How Often Do Bloggers Need to Post?

One of the most common solutions I hear for publishers looking for more traffic is to just write more content. More content equals more traffic, right? Not necessarily and a lot of editorial budget can be wasted if your goal is to simply increase the quantity of content you’re publishing. While you’ll want to have a well planned strategy in place before publishing each piece of blog content, being consistent is key. You want your readers to trust you and trust that when they visit your blog they will have fresh content to read. Content frequency also sends signals to Google that your blog is maintained and active.

When it comes to publishing content, it’s quality over quantity. But if we had to give a number, we commonly see the sweet spot for bloggers to be publishing 3-4 well thought out, high-quality posts per week.

But baby steps are understandable!! If you’re currently posting once a week, try to increase that number to two. Think of ways outside of purely new stuff to boost the frequency you output content to your readers. Evergreen content that you’ve done in past years can be updated and republished. Invite a guest author to write a post, but only one you trust!!

Understanding quality content:

First, look at your own data! Ever heard of the 80/20 rule? It’s likely true that the majority of your revenue/traffic comes from a small set of pages. Those are your quality pieces, know them well. What do those pages have that your other, lesser than pages, don’t have? Mimic them. Another way to understand what constitutes as quality content in your own niche is to head over to Google search results. Put in the query you feel your page should be ranking for and see who is ranking in the top spots. Look at their information, their format, their images, their content length. Mimic them.

Things that matter –

• Length

• Visual appeal

• Spelling and grammar

• Formatting

• Readability

• Author expertise

• Inbound & outbound links

• Trusted source

What to consider before you hit publish:

• Unless you’re publishing useful, usable, high-quality content, it isn’t worth publishing.

• Publishing content just for the sake of publishing more, can do more harm than good.

• Never publish something with the intent to ‘make to better later’ – instead, take the extra time to make sure the page is longer, more detailed and SEO optimized from the start.

• If you’ve covered that exact angle on your site in prior years, either update the post you already have or redirect the old to new once the new one is live.

What does Google consider high-quality content?

Per their blog, Google says that although they don’t disclose the actual ranking signals used in their search algorithm, there are some general questions you can ask yourself about your content that will help you understand how Google is looking at your pages.

10 questions to ask yourself:

1. Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well?

2. Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?

3. Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?

4. Does the article describe both sides of a story?

5. Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?

6. Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?

7. Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?

8. Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?

9. Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?

10. Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?

It’s more important than ever before to make sure your brand is one that people trust. Take pride in your content and before you hit publish, make sure it’s something you know your readers would find accurate and helpful!