Why I Do Not Post Every Day
A lot of popular bloggers put up new blog posts everyday. But you might have noticed that I don’t – 1-3 times per week, usually. But I haven’t explained why I’ve adopted that frequency.
If you are a blogger (or think you might be in the future), I hope this gives you plenty to think about regarding your own blogging frequency.
Why don’t you post every day?
Well, there are a few reasons. Here are the most important:
- Don’t have anything to say: It seems elementary, but for many would-be bloggers, it’s not. There is enough cacophony in the blogosphere already. I refuse to add to it if I have nothing useful to say. (Subscribers to this blog know this – they are only notified when I post; never when I don’t.)
- It’s already been said: There are a lot of smart bloggers out there. I’m not going to repeat or piggy-back on someone else’s good idea. But if you’re interested in the good stuff I’m reading, follow me on Twitter. I always tweet about smart articles (feel free to DM me yours, if you think it’s really great).
- Different priorities: Like many bloggers, I juggle a blog with my day job and family responsibilities. Sometimes, I need to devote my blogging time to the day job (even the 5-7am shift). Other times, I feel it is more important to spend time with BG and the dogs.
- Traveling: Unlike some of the more hard-core bloggers, I usually take travel time as a chance to relax and don’t post while I’m gone. For instance, I’m writing this post at the edge of the Pacific Ocean in Mexico. Our honeymoon is going great, but I thought this would be an appropriate topic with which to break from my norm of abstaining from blogging while away. (That’s how much I value you readers…plus BG is taking a nap, so no interference with family time.)
What about you? Have you felt the pressure to post every day? How has that effected your writing? Or, have you changed your blogging frequency for any particular reason?
I’d love to hear from you, even while I’m away. And be sure to take some time off yourself during this summer season. Please look forward to a more regular posting schedule starting next week.
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(Image courtesy of dawnzy58 via Flickr)
When I first began blogging back in September I ascribed to this philosophy. Today? I post every business day. Why? I’ve found that for me the more I write: the more quality posts I create. I’m not saying this works for everyone but for me it has become essential.
I Agree completely with you. Sometimes we should better not to annoy readers with something that is not interesting. If you feel that you shouldn’t write a blog post, don’t. It is perfectly fine. And readers will probably just wait for your next post.
I only post about once a week now. The posts are longer, meatier, more helpful, and that means they get more comments, links, and my subscriber count grows faster. It has worked well for me.
As a reader, I prefer when the blogs I follow offer more contemplative, meatier (as the commenter above describes it) posts. There is enough of the cacophony/echo chamber now that twitter has arrived, so I think the mentality that bloggers need to post once daily regardless of the quality, is diminishing. Hopefully it will also signal a return to why we read blogs in the first place: thoughtful, unbiased and unfiltered dialogue about topics we’re actually interested in, not just regurgitated news.
I think it is really important to consider what subject you are writing about when you try to answer the question of posting frequency.
If you are writing about something like fashion or celebrity gossip, one post a day even will get you nowhere.
I almost post every day although I miss a day here and there. I write about food though. Cooking and eating are a part of my life every day. I think my readers seem to enjoy having new food porn to gawk at every day
I think how often you write is in some ways hinged on what you write.
Happy Honeymoon amigo!
These are all great comments – thanks all!
Stuart, I don’t know what else to say besides that you’re a rock star. I love your posts – I just honestly don’t know if I have enough to say each day.
I relate to Michael’s point about meatier posts, though I feel I’m going the opposite way. When I started out, my posts were 800-1K+ words with multiple citations – they were mini-dissertations. Now, I feel like I get more interest, generate more traffic (which, frankly, leads to more ad clicks), when I write shorter/1-idea kind of posts. I hope Trevor is right that we’re getting more into the “steak” and less into the “sizzle,” but I’m not sure.
And Nick makes an excellent point about the content you’re writing about. I don’t want to play down our celebrity-watching brethern, but could there be a connection to the amount of ideas and the infrequency of posting? (i.e. The more you have to connect different dots, the longer it takes to churn out a post.) There must be a graphical representation for this…
Another way to think about it: Here are some factors I hear from you:
-How you write (Stuart)
-The depth of what you have to say (Carlos, Michael, Trevor)
-The subject you’re writing about (Nick)
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