Aaron’s answers: Blog posting frequency

The Question:

Samantha Parvin asked: I’m starting a blog – how often should I post? My posts are mostly concept-oriented (versus how-to, reviews, or news), and they’re mostly from 250 to 500 words or so. How often should I post a new article when trying to gain readership?

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Aaron’s Answer:

I would advise that there are actually 4 things you should consider:

1. Frequency — which you mentioned. I would recommend at least 2-3 times a week. I try to post at least once a day. I know some who try to post 6-10 times a day. For your higher level work, I’d say that 6-10 times a day is excessive, but 3-5 times a week is probably what you want to aim for.

2. Consistency. A huge readership killer is not how many times a week you post but rather whether or not you keep it up. One of the most common phrases that you see in blogs is “I haven’t posted for a while, but…”. I’d advise creating a list of topics that will give you something to write about for the next 1-3 months.

3. Quality. It sounds like you know the quality you want to achieve at this point, and that’s a great start. Maintain that quality and your readers will respect you and look to you for more content. However, if you start your blog with great concept-oriented material but end up blogging about your favorite ice cream in a couple of weeks from now, you’ll erode readership who want to read about your concept-oriented work.

4. Lastly, connection. remember that your blog doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Make sure you’re promoting your blog in other places, tweeting your latest blog post, sharing it on Facebook, etc. As a PR professional, you’re probably already aware of the importance of this effort.

Best of luck!

Aaron Hoos

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