How Often Should I Post?

My answer to the most common blogging question I’m asked

When I sit down with a new client to discuss blogging and their content marketing strategy, the most common question I’m asked is: How often should I post?

When I sit down with a new client to discuss blogging and their content marketing strategy, the most common question I’m asked is: How often should I post?

If you Google this or similar questions, you won’t get a hard and fast answer. If you do, I wouldn’t trust the source. The unfortunate answer is that there is no magic answer. There’s no hard and fast rule.

You’re probably thinking, “well thanks Maggie, that’s really helpful”.

I’m not going to leave you hanging here. Together, we can figure out what the right answer is for you and your business.

When I’m faced with the question “How often should I post?”, I have a few questions that I ask in return. These questions help to narrow navigate us closer towards the right answer.

The questions that I ask help to identify the industry, the audience, and how much content is available for that client.

When you start developing and implementing a content marketing strategy you are entering into a commitment with your audience. You are promising to deliver meaningful content on a consistent basis. Whatever the frequency of your posting, it needs to be something that you can manage on a consistent basis.

So if you set out with the goal to do weekly blog posts, you need to be able to post every week. In the beginning this isn’t as important, but as you attract a larger audience, they will come to expect this frequency. As you publish content, you’ll become a trusted source sought by your readers. Missing a week, can be a let down for these individuals

Well, what does Google Say about Post Frequency?

The honest truth is, not much. When you ask Google how often they crawl or index your site, they explain that their crawl frequency is algorithmic and depends on the website.

The biggest thing we can take away from this, is that you should be updating your website and/or blog regularly as Google is telling us that it matters. I would say that you should add or update content at least once a month at the bare minimum.

Going above and beyond once a month is great if you have the time, energy, and content.

How frequently do I post to my websites?

I like to blog at least once per week. When you post content, you are asking your audience to set time aside to read in order to read it. Once per week is an easy amount of content for my readers to digest.

For my Knitting blog, I post more frequently, as I am sharing tips, tricks, tutorials, and building a whole library of content that won’t necessarily change with time. There is a wealth of content for me to write on these topics, so I’m not going to run out of topics any time soon. It’s something I enjoy writing about, so I have the energy and I make the time for it.

How frequently do I post for my clients?

This depends on the client. Together we site down and take a look at their goals for their business, and how content marketing can help them reach their goals. Then we look at their starting budget. With a successful content marketing plan, we can grow this budget over time, but it’s important to start with a manageable goal and consistently deliver.

Some clients do one post per week, and other’s do one longer post per month. It all depends on their needs.

So how frequently do you post?

Carve out some time to think about this answer.

First, think about how much time your audience has on their hands. Working moms have a lot less leisure time than homemakers. People who work nine to five have a bit more time on their hands than entrepreneurs or small business owners.

Then, think about your industry, and what you’re selling. Is it something straightforward like a product that people use in their homes? Or do you sell a service that needs a bit more explaining? How many topic areas are relevant for you to talk about, and how much content exists in each area?

After that, think of content that you already have versus content you need to create. Do you have customer testimonials or reviews sitting in your email inbox? Do you have content that you can white label from a manufacturer? You can turn these pieces into blog content much easier than it would be to write something from scratch. These should be sprinkled in between other types of content.

Once you’ve done this exercise, you have a better idea of how much work creating content will be, and that will help you understand how frequently you should be working to create and post it.

Other helpful content generation ideas are industry newsletters, which talk about relevant or timely topics. Check out what your competitors are posting. I’m not telling you to rip off content. I am saying that there’s a topic into which they are investing time and energy, chances are your customers want that content.

You can also ask your customers what they’d like to read. This can be done in person when you are engaging with them at the point of sale, following up with them after a sale, in a newsletter, on your website or social media channels.