"How often can you post to your blog?" is a very popular question, to which there is no right or wrong answer. Twice a month? Twice weekly? Twice a day? Just one time a day?
You'll find a lot of different blog posts promoting different scheduling for blog posts. A lot of them recommend posting once or twice per week, maximum. Here's my take on the issue - the two blog posting schedules that matter, also to what types of blogs they are applicable.Understanding Posting Schedules
First of all, you will need understand that there is no right/wrong answer for this question, as I've already stated. Different timings may or might not work for various kinds of blogs.
The following advice is not something that I really believe works for each blog, but it's what works for most (after my research).
How User Engagement & Blog Posting Are Related
First of all, it is a myth that readers will be annoyed if you update your blog daily. It's just a myth, with no real evidence to back it up. One of my all-time favorite blogs sends me an e-mail each day or every two days.
I love it. It gives me more information than a month of Sundays of autoresponder messages from any blog.
Having said that, users also don't mind if you post only once weekly. Honestly, readers are only seeking to see how they can benefit from your site - that's pretty much the only reason they're there and just why they signed up to your e-mail list (unless they're friends or family.
Alright - let's get down to the posting schedules.
Daily/Multiple Times A Day
Oooh! I feel I'll provoke quite a bit of controversy with this particular one, aren't I?
But yes - I believe that posting multiple times each day can be beneficial to blogs. If for some reason you're not open to post multiple times each day, then you should strive to post at least one time a day. For nearly 95% of people reading this post, that's what you ought to be doing.
You need to definitely post this often in the event that you run one of many following blogs, or engage in among the following business strategies.
Informational/Tips Blogs
Take this blog for example - it deals mainly with blogging, Online marketing, and SEO tips. Quite simply, it provides valuable information to those who read this blog regularly.
To be branded as an authority in your niche, your site needs to have just as much helpful, quality content on it. If that means posting 3-5 times each day, go ahead.
Most blogs on the web (including yours) will fall into this category.
Personal Blogs
Let's face it - personal blogs usually don't get much traffic. The prior rule about readers coming solely for personal benefit once again applies here.
There' website can gain from your own personal blog unless you're A.) Hilarious or B.) A fantastic writer who can hold people spellbound.
Chances are, you are not either. But let's just guess that you decide to go on and start a personal blog regardless. You have to be posting once each day.
For some personal blogs, I wouldn't recommend more than once a day (because hey - people prefer to have a while to think about themselves, and not just you).
However, once each day is usually necessary, if you would like any sort of traffic. For the reason that that the people who do follow and read your site regularly obviously think you're an excellent writer or funny. And, they need their daily dose of fantastic funny (but again, don't overdose).
The Benefits
No doubt about any of it, there are specific benefits you get from posting daily that you will not get in the event that you post less often.
Search Engine Optimization
Although this cannot be outright proven, it's becoming clearer that Google favors blogs that post content on a regular basis throughout the day.
When you publish a new post, Google is automatically notified. Eventually, their spiders are certain to get to crawling your pages and ranking them.
If they are notified quite often, which means you blog often. If you blog often, that means your blog is active and regularly providing content to your readers.
All things said, this can't be proven, but it is a general trend I see after conducting research in the SERP's.
Alexa Ranking
Although posting 10 times each day mean that you'll automatically be promoted to the very best 1000 blogs, the blogs that engage a higher-frequency posting schedule often rank higher, in comparison to blogs that post less frequently with exactly the same quality standards.
Case Studies
I recently came across a forum thread where an Internet marketer laid down his strategy to go from $0-$200/day in AdSense earnings in two months flat.
What he basically did was outsource cheap article writing jobs to freelance writers. He hired plenty of 'em, posting on his blog 30-40 times. Every. Single. Day.
The effect? He's sitting pretty with $200/day in AdSense earnings. In 8 weeks, flat. And that's only one of his online businesses.
Let's take another example. A good friend of mine, for whom I recently guest posted, includes a prestigious Alexa rank of 44K, amassing a total of 14,000 page views every single day.
He posts at the least three times a day. And it's taken him a measly two years to be at where he is right now.
That's pretty good, in the event that you ask me.
HOWEVER...
However, this rule doesn't apply to all sorts of blogs. In fact, posting multiple times a day, as well as once daily, will be disastrous to certain blogs.
Business Blogs
By business blogs, I mean blogs that belong to already established, offline companies - Wal-Mart, for instance. These kind of blogs should not - I repeat, should not post a lot more than twice a week (and really, once weekly is all you need to be doing).
Why?
Simply because those types of blogs aren't meant to be updated regularly. Most of the time, they're simply about discounts, or business news.
They have no need for SEO (unless it's a local service people actually seek out online). Essentially, it's only a front that says "we're online too".
ARE YOU EXPERIENCING Something Worthwhile TO STATE?
You have something worthwhile to state? Something that will in actuality help/inspire/motivate people? Can you?
You don't?
Then don't say anything.
Simple as that. If you are not sure about whether or not you need to blog everyday, then blog when you have something to say.
However, try to maintain some kind of consistency. In the event that you get sudden post inspirations, then go on and write the blog posts, but don't publish them - yet.