I’ve read a lot of blogs and I have noticed that a lot of them post new content daily. This seems to be the norm but it isn’t the best solution for everyone. There are some very valid reasons not to blog every day.
If you are new to blogging and you jump right into posting new content every day you are very quickly going to run out of things to say. Then what….? You have an audience eager to listen but you have nothing to say to them as you have already given them your life story and all your best content. Imagine meeting someone in an elevator and giving them your complete life story by the time you get to the ground floor. You’ve given them no reason to want to find out more – there isn’t any more to find out – you just told them EVERYTHING in two minutes!
Here are five very real reasons not to blog every day:
1. Quality vs Quantity
If you fill your blog with hundreds of posts over a very short period of time it won’t necessarily result in more traffic to your blog. In fact it could do just the opposite. Your readers are looking for quality content that they can then share, which would result in more traffic for you. If you are posting every day the chances are you are not posting your best content and it won’t be shared by anyone. Your quality is suffering just so you can reach your deadline of a daily post. Don’t fall into the numbers trap!
2. Weak Content
This is very much linked to the first reason. The most successful blogs all have one thing in common – QUALITY CONTENT. If all of your posts contain quality content then your readers will be eager to read each and every post that you publish. Always leave them wanting more. Make them anticipate your next post and eagerly await its publication.
3. More Comments
If you don’t post every day it allows your readers time to read your content and make some valuable comments. Your readers probably don’t have time to comment everyday so will probably skip some of your content and only comment on a few of your posts or maybe not comment at all.
4. Start a Conversation
Again this is linked to the reason above. I want to establish a connection with my readers and engage them in conversation by way of the comments on a post. If I post too much it will weaken the chances of engaging my readers as I won’t be able to commit time to replying to any comments left on my posts and the conversation will never get started.
5. I have much better things to be doing
I have a family and a life. I love blogging but I also value my family time. If I am trying to post every single day it will start to eat away at my ‘ME’ time and my “ME’ time is important to me. ‘ME’ time is needed by everybody to keep you fresh and interesting. Don’t be too busy blogging that you actually miss the opportunity to ‘live’ life!
Now, of course, this isn’t a ‘one-size fits all’ solution. If your niche requires that you keep your readers up to date on daily happenings or maybe you are an established blogger who has been posting every day for the last five years – DON’T suddenly stop! Your readers will wonder what the heck happened to you!
Here’s my CHALLENGE to you!
Try it for the next month.
Whatever today’s date is – set up a calendar until this date in a month’s time. Schedule in no more than 4 posts a week over that month BUT make them good ones (i.e. quality content)!
Check your stats today – make a note of the number of visitors to your site. Then over the next month track your visitors, numbers of comments, opt-ins, anything that is relevant and see how it corresponds to your posts.
If you have days where you can’t stop the words from spilling onto paper or screen (we all have those moments, right? Mine are usually at 3am though!) you can still write. Just don’t publish your post – keep it in reserve for a day when you have other commitments. Create a library of posts that are ready to go at the drop of a hat!
Here are a couple of resources to help you schedule your posts:
WP Editorial Calendar – for those that want to schedule within WordPress
5 Day Template – I created this template for my own use – I’m sharing it with you 🙂 Just download it by clicking on the link.
7 Day Template – another template if you want to include weekends in your schedule.
If you want to keep yourself accountable then please feel free to post in the comments below that you have accepted the challenge. I’d be happy to stop by your blog and read your quality posts and leave a comment or two.
