How Often Should You Post

Let's accept that you have a blog. That's a given. Right?

So now the question is how often should you post. After all, you are busy trying to run a business, to sell things. Blogging is just a nuisance. You don't have anything to say, or you don't have anything to say others would want to read.

In fact, you probably have a lot to say that is worth reading by a lot of people. But the bigger issue is that blogging is really good for SEO and bringing people back to your site. If you don't know how to blog (could it be you don't have a blog?) you need to learn. If you don't want to blog you need to add it to your list of important things that lead to business success. You need to blog!

But what about the main question? How many posts? Joe Pulizzi, in his Junta42 Content Marketing blog recently said when he asked the question, "What's the right frequency for blog posts?" to three business people he got these three answers:

"Two times per month."
"Once per week."
"At least once per month."

He says the correct answer is more about having something to say, content being "compelling and interesting" and that "serves the objectives of your blog", which is all quite true. There is, however, a purpose in choosing a number and working to stick to it.

I work with clients on developing and managing the search engine optimization (SEO) on their sites and find that blogging (on site and/or off site) has a significant impact on this process. Those clients who blog regularly, or hire me to blog for them, see significant improvements in search engine position, the speed at which new listings get indexed, and the volume of traffic to their site, all in reasonably short times. The best results are seen with clients who blog twice a week to once daily.

Of course, consistent application of the process is important. You need to have something to say and you need to post often, but you also need to set into a regular rhythm. People will learn to follow that rhythm and come back regularly to see what new words you have to share. If you don't maintain your consisency you may lose followers.

Blogging is an important and powerful tool for both SEO and social media marketing (SMM). Learning how to use it correctly can actually make the difference between success and failure for some. Don't overlook it.

If you are not sure where to begin, Heather Wright-Porto's Creative Blogging: Your First Steps to a Successful Blog is a good choice. It will get you quickly onto the right track.

[The Rev. Stephen B. Henry, PhD., known online as "the wiz", is a professional website designer and e-commerce consultant who has been involved in online business since 1989.]

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