posting every week or even every two weeks, this is also fine. Yet visitors should be able to anticipate your next weblog entry by looking at your archive.
Taking quantity out of the equation
It should not really be a question of quality vs. quantity, but whether you manage to find a posting frequency that allows you to keep the quality weblog entries at a high level. Take quantity out of the equation.
Applying this to my own habits, comes as a harsh realisation: I have one of the worst posting frequencies, ranging from daily to almost monthly. I will hopefully learn from it and no longer have to apologise to readers in the future. Hopefully.
I would like to hear from you, which posting frequency you find comfortable to read? If you have your own weblog which frequency do you find comfortable to write for? What dictates this frequency? Should you increase or decrease it? Answers and questions alike, please find your way into the comments.
// passing trade
Thursday, December 6th 2007
at 12:37 PM
I struggle with this too.
One thing that works when I remember to do it, is to write stuff in advance - it’s not going to be as up-to-the-minute topical, but it works like the features in a newspaper - interesting stuff you store up when you have time to write, which tides you over times when you haven’t.
In other words, when you’re writing daily - save them as drafts. Keep posting weekly. Then you should be able to not write for a month and we’ll never know ...
:)
// Skellie
Monday, December 10th 2007
at 2:05 AM
I think the idea that you need to post a lot to get traffic is really a myth held over from the old days of the blogosphere. I completely agree with you—quality and consistency is key. When I find people chanting the ‘Quantity is King’ mantra, I point them to Tim Ferris’s blog. He posts about once a week on average, but clearly puts a lot of thought into each post. He seems to be on the front page of Digg every other week!
Another thing to consider is that when you make every post of a really high quality, your overall body of work is going to knock the socks off new visitors to your site. I don’t think they take dates into account too much.
// Dominik Lenk
Monday, December 10th 2007
at 23:57 PM
Passing Trade: I have heard of this before, yet I found it to be a lot harder than it sounds. I hope that you are more successful.
Skellie: I have not made the front page of Digg (yet:-), however, I am glad that people who have seem to think the same way as me on the quality vs. quantity issue.
As of yet my “hole in the bucket” seems to be my posting frequency. Thanks for visiting.
// Leah "Bean"
Tuesday, December 11th 2007
at 18:04 PM
I’ve been blogging for about five years now, although a bit quieter than anyone who appears on Digg… my audience is mainly my friends and relatives, and whoever else happens to make it to my blog through links I’ve left behind. There were times that I would blog every other day, as things came into my head, but those posts tended to be relatively short. More recently, there might be a week or two between posts, but I also work harder on each post. Sometimes I write them out longhand before, and usually I write them and wait a few days to edit them. I have once managed to have content for a whole month ahead of time, and it felt pretty good.
// archeoblog
Wednesday, December 12th 2007
at 15:02 PM
I agree with you, in general quality is the main key factor, followed by a stable posting frequency (not needed to be hight).
However I need to point out that for some special blogs (mainly the blogs of news, like mine) you NEED a hight posting frequency (sometimes despite of post quality) because your readers (I noticed this on my logs and comments) will be really disappointed to come on your blog and not finding the daily news. For all the others blogs you are perfectly right.
have a nice day
dat
p.s. I apologize for my bad english, I hope that is almost comprehensible
// Finder
Thursday, March 13th 2008
at 17:29 PM
You right. Will be better post rare but quality article. Now, many bloggers try increase number of posts just copy paste content from other resources. But this not make their blog more popularity and not useful for readers.