Quality Over Quantity, but Quantities of Quality Wins

In a way I feel sorry for somebody just starting out with their blogging career. One source tells them they need to publish a post every day, another tells them they need to publish less frequently but make it better quality, and out there in left field is some guy that says you can do whatever the heck you want, it’s all about promotion. What’s a new blogger to do? The answer might surprise you.

There Are No Absolutes

The first thing you need to understand is that there are no absolutes in the world of blogging. So anytime someone tells you you “have” to do something, take it with a grain of salt. Every blog is different, every blogger is different, every blogger develops his own unique marketing approach and every blogger has different goals. All of these “differences” will have an effect on how frequently you need to publish your blog posts and it’s something only you can decide.
That said, let’s take a look at the “Publish Everyday” concept because it does have its merits.
Most new visitors will arrive on your homepage, which means the first thing they’re going to see is your most recent post. And since people are so busy these days, in many cases that’s the only post they’ll read during that initial visit. If they like it, they’ll be back, and that’s why it’s so important that you post frequently.
If that new visitor comes back tomorrow and sees a completely new post – and if he likes this one, too – he’ll be more likely at that point to subscribe to your blog, or he’ll at least bookmark it so he can find it again the next day. Now he’s hooked and he’ll be back.
On the other hand, if he sees the same post he saw the day before, he may not be quite so excited about finding you again the next day. In fact, he’ll probably trip over another interesting blog since you didn’t have anything new to say and he’ll forget all about you.
Now, let’s take a look at that “Quality vs. Quantity” thing…
Let’s say you do publish a new post every day and that second post he sees is poor quality because you’re burned out from writing blog posts every day. That second post is your hook and in this case the bait doesn’t look very tasty. You’ve just lost what could have been a long-term repeat visitor who might have shared your content with his thousands of followers.
Now, the idea that you “should” decrease your frequency and put a stronger focus on content has one major drawback: Too many bloggers take this as an absolute. If you’re blogging in a niche like Celebrities, you may have to publish multiple posts each day just to keep up with all the celebrity news. Back off to three posts a week and you might as well hang up your bloggin’ shoes no matter how great your posts are.
The other drawback to decreasing your frequency is that too many bloggers take this as a license to slack off. “Well, so-and-so said I only need to publish three times a week, so I guess I’ll go to the beach today.” Again, there are no absolutes, but if your goal is to build a successful blogging business then this probably isn’t the best way to do it.

What’s The Best Posting Frequency?

The best posting frequency is the one that works best for you and your business. Here are some questions you should ask yourself:
How frequently can you publish top-notch content indefinitely? You’re going to be blogging for a very long time and you’re going to have a lot more to do than just write blog posts. As your business grows, so does your work load. As you learn more about your niche and your audience top-quality posts might be quite involved and take you hours or even days to produce.
How frequently do you need to publish to be competitive? The celebrity niche is a perfect example. Watch sites like Celebuzz.com or GoFugYourself.com and you’ll see they publish sometimes a dozen or more posts each day. If you don’t want to publish that frequently, or you can’t for whatever reason, then you’ll need to find some other way to be competitive.
How frequently will your audience expect you to publish? If you’re blogging about string theory you may only need to publish one in-depth post a week to satisfy your readers. However, it’s going to have to be one heck of a post to keep your readers satisfied until you publish again. I’ve seen bloggers who only publish once a month and their blogs do just fine. In this case, it helps to let your visitors know when they can expect your next post. Better yet, tell them to subscribe so they don’t miss it.
What is your goal for your blog? Is your blog going to be your only source of online income or are you just using it to promote your main website? I know a freelance writer who only publishes a post about every six weeks because she uses her blog mainly for writing samples.
How fast do you want to grow your business? If your goal is to grow your business as fast as possible then the only way to do it is to publish top-quality content frequently. And by “frequently” I mean you may have to publish a blog post every day, a guest blog post three or four times a week, submit articles to directories, and create offsite properties weekly.
It’s just a fact: Quantities of quality content is what it takes to build a good, solid business. But remember – the decision is up to you.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!