Downsides to Writing Frequent Blog Posts?
Well, I have not been blogging as frequently as I have been told to. From whatever I have read and heard, one of the keys to success, it seems, is adding blog posts regularly, like say 3-5 times a week. But juggling my time between my regular office job (yes, the 9-5 kind) and my blogging activity on my site, it has not been easy at all. Moreover, I’m not that prolific a writter that I could churn out good quality posts that have, say, 1000-3000 words at a 3-per-week frequency. So I have left chasing an unrealistic target of 12 articles a month and reset it to 5 articles. That makes things easy for me and I feel I’m more into the groove now.
While the advantages of adding new blog posts frequently seem obvious but as with most things in life, are there disadvantages in it too? Yin and yang, black and white, light and darkness, right and wrong, good and evil - we have always been taught about moderation, balance and the perfect compromise. Hah! See? I’m going to the extremes in order to justify my ‘inability’. So, are there indeed disadvantages in updating our blog with frequent new posts? Some say there are. Blasphemous, isn’t it? Let’s see.
The other day I read an article on the harms of adding posts frequently (by frequently, I mean the posting-daily kind) and I was awestruck by how convincing the post sounded. Before you read on, let me state at the outset that these are the views of that author only and I’m only going to paraphrase them.
- Posting regularly gets you high up on Google’s rankings, but it is believed that these rankings are short-lived (I cannot verify this). Google rankings are, in any case, unreliable. So, it’s better to focus on writing epic and useful posts that solve problems and help people. But to make them long and strong, it takes time to write.
- It isn’t length alone that makes people fall in love with your article. It is the attention, care and the expertise poured into its creation that makes it stand out from among the crowd of similar articles. This takes time.
- Most of us do not have enough powerful things to say on a daily basis.
- Daily posts work for niches like news, technology but for most niches, it does more harm to flood them by frequent addition of new posts.
- Outsourcing for getting articles for our blog on a daily basis harms because of the inconsistent “voice” in them. That makes you lose standing with the readers.
I somehow seem to agree for now that it isn’t necessary to focus on the post frequency. What matters will be the value and the practical help your post delivers. Let’s see how this view changes with time. Cheers!
P.S.: The post is in no way intended to say frequent posting is bad. It only aims to provide an oblique view to the issue of whether frequent posting is ideal for all niches.
Recent Comments
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I mostly aim for two to three posts per week. As long are you are setting your goal each week and you are happy with it, you should have no fear. All the best.
Yes, if you're happy with your target and you're achieving it, then there's no reason why one shouldn't be posting frequently.
It looks like we have the same goals, Sukumar.
I shoot for 4 to 6 articles a month. I may get a few more. I may get a few less. But, with my gardening website, it is difficult to produce high quality posts at a higher frequency.
And, high quality posts are my priority goals. As Mark (MarkBa) says, higher frequency may get you to the top faster - but only with quality posts!
Jim
I agree with all of that.
If you can write amazingly memorable and useful posts at speed then you'll more than likely be a success before someone who can't, because you'll get there faster and that's just a fact. It may be possible but as you say it depends on the niche and how much time you have.
Like everybody I read a lot online but the number of truly amazing blogs I read I can probably count on my one hand.
~Mark :)
It might not be possible for most of us to create a masterpiece everytime we write. There'll be off days when the writing comes out below par. But if we can consciously make an effort to give our best shot everytime and to mix up our posts with real good stuff in between, I think success would follow. And by success I mean, more readership, more traffic.
Yes, I also agree that the number of truly outstanding blogs are just too few.
There are some people who are naturally verbose and I am not one of them. For me to write a long post take time for research and then time to assimilate that information and put it in a way the readers can easily understand.
So for me at the moment 2 posts a week seems to be my standard and this is likely to carry on until I have finished all the training and can just concentrate on writing.
Derek
Perhaps with the end of the training and with a better grip on the whole concept of internet marketing, you might like to increase the post frequency. Wishing you all the best!
I hope so. We are all here to learn and so far it is showing me far better ways than I have been shown before.
Derek
i can relate mines just now getting to 3 a week due to the fact having templates for more efficient writing.
Yes. What I said was in the context of my posts on my site. Life's cool in WA and so are the blog posts here :)
It is not easy and good writing takes time. Quality and relevance are more important than quantity. Poor quality doesn't help but quantity can be achieved over time. Keep writing.
I'll keep on writing. To keep the writing engine roaring and to sharpen my skills. I'll try to focus on quality, that's for sure.
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I tend to agree with the author of the article you read, in a way........I understand that "quantity" is what they're looking for but at the loss of "quality"?
I think not...................................
After all, no matter what you do, some days are more prolific than others. That's life!
Keep doing it your way being the "voice" of your blogs from your point of view.
My best,
Laurel
Wishing you the best too!