Many bloggers start out eager to write. They post on a daily basis or even several times a day in the beginning, while the subject is fresh and new. Then gradually, over time, that blogging rate declines. It may even become rather sporadic.
Not posting regularly is the biggest mistake a blogger can make. The main issue here is that readers don’t know when to show up for new content. They will likely pop into the blog often at first, but then, when nothing new appears, they will leave off reading your blog altogether. Needless to say, if you are trying to make money or get any kind of publicity from your blog, it’s a good idea to keep your readers around.
Planning out a blogging schedule is a great way to ensure that you keep your readers and gain more. It doesn’t matter whether you want to write once a month, once a week or once a day, as long as you can keep it up. Choose a realistic schedule.
If you have more ideas for blog posts, you can always write them and schedule them to publish at a later date. Most blogging software such as WordPress or Blogger have schedule plugins. These will automatically publish posts for you in the future, on the dates you specify.
So if you are inspired to write four or five posts in a day, you don’t have to publish them straightaway. If you schedule them to publish once a week, your readers will know when to expect news from you and that will help your blog grow.
Regular blog posting schedules are great for readers and also for sending a steady stream of new content to Google, Yahoo, Technorati etc. The more you post the better, but please remember it needs to be consistent.
I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Please add them to the comments section below. Thank you very much.
Thanks for the great advice Harvey, I am now in the process of writing several blogposts and scheduling them on a 1 post a week basis, so I have at least a 6 week cushion, of course if I have breaking news I will post these as well. Do you think if I do post time sensitive stuff I should identify it with something like a keyword in front of the title ie “FLASH – Poker is being legalised in USA”
let me know what you think
Hi Paul,
That is excellent news and a very good plan.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with you, adding say NewsFlash or Breaking News. However, I think it really depends on how many readers you have and how often they read your blog.
For example, if someone visits you once a week, and you added a post that needed to be acted on a few days before, that news flash may be irrelevant to them. So I think if you are going to post latest news, you also need some way of telling your readers about it. i.e. a mailing list etc
Hope that helps
Regards
Harvey
Hi Harvey,
I run a number of blogs and you are absolutely right in saying that it is fundementally important to keep the momentum of a blog buzzing ahead. I find the best way (for me) is to create a heading or title spreadsheet.
The headings come from a weekly vigil, scouring the net for subjects relevant to my blog that have or are happening in the media. I then base a heading of my own on this subject and write a few bullet points on how and why I am commenting on this particular subject.
By doing this I always ensure that my readers are offered content that is both current and relevant to them and the main or core message that the blog is providing. Its alot of research; however, it pays off as I maintain a good following this way and always keep my blog pages fresh.
Hope this helps your readers.
Pam
Hi Pam,
Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with us. It is great to read how you approach your new blogs and write your content.
I am sure your comment will be very useful.
Regards
Harvey
Great Idea Pam,
I have to admit my best laid plans of writing my blogs keep falling off the table, the reason is, I just never know what I am going to write or just suffer from writers block, I have now decided to keep a notepad by the side of my PC and when anything springs to mind, I write down the title, sometimes I think of 3 or 4 subjects, makes filling out the content so much easier. I am also working on building an article base to be coupled with a new project I have planned and am using this technique, hopefully before the end of the year I will have exceeded my goals and look forward to clogging up the traffic on the Compila Servers