Do you write a blog?
Are you thinking about blogging or taking your blog more seriously?
In either case, I believe you will find this post really useful.
As regular readers will recall, I wrote a post last month about the results I have seen, since I increased the frequency of my blogging from around 1 post a week to 6 or more posts a week. This is part 2 of that post; Why bloggers post every day. I suggest you read part 1 before you continue, as it contains some very interesting findings, which could really help you!
However, since writing that post I’ve noticed another interesting development, which I want to share with you.
More visible, more mentioned
It’s now a month since I started blogging almost daily and in addition to the results I covered in part 1 of this post, I am now starting to see a significant increase in the number of times that this blog get mentioned. These mentions range from people citing this blog (or me) in their blog posts and articles, through to an increase in the number of times I see the blog and myself mentioned across Twitter, Facebook, forums and newsletters etc.
Why is this happening and what can we learn from it?
As I said in part 1 of this post, there was a significant growth in reader numbers here, as the frequency of my posts increased. A larger reader-base obviously gets your blog and your name on more peoples radar. The more people aware of you and what you do, the greater the chances are that you will get mentioned.
Of course, this then alerts new people to your blog and your work, increasing the size of your readership and thus the process feeds itself.
Here’s something special
By getting good quality information in front of people regularly, I believe you also become a more integrated part of your readers daily experience. Many readers will position you very differently too.
You, (the blogger) become a regular part of their working day. Your blog becomes a growing repository of answers and ideas, a knowledge-base that your readers can rely on. If you can understand what’s happening there, it’s so powerful that it’s almost magical.
Share your experiences
Do you tend to subscribe to blogs that are updated more regularly or less regularly?
How often do you think a business to business blog should be updated?
If you are a blogger yourself and you have either increased or decreased the frequency with which you post, what kind of feedback have you seen?
Please join in the conversation and share your feedback!
Photo credit: John A Ward
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Hi Jim
Both this, and your first post on the subject are fascinating. I am a fairly newbie blogger and have been posting once a week, more or less, for a few months now. As I consider how to take my blog to the next level, one of the things I’ve wondered about is the impact of putting more out there. So it’s brilliant to see your example.
What I’m curious about is whether blogging more gets you more business. Any stats on that yet? Perhaps too early to say?
Thanks for the feedback and such a great question, Christine.
Yes, I have seen an increase in both the number and quality of enquiries for my services, since I started the regular blogging.
As enquiries are how I attract most of my non-referred clients, it’s also seen me attract significantly more clients too. After there’s some more data I can give better idea, in percentage terms.
Hope that helps.
Thanks for that, Jim. Really good to know. I’ll watch your continued development with interest!
I agree that this is probably the most important part of blogging, as everyone likes frequency.
If bloggers remain consistent, they then become more respected and valued for the information that they provide. Its an easier way to become one of the top bloggers in the niche you selected.
However, ive found that I get annoyed and feel like im suffering from information overload if blogs post to often. This usually happens from the blogs with multiple authors, and therefore started to unsubscribe from many rss feeds.
Good points Deakaz. I also think that if a blogger is posting every day, they probably don’t need to write enormous posts all the time.
I tend to write smaller posts, because as a copy writer, I understand the power of condensing information so that as much of the ‘padding’ and fluff is taken out.
Thanks for the comment.
Hi Jim, I was following your lead before you did your first post about it. I know that anticipation builds as I wonder what my favorite bloggers wrote. I do believe that people like regular bloggers. I think that if you like the way someone writes and the topics they write about, you tend to want to hear more. I come here often because I like what you say and learn so much.
Barbara Swafford with Blogging without a Blog has one of the most interactive, consistent, growing community of bloggers out there. I learn something there every time and I have found many other bloggers to check out there too.
There does come to be a limit on your time. I heard that there are 900,000 blogs out there… I don’t know if that is a total or daily. That makes anyone who reads blogs struggle with choices. I could literally spend all day with just the favorite bloggers I have and a few daily links from my Twitter community. So does blogging daily increase traffic to your blog, I think it is a matter of building community because in the vast amount of choices, if a person feels that sense of community, they will come back.
Hi Julie. Believe it or not, there are over 6 million blogs hosted on wordpress.com alone!
Thanks for the comment.
See, I told you I couldn’t keep up! Thanks for the update, Jim!
Thank you Julie for your kind words.
@Jim,
I do agree, by posting more often we can grow our blogs faster, get our name out there, and keep it out there. For nearly two years I was posting up to six days a week, but with other demands on my time, I’m now down to two days a week. I also listened to those is my community and it appears they prefer fewer posts as they too, have time issues.
When I look at my blog visiting schedule I personally prefer lesser posts from bloggers as that way I have a better chance of keeping up. If they’re posting every day, undoubtedly I’m missing some of their work, Having said that though, I revert back to what you’re suggesting how posting more often can increase our numbers, but we do have to realize those in our community may not be reading every post.
For me, it comes down to finding that balance between real life and blogging and not letting a blogging schedule create burnout.
Thanks for the comment.
As you rightly say Barbara, it’s about balance. I’m a professional writer and write pretty every work day as part of what I do. I also have almost 24 years worth of marketing experience to blog about and marketing itself is a huge subject.
I’m certain that no daily blogger thinks all his or her posts get read by all their readers. However, for those who can maintain a regular schedule, there are some well documented benefits to their business from blogging.
Hi Jim,
After that first article I decided to blog every day. I started on 30 November and one of the improvements is a groth of 150% in my subscribers.
Also lots of comments on my LinkedIn discussions and almost every day I receive an e-mail that requests a price quote.
I want to see the results in a month or so and I’ll write an article about it.
Thanks
Thanks for sharing your results Toma.
The growth you have seen in subscriber numbers is very promising. Keep in touch and let us know how it develops!
Frequency is indeed extremely important in blogging.
I notice that I lose readers as a result of not posting so often.
However, quality should always come first. If I don’t have the time to compose a quality post, I’d rather not compromise my image and brand name simply for the sake of keeping a schedule. Agree?
- Daniel Faintuch
http://www.amarketersview.com
For B2B blogs, posting more often is not always better. It depends on the goal of the blog. If the blog’s goal is to educate businesses on a particular topic/industry, then a few thought provoking posts a week works well so as to not dillute the effectiveness of each message.
If your B2B blog is more a news platform talking about recent events, etc… then daily blogging works well. It also works if you’re trying to establish a community.
For us, we’ve found 2-3 blog posts per week for our B2B blog works well for our goals of education and being seen as a thought leader in our niche. (Plus it allows us to post more “substantive” topics without undue pressure to continually churn out content.) YMMV.
Rob – LexiConn
It’s all about maintaining a blogging schedule that’s right for your business. This also means looking at what is workable. I think that daily (or almost daily) blogging is simply not an option for the vast majority of bloggers because of their other business priorities.
The idea behind these 2 posts is simply to show that with increased blogging activity, the return you achieve from the blog is increased too.
Thanks as always for the feedback, Rob.
Interesting couple of posts Jim. As a reader, if I’m visiting a blog directly it’s very useful to have updates (close to) every day, as this decreases disappointment. However, now that I use RSS I worry about this a lot less, and it makes it much easier to keep track of people that publish irregularly.
As a blog writer, I find a couple of benefits to posting daily (or close to it). The first is that when I’m trying to write daily, I actually have more good ideas than if I write irregularly while waiting for the next great idea. So my quality actually seems to go up if I write more frequently.
Secondly, while I take your point about wanting to only write quality stuff, I think there is a small danger there – that you might end up being too formulaic. If you find a posting style that works, then you’ll only write that way. If you are willing to occasionally misfire, you can experiment and maybe find ways to communicate that are even better than your tried and true format. As I tell my innovation students, if everything that you try works, that’s a sure sign that you’re trying enough things! So posting more frequently can sometimes help you be more creative with writing style too.
Hi Tim. Thanks for the comment.
When I refer to consistent content, I am exclusively referring to consistency of quality – NOT consistency of topic, length or using the same format for each post.
I write a variety of posts here, some very short, some long, some instructional, some conversational, some that don’t even ask for feedback.
Experimenting is easy with blogs because the blogger can see what posts resonate with his or her readers very quickly, thanks to the stats software behind the blog. I know certain topics are read and shared more than others – but I am more likely to be guided by sharing what I believe to be of value to readers.
Thanks again for the feedback sir.
I think that there’s a balance that every blogger must find for themselves. True, posting more often has many benefits. You’ll probably get more hits, and as you mentioned, you can become a staple in the working professionals’ daily routine. At the same time, there are a few things to consider:
Will posting more frequently reduce the quality of your posts? I try only to post when the topic is a quality one that I think will truly be valuable to my readers. If I pushed myself to post every day, I’d end up just writing for the sake of having a post up that day, and it won’t provide as much value. At the same time, I don’t really focus on getting more hits on my blog…not my primary goal.
Do you have time to maintain that rate of posting? Don’t want to get your readers hopes up by posting every day and then you can’t keep up with that pace. Although, as everything is an experiment, there’s only one way to find out if you can…
What about perceived value? Will your great posts get less recognition if it’s buried under 4 other posts by the end of the week? Blogging seems to be focused on the most recent content. As a post moves further down the line, it’s perceived to be less important.
As I said, it’s about finding a balance that works for you. I’ve freestyled my blog for as long as I’ve been writing. A system just kind of naturally forms. I usually write 2-3 times a week now, tues and thurs and sometimes monday.
David
Community Manager, Scribnia.com