Do You Really Need to Post Five Times a Week to Have a Successful Blog?
You can go online today and find a number of bloggers offering blog tips on everything from how to start a blog to how to monetize an existing blog. I’ve read a lot of these blogs in my time online and one of tips that I see most often for new blog owners is that to be successful, you must update your blog frequently. I agree that frequency is important, but a lot of bloggers will tell you that you need to update five or more times per week. Some bloggers even suggesting that you update more than once per day. Frequency is important, but I’m not sold on this strategy and I’ll share my thoughts in this post.
Time Constraints and Quality
There are two reasons that I don’t update Random Jabber five or more times per week.
1. I just don’t have the time
It would be a dream come true to be able to say that I work from home publishing websites as my “job,” but the fact of the matter is that I work full time until 4:30 Monday thru Friday with a 30 minute drive home each day. So, after a quick workout (I try to stay in shape) and dinner, for all intents and purposes I have about five hours per day throughout the week to write articles for Random Jabber and work on other web ventures (and that’s if I stay up until midnight). So, as you can see, I just don’t have the time to sit and write five times a week for Random Jabber, and I definitely don’t have time to write numerous times per day.
2. The quality of my posts would fall drastically
Lets assume for a second that I had the time to write at least five times per week. I can go ahead and tell you that the quality of my articles would fall drastically (that’s if anyone out there actually thought they were of quality in the first place, but you get my point). I would feel like I was simply posting to be posting and it would start to feel like a chore to write rather than something that I actually enjoy and look forward to doing. Now, there are probably people reading this saying “Your posts are crap now, so nothing would change by writing five times per week!” Well, I try my best to provide articles that someone reading will find interesting and useful, but I guess the quality is subjective depending on who’s reading. I at least try to give my articles a little more substance than just a simple rundown of my day or what I had to eat last night. There’s definitely nothing wrong with those types of posts if your blog is based on those sort of topics, but this blog isn’t and I’m fairly confident that my posts would turn into that if I tried to keep up with a five posts per week quota.
Who Says a Blog be Successful With Only a Couple Posts Per Week?
I know everyone has their own ideas on what success is, but for the sake of this post, we’ll define success as having a blog with growing readership (that is the idea right?). So, I ask, why can’t a blogger post only once or twice a week and be successful? I see nothing stopping a blog from growing in readership from only one or two posts per week.
1. If you’re a bookmarker I can see one or two posts per week aggravating you
If you’re not into the whole RSS thing yet, I could see where a blogger posting only once or twice a week would get on your nerves. You bookmark a site because you like it, so when you visit that site again you expect to see some new and exciting content to look at, right? I get it, but why not simply subscribe to the RSS feed?
A good article I came across the other day is from Michael at Pro Blog Design on why you should use a sideblog. A sideblog would be great for someone like myself who only gets to update their blog once, maybe twice a week. You could implement a sideblog especially for those visitors who would rather bookmark your blog and visit manually periodically rather than subscribe to the RSS feed. Even if you only update once per week with your quality articles, you can still update your sideblog with quick little posts that maybe will take five minutes. This will at least give the people that bookmark something to look at until your next main update. If you’re still bookmarking and visiting sites manually, check out my article from bookmarker to obsessive RSSer, you might find it interesting.
2. It’s easier than ever to subscribe to blogs through RSS feeds
If you’re aggravated that your favorite site updates infrequently, why not subscribe to the feed instead and stop visiting the site manually through a bookmark? If you’re subscribed to the feed, it won’t matter if your favorite site is updated once a day or once every three months, you’ll get the update instantly once it happens. One of favorite blogs is Pearsonified and here lately Chris hasn’t been updating as much as he used to, but does that bother me? No. I just sit back and wait for a new post to pop up inside my feed reader. That way I’m not constantly visiting the site directly through a bookmark and constantly being let down every time I see it not updated.
What Do You Think?
Share your thoughts. Do you think it’s possible for a blog to succeed with only a couple posts per week? Why do you agree or disagree?
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the full RSS feed.
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Comments
Honestly I was thinking about that yesterday evening and I couldn’t agree more. I can afford only two posts a week, and I don’t see why it should be a problem, if I stick to it and am regular, and publish quality posts.
Beside, I tend to get fed up with bloggers posting several times a day, always about same 4 or 5 topics, and I don’t feel like reading them anymore… As said by Brian, quality is so more important than quantity! Don’t change anything please 
Posted on Tue Nov 6, 2007
As you know, I only post once a week on my blog, and for the exact reasons that you listed above; time available and my drive for writing quality.
Jacob Nielsen’s written about this here: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/articles-not-blogs.html
Granted, it doesn’t apply to everyone, or to all blogs, but I think it’s good to have different points of view.
Posted on Tue Nov 6, 2007
I started out blogging every day almost twice a day, and was going no where, but I have cut back focused on my writing and not posting unless I have something decent to say - my rss count has improved dramatically.
Posted on Tue Nov 6, 2007
I recently dropped my post count from 6 posts a week to 3-4 posts a week, and so far there has been no decline in RSS subscriber or visitor count - quite the opposite.
So, from that point of view, I’d say that there is no need to post 5 times or more a week. As long as you post consistently so that your blog looks alive, that’s enough.
Posted on Tue Nov 6, 2007
I’m not sure you have to post 5 times a week, but I think being consistent and always having new content daily is definitely a draw for readers. I know some blogs can survive on weekly posts, but I think the more posts you have the more traffic you can draw to your blog.
Posted on Tue Nov 6, 2007
Brian: Thanks! I always know I can count on your support. Maybe one of these days I’ll have time to post more than once or twice a week.
BTW: I did receive your email on NiceStylesheet. I’m not ignoring you. I’ll try to write a response tonight.
Raphaele: Yeah you’re right. I think the consistency is the main key there. If you post once every week, fine. But I think if you post three times a week for four months and then all of a sudden you’re posting once a week or less, you confuse readers and it could get annoying, but again, if you’re subscribed to the RSS feed, it’s really not a problem for the reader. I couldn’t even tell you the consistency of majority of the blogs I read. I just don’t even think about it. I read them in my reader when they’re there, if they’re not there, I’ve got 80 other sites I can read, so no loss on that one author missing a post or two.
James: Yeah I agree. Writing articles is what a blogger should be after, not posts. I think to many times people get in the habit of writing posts and they feel like they must post something each and every day no matter what, so on the days when you’re just to busy or have nothing to say you scrounge together some ideas in the form of a blog post and call it an article...when in reality it’s really nothing more than a filler post because you had nothing else to say. If you don’t have anything to say, don’t’ write, simple.
Thomas: That’s great that you’ve seen a dramatic increase in RSS numbers since you cut back on your blog postings. It’s funny how little things like that actually help you. Sometimes, less actually is more.
Jarkko: Yeah, anyone that subscribes to a feed will not even take time to track your posting frequency. Whether it’s once a week or 6 times a week, they don’t care because they don’t keep track. Like I mentioned in my comment above, I have around 80 sites that I subscribe to and to be honest, if I had to guess to save my life I couldn’t tell you the posting frequency of but maybe one or two of the blogs in my reader. I just read what’s there when it comes through and if it’s not there, I don’t even think twice about it. So if they only post one every four months, I really wouldn’t ever know.
Erik: I agree, being consistent is key, although having new content daily means more to someone that bookmarks sites and visits manually everyday than it does to someone like myself who subscribes to everything. Like I outlined above, posting frequency really doesn’t matter to me because I’ve got other sites in my reader so if you don’t post, no sweat, I’ve got other sites to read. Now a bookmarker, it will get on their nerves visiting an never seeing new content.
I do agree that the more posts you have the more traffic you can draw just because your name is out there more, but unless you’re writing good stuff (not just filler posts) you will lose readers because they don’t want to be updated with junk each day.
Posted on Tue Nov 6, 2007
I’m not sure. Personally, it doesn’t bother me in the slightest (And my own posting rate has become rather erratic lately!)
However, I can say that in my first month of blogging, I did post every day, and that month was the fastest growth period for my blog. I don’t think I’ve lost anyone due to the slightly slower rate, but perhaps having less content has meant less posts for others to link to? That might have effected things.
Posted on Tue Nov 6, 2007
Nice post, Deron.
I think a lot does depend on your objectives. If you’re trying to make money through the display of ads, it makes sense to blog as much as possible (while meeting a quality standard) in order to generate search traffic.
Blogging less but putting out quality, unique articles is also a content differentiation strategy which can really make your site stand out from the rest of the pack.
I would experiment with a linkbait type post once a week to see where it goes from there. It might get some social media love.
Posted on Wed Nov 7, 2007
Michael: Yeah, your RSS subscribers really show the effort you’ve put into your blog. Being able to post everyday and still have great content is hard to do, so you get a round of applause for that.
Yeah, in the sense that the more you post, the more there is for others to link too, that’s a good point. I guess the more you post, the better your chances are of someone out there loving what you wrote and linking to it. If this happens enough, sooner or later your site is going to grow in numbers.
Maki: Thanks for stopping by. I love reading your blog! That’s true. I’d love to be able to generate some money from this blog, but like you said, it would be tougher the less you post. It never really was a main goal when I started this blog though, so if I make nothing, it’s not a big deal.
Yeah, that’s one thing I’m not real good at, linkbait type posts. I guess the only real linkbait I’ve had is my own custom icon set. I need to read up on some of the main ingredients of linkbait. I’m sure you’ve wrote something on doshdosh before, so I’m going to head over there. Thanks 
Posted on Wed Nov 7, 2007
I agree totally. I used to think that to have a “good” blog I had to post once a day. Then I started 3 times a week every other week; and two times a week the other weeks. Then my blog died… But great post anyway.
Posted on Fri Nov 30, 2007
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My name is Deron Sizemore and I am a web designer, web publisher, blogger and serial internet entrepreneur living in Lexington, Kentucky.
I totally agree.
Quality is more important that quality.
That’s just about all there is to it.
If you’re pumping out multiple posts per day, and they’re all crap - you’re not going to have any RSS subscribers. If you put out quality posts every few days or once a week, you’ll have more subscribers.
I think you’re post rate is good.
Now, I will admit, I would like it more if you’re post rate was greater… I really like your posts. I get excited when ever I see you pop-up in my feed reader!
But, don’t sacrafice quality for quantity.
Keep up the good work!
Posted on Tue Nov 6, 2007