Hi Barbara - I don’t think you can churn out great quality on a daily basis. I’m considering cutting down posting too. It takes up too much time that you could be putting into other things like writing a newsletter, or developing your own product.

That is something I really want to do, now I’ve discovered that I’m losing affiliate commissions because anti virus software is taking the cookies.

And I already gave up reading so often. If fewer folk comment on my blog because I don’t comment on theirs every day, that doesn’t bother me. Commenters are only a fraction of the traffic I get anyway. And I would hate to think folk were reading just for the sake of commenting. I’d rather they read the posts that were useful to them.

[Reply]

Barbara, I thought that was a killer question from Debbie too. In fact I was wondering if she’d fired her arrow direct at me!

I think posting too much is detrimental to the ability of readers to keep up. My main problem is that I always have too many ideas and end up filling more slots than I intended to. They do vary a lot in terms of how hard they are to read though - some might be a photo and a quote, or some links, or a reminder of something so they’re easier to get through if people are skimming.

I think 3 or 4 posts a week is enough and if you want to post less than that - with good quality - I think that’s fine too. I follow some bloggers who post once or twice a month (or less) but when they do it’s worth it.

Joanna Young´s last blog post..Asking Questions For a Change: Free E-Book

[Reply]

Barbara, there may be a difference depending on where you in the blogging cycle. If you have a loyal readership they’ll stay (but that takes time to build up). If you have 100s of posts in the archive, readers will find you from search engines, and then have plenty to rummage in.

So maybe the ‘advice’ depends on where you are in the curve. I have a feeling Darren Rowse wrote about this not so long ago… but don’t have time to check, sorry!

Joanna Young´s last blog post..Asking Questions For a Change: Free E-Book

[Reply]

Barbara,
Actually I am happy if I manage to get out three posts in a week. I am trying to do that on a regular basis. More posts per week would make blogging stressful for me, and I don’t want that to happen. I must admit that I don’t read all the posts in my reader. I scan the titles, and then either I mark them as read or I read them on the web, sometimes throwing in some comments. I might miss some important posts doing it this way, but I hope that somehow I’ll meet them again if they are that important.

Ulla Hennig´s last blog post..The Color Blue

[Reply]

I blog when I have something to say - which turns out to be 5 posts a week on most weeks. That said: I don’t really think that’s an optimal amount. I think I’ll be toning it down a bit: only three a week seems reasonable.

As for that full blogreader… I totally hear you. But I don’t know whether ‘normal’ readers share this problem. I mean - I doubt most of my audience knows what a blogreader IS.

katinka - spirituality´s last blog post..6 random things about me - I’ve been tagged

[Reply]

I limit my blogging to typically 3, and at most, 4, times per week. This works well. I feel it gives me an opportunity to write quality over quantity. Also, when I visit someone who post regularly, if I have a hard time keeping up - I’ll just pick maybe one or two catchy titles and read those - and move on. Yes, I could be missing good stuff - I’m sure I am. But in the interest of time, that’s what works for me.

I wish you well, Barbara, in making decisions on blog post frequency.

Lance´s last blog post..Sunday Thought For The Day

[Reply]

I think the key factors are:
- your supply side capacity
- the demand side absorption rate / consumption rate
- whether you’re traffic is dominantly search engine or readers

I think we’ve seen just about every model work from multiple time a day to once in a blue moon. It seems like the most important thing is setting expectations.

I think there are two general success patterns though:
- short, frequent posts that are easy to consume share (they don’t make you work too hard)
- long, less frequent posts that are more in-depth (that potentially require sustained thinking)
(Part of why it’s tough to read a lot with sustainted thinking is you burn out your prefrontal cortex and it needs breaks.)

Bloggers with longer posts with larger reader bases, tend to be successful in the 2-3 per week range (if success means the supply matches the demand).

[Reply]

As a long-time blog reader, I have to agree that having 1000 new posts in my reader every time I log on is overwhelming. Like Debbie, I often wish people would slow down so I could catch up.

Now that I’ve started attracting readers to my blog, I feel pressured to keep up. After reading this and your last post, I might just let up on myself and only post when I’m inspired.

Thanks for hosting this enlightening conversation!

[Reply]

My blog also happens to be the content for the forums I run. I ideally would like for there to be something new to read on there every day, but not necessarily things that I’d want people to get in an RSS feed. I also have a few regular guest writers that get a fair bit of traffic and I think perhaps people would like the option to just subscribe to those pieces, or just to my Museum of Snack Foods pieces or Why I Hate My Message Board. There must be some sort of plug in that would allow me to do this and I think I will look this week to find out what it is.

Really stupid question, how do you know how many RSS subscribers you have? I know how many I have on feedburner, but have no idea how to find out on RSS.

Thanks for the thought provoking article Barbara!

Tracy´s last blog post..I am Learning the Social Web Media Networking 2.0

[Reply]

I used to post 7 days a week. Now I am down to 5 days with days off in between as my time permits. However, I have tried cutting down and it is not working. Too much stuff going on about the climate to slow down. LOL…

Linda´s last blog post..A Better Way?

[Reply]

Just found you today via Dr. Cason, Barbara, and I’ll be a regular reader now!

To answer your post question, my answer is a wholehearted YES! I use Google Reader to follow my favorite blogs, and sometimes they post 3 and 4 times a day! Yikes! It’s just too much for me.

I do clean out my Reader frequently, but I try to replace one that I un-follow with a new, fresh blog that excites me ~~ like yours.

Like you, I recently started posting just five days a week. My readers have come to expect that schedule, and it works for me. Thanks for your great blog . . . can’t wait to read your next post!

Julie - On the Dot Creations´s last blog post..:: Twelve Days of Christmas — Day 1 ::

[Reply]

@Tracy, you can burn category specific feeds for readers to subscribe to. The process remains the same. The only difference being, when feedburner asks you for url, give it http://www.sitenate.com/categoryname

Feedburner count includes email and rss subscriptions. Use FeedSmith plugin to redirect all types of rss to FeedBurner. That ways your FeedBurner count will be correct.

[Reply]

I have removed folks from my reader because they are a little too prolific, and all of their posts aren’t interesting enough to keep me reading. I have a lot of folks in my reader who I don’t read every post of, but I keep them there because enough of their posts are interesting to make it worth my while.

There’s only a couple of folks who are really prolific that I keep in my reader, and that’s because almost all of their posts are of interest to me.

The good has to outweigh the annoying by enough of a margin for me to keep someone in my reader.

[Reply]

Hi Barbara. I currently post once per week and for now, that is enough for me. Ideally I’d like to post twice a week, but that’s way down the road. Some of my articles tend to be a bit longer in length.

I too find it difficult to keep up with the posts in my reader. I’ve found that when there are too many I rely on the titles to help me decide which ones to read. And I will tend to comment only when I have something valid to say. Some posts I only scan and then I won’t comment.

Davina´s last blog post..When Fear Closes In, Take Action

[Reply]

Hi Barbara - Just thinking about what BarbaraL said and it’s true that we have to remember that different blogs have different goals.

Also, I forgot to mention - many blog themes are more like websites now. I have static pages on my blog and I’m gradually adding to those. Some of them have forums etc too. And I think if you’re spending a lot of time on those things, it cuts down your blogging time.

I don’t find the problem with repetivity and finding new stuff that Kelvin mentioned though. I think the longer you write for, the more things you think of to write about. I still have more than 100 posts in draft for that very reason.

Cath Lawson´s last blog post..Affiliate Commissions - Is Your Anti-Virus Eating Them?

[Reply]

My blog tagline says it for me: “Sharing some of my photos, vintage images I’ve discovered, and — occasionally — commentary and thoughts from retired life.”

While I post every day, it’s usually one of my photos or a vintage image that I’ve found. I don’t get a lot of comments on the photos, but don’t expect a lot. (I’m also posting a photo a day on two other blogs.)

I write a lot less often. Perhaps two or three times a week.

I generally don’t have a big backlog of posts in my feedreader because I go through them daily. There are a few that I read from beginning to end and a few that I scan from beginning to end, but most get deleted if there’s not something there that interests me.

Of course, I do have a little more time and flexibility than most, I guess.

Mike Goad´s last blog post..WPA Carol - 25 Days of Christmas: Day 1

[Reply]

Thanks for posting on this Barbara, you provide a great forum for bloggers to discuss these issues. I find posting too often can put me off writing my next post. With full time work and family all coming before blogging it’s tough to constantly hammer out five solid posts a week. Add in reading other blogs and promoting your own and this ‘hobby’ becomes a second job, which is exactly how I ended up explaining it to a friend this past weekend.

I realized that writing five posts a week with the odd bonus post when the mood struck me is more than I want to maintain for the sake of my own sanity. I’m now moving to a four post a week format which will give me more time to do the things I need to.

Neil´s last blog post..SMART Goal Setting

[Reply]

Hi Barbara,

I just had to come and comment as this was an issue I encountered not long after I started (personal) blogging.

It takes me a good chunk of time to come up with a post that I think is useful for my readers, as well as something to be (somewhat) proud of — but what I discovered was that it was really eating up my free time. Thus, my decision to post when I feel like I have something to say.

As for reading blogs, I am so thankful for Google Reader — a feed aggregator app like that just knocks off a chunk of time — I can glance quickly at post titles and see when something strikes my fancy (such as this particular post of yours).

And while I may not comment as often as I did when I still keep tabs on all the bloggers I’ve befriended.

Nez´s last blog post..Cardinal Synthesis

[Reply]

Hi again, Joanna - Yes, where we are in the blogging cycle can make a difference. That, and how fast we want to grow our blogs.

Hi Jannie - You brought up a good point about not wanting to stifle creativity. What I run into is I feel creative on some days, and other days, not so much. If I have posts in my drafts folder, I can fall back on those if I’m in a dry spell.

Also, having those “days off” would work great for visiting others and/or working behind the scenes.

Hi Ulla - You’re right. Those posts we do miss may show up again when and if the blog author refers back to them in a future post.

Hi Kelvin - I can’t imagine someone posting 5 times a DAY and being able to find fresh information either, unless like you say, it’s news breaking information. I shutter to think of how time consuming that must be.

Hi Katinka - Good point. If our audience aren’t other bloggers, they may not know what a RSS feed is.

Hi Lance - Thank you. That’s true, isn’t it? Those catchy titles do capture our attention.

Hi again Kelvin - Like you, I limit which blogs I subscribe to via email. It can be overwhelming if the updates get too numerous. That’s one of the reason I added a RSS feed for comments. It’s an easy way to handle a large quantity.

Hi J.D. - Good point. Short posts can be read quickly and we can move on. Those longer ones do take a lot longer to read, so if they’re not as frequent, we’re more likely to take the time to read and not scan.

Hi Debbie - You’re welcome. I think what you said is true. When we “allow” ourselves to cut back, it takes stress off of us, whether we actually do or not (cut back). Notifying our readers that our schedule MAY be altered lets them know they may not see a post from us on a daily basis. If we do post daily, it’s (hopefully) a pleasant surprise.

Hi Susanne - You’re welcome. Yes, 1000+ posts in a reader is overwhelming. You don’t even know where to start. Not to mention, we need a large chunk of time to begin the process of attempting to catch up.

Hi Barbara Ling - Definitely! Our blogging goals will change how often we post. Search engines do love to see updated information, so like you said, if that’s the traffic we’re looking for, posting more frequently is key.

With this blog, I’m focused on loyal readers. Keeping that in mind, I certainly don’t want anyone to be overwhelmed.

Hi Tracy - Short of having separate blogs for each of your topics, I don’t know of a plugin that allows a reader to subscribe to only a “category” of a blog.

I see Avani answered your RSS question.

Hi Betsy - I just clicked over to the blog planners you linked to. You’re right. He offers great organizational tools. Thank you for sharing the link.

Hi Linda - With you writing about climate and green issues, you’re probably never at a loss for topics.

Hi Writer Dad - Good point. Thinning our schedules can help to keep the fun in blogging.

Hi Julie - Welcome to the BWAB community. Dr. Cason has a great blog, doesn’t she? Thank you for your contribution to the conversation and your kind words. I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Hi Avani - Yup! That’s what I want. That “comfortable” rhythm. When we find that, I think the rest of our blogging activities fall into place.

Hi Jodith - You’re right. Sometimes we do need to unsubscribe. And often, until we follow a blog for a period of time, we don’t know if they will make the cut or not.

Hi Vered - Absolutely. When our real life responsibilities need our attention, dropping our posting schedule is a great way to relieve some of the pressure.

Hi Davina - I hear you. If there are too many posts, we often start to scan.

Hi Kim - Like you, I’ll stay subscribed to a blog even though I may not be able to catch up. I know I’ll eventually make time to let them know I’m still a subscriber.

Hi again Catherine - Yes, blog themes are changing greatly. Having static pages are a great way of having content that does’t need updating.

Hi Kathy - You’re so kind. You’re right about when we first start blogging, wanting to get established, and building up our archives.

Hi Mike - Yes, I’m guessing you may have more time than those of us who work full time. Trying to squeeze it all in can be a chore.

Hi Neil - I hear you about blogging feeling like a second job. There is responsibilities that come with this “hobby”, and to do it right and still enjoy the journey, we often have to make concessions.

Hi John - That’s right. If we were to get burnt out, it would show in the quality of our work. That, in turn, could lead to dropped subscriptions and a lower reader turnout.

Hi Nez - I know your work and home life keeps you extremely busy. Although you’re not posting and commenting as often as you did in the past, it’s great to know you’re still “there”, watching, reading and sometimes dropping by.

Hi Patricia - WOW! Your schedule is jam packed. How do you do it all? A blog conference? Fun! I live on the sunny side of Oregon - just east of the Cascade Mountain Range. Learning and sharing in person would be fabulous.

[Reply]

To each his own. I have posted between 1 and 3 per week. My posting frequency has more to do with what else is on my plate. I reserve the right to post when I feel like I have something to say.

Yes I wish everyone would post once or twice weekly and limit their article length to under 1,000 words. But I don’t sweat it if I miss reading a post every so often, nor do feel the need to comment on every one I read.

I only unsubscribe if you haven’t posted in a couple of months.

Tom Volkar/ Delightful Work´s last blog post..Grounding Your Small Business Vision

[Reply]

Barbara to answer your question….I gave up cleaning my house and since I don’t make any money yet….I have not hired any help…also my schedule is a great deal less with my special gal East of the mountains and learning to live on her own…
she just texts about 12-15x a day which I can answer in short order….she is like 5 people in person….lots of practice

I can help with organizing a gathering! Eastern Oregon is sunny in the summer - cool in the fall?

Patricia´s last blog post..Chug, Chug, Toot, Toot

[Reply]

I think some readers want to hear from you every day. It’s like the newspaper or the morning news on the radio. It’s a friendly voice and you miss it when it’s not there.

That being said, I think it is important to have a schedule. Taking the weekends off is a great schedule for most. That gives us five posts a week. If that is too much, don’t fret over taking a day off here and there. Your readers won’t either.

I think readers want consistency and want to be able to depend on you. So give them what they want.

Chase March´s last blog post..Give a Day - If you can

[Reply]

Hi Barbara,

This has been a HUGE consideration as of late. I feel I have a fairly decent plan to post daily, including weekends, for the next couple of months.

BUT, I think it is important to think of my readers. I receive only a few feeds in my email box everyday. For instance, really special blogs like Get Rich Slowly that I want to keep up with. I dont mind it if JD posts 10 times a week. I read the titles and decide if I want to read it more in depth.

I also have blog feeds sent to my email that are rarely updated such as Dosh Dosh.

All other blog feeds are in my reader and I have over 50 right now. And for those in my reader I rarely go through them. Maybe once a week?

So I guess it all depends on what kind of blog you want to have. For me, Im striving to be more like Get Rich Slowly and Zen Habits so I want to continue posting at least 5 days a week. Ill let people decide which posts they want to read, if any. But being like Dosh Dosh is a strong temptation too. Maki only posts maybe once a week or every other week.

Oh, I forgot to mention Think Simple Now. Tina has a hugely popular blog and she posts maybe once a week? In my mind a blog can be successful either way.

For me, part of my blogging is about training myself to be a better writer so I write everyday. In that sense, Im kinda like Writer Dad. But maybe Ill be where he is at in the next 4 months though, and only want to write 3 posts a week.

I guess if I was going to give advice I would say decide early what type of blogger you want to be and stick with that consistency. I hear Google rewards that strategy too!

Cheers,
Jeremy

p.s. Barbara, I have your Feed sent to my email because you challenge my thinking and help me to be a better blogger. I dont respond to every post but I promise you I read nearly all of them.
So Im hoping to still see at least 3 posts minimum a week if you can manage it. Thanks for a great blog!

Jeremy Day´s last blog post..Carnival of Personal Development Edition #1

[Reply]

I switched to 3 or 4 posts a week instead of a single post each day when I moved to my current blog format and it works very well. I’m considering upping it to maybe 4 or 5 a week, but definitely no more than that. I agree that letting a couple of days pass sometimes creates more comments. For example, even though Sat and Sun are low visitor days for me, my Friday posts often have the highest comment count.

Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome´s last blog post..Success Comes from Slow Change: Leo Babauta Interview

[Reply]

Yes, it’s very difficult to keep up with my favorite blogs, I am so late responding to some of them (cough cough), but if someone publishes everyday and I have 20 favorite blogs, it’s hard to keep up. One person in my reader had 93 posts for the month of November. I enjoy her blog, but she doesn’t give her readers a change to catch their breath. Not that we have to comment on each post, but I do want to show support.

Yes I have reduced my posting schedule to once a week. It has helped in that it has allowed more people to comment on a post and given me a little more time to play catch up on other blogs or do other activities.

I guess it’s like eating, finish one meal and let it digest before you start another one…that’s the way it is for me now. Of course, I have gotten a bit lazy too this past week.
Natural´s last blog post..The Day of the Fight

[Reply]

I read with quite interest the comment by DivorceSaloon, who has 9 blogs. And how can you not stop and check out someone with a name like DivorceSaloon??

I think a good blog topic would be about people having multiple blogs. I find ONE a challenge enough to keep up with reading sometimes. Two maybe if I really like the person –Tammy / Cricket, you know who you are. But Nine?? My goodness. I wonder why a person can’t say all they have to say in one main blog? I think bloggers do themselves a disservice when they have more than one blog, don’t you?

Jannie´s last blog post..And some SEO in a pear tree

[Reply]

My blog is still very new so I am posting as much as possible to get my content going but this still really means a max of one post a day.

I guess it should really depend on what ideas you have to post on. My problem is that I seem to be jotting ideas down all over the place but it is then finding the time to post them.

The quicker I can get my ideas on the blog the better the post seems to be. I seem to lose the flow a bit if I wait to long before making my idea in to a post.

the three dog blogger´s last blog post..Seven Answers To The Question: “How To Stop Puppy Biting”?

[Reply]

I’ve found most of these comments surprising, and in a good way.

I thought I was the only person who preferred that bloggers keep their posting frequency down, so I can follow lots of blogs without taking up too much time. But I hear so many people saying you have to post every day if you want your blog to grow.

Posting a lot could help with SEO, particularly if your posts link to each other. But you also have to consider that it not only takes more time, but you could be annoying your readers and making them not like you or unsubscribe. Thus, your efforts may be counterproductive.

I’m fine with people just posting whenever they feel like it, even if it’s only once a year…or even less!

Hunter Nuttall´s last blog post..Optimism Or Pessimism: Do You Have To Choose?

[Reply]

Well, lately I have but back to twice a week to allow myself time to get around to read other blogs. I was finding myself spending all of my spare time on my own blog and not getting around as much as I would like. It seems to work. I have been able to meet more bloggers and my “community” is growing as a result of this little change.

Tammy Warren´s last blog post..A Glance Into a Year of Blogging

[Reply]

Its something I worry about. On most of my blogs I try to keep a one post a day rule… but i do sometimes end up going a fair amount over that on a fast news day.

Maybe I should learn to try get more form one post that I would from numerous. Certainly food for though

Nick´s last blog post..Stcherbina improving

[Reply]

Facebook sucks. Blog posts that attempt to predict the future are generally 99.9999% wrong and simply link bait. Adding ‘killer’ to the title increases the posts shittyness. Why don’t we leave the post mortems until after a death has occurred. Oh wait I know why, because the intention wasn’t to write anything of value, it was to troll for responses and links.

Speculation that Facebook will kill Twitter is as old as Twitter itself. The latest round came from AllFacebook, not exactly an impartial source, who argued recently that Facebook API’s could be used to build a Twitter like service.
Read >>

[Reply]