How often should you be posting a blog to gain the advantages of SEO? Time to answer that question. But, first, let’s take a pop at bloggers and Lewis Hamilton…
Blogging. Ah, blogging – the pastime of the self-indulgent millennial and the egotistical baby boomer. Suppose you look up the definition of blogging through the fine establishment that is Urban Dictionary. In that case, you are presented with this spiffing definition:
“Term used to describe anyone with enough time or narcissism to document every tedious bit of minutia filling their uneventful lives. Possibly the most annoying thing about bloggers is the sense of self-importance they get after even the most modest of publicity. Sometimes it takes as little as a referral on a more popular blogger’s website to set the lesser blogger’s ego into orbit.”
This statement isn’t untrue. Blogging can attract the toxic, self-absorbed, hypocritical, supercilious, follower-hungry, narcissist-type like F1 star Lewis Hamilton; where blogs are used to update everyone on how amazing, unique, and desirable he is.
The blog exists purely to appease his own desire for publicity and worship. But that’s only one half of how blogs can be used. For us mere mortals without sponsorship deals, bad hair, and the world’s worst attitude, blogs are crucial for that old chestnut that is SEO (search engine optimization).
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Bit of a comedown, that, and we totally agree. From a lavish F1-sponsored lifestyle to geeky SEO. Well done, chaps – you must be a killer at parties.
Well, my crap social presence to one side, SEO is kinda important. It’s easy for the sporty and the artistic types to mock the humble geek – but if you aren’t paying attention to SEO, then you’ve got a problem. Chances are, your business won’t reach its true potential without it. Overall survival could even be in question.
Search Engine Optimization isn’t all just code and curtain-twitching wizardry, either. One of the cornerstones of SEO is fresh content. Arguably the greatest way to address SEO? You got it. Fresh blogs!
Except, it can’t just be any old page filler. Your blogs must have a purpose and focus on a subject relevant to your business. You can read more about this imperative aspect in this blog from earlier in 2021.
Then, as if each blog being focused isn’t enough, you also need to add frequency into that equation. Really? Yes, really.
Posting your blog only once in a blue moon isn’t going to bring benefits from the search engine. But then, posting every day is overkill for your time management. So, how often is enough?
How Often Should I Post My Blog/Content?
This question depends on the size of both your website and, consequently, your business. If you are a small operation just starting out, you will benefit from giving your website fresh content regularly. However, if you are a very small team with limited time and resources, then you will struggle to facilitate more than one post per week.
Posting more than once a week offers potential benefits, but it will come at a cost where your resources – and staff – are stretched to breaking point. Especially as the quality of the blog is where Google focuses its attention. It’s not a case of quality vs quantity – it’s actually balancing the perfect mixture of both.
Under these circumstances, you should be aiming for a fresh blog once a month in order to prove to Google, Bing, and Yahoo (other search engines are available) that your business is active. As soon as Google deems your practice to be dormant, you are going to descend down the page rankings with the gusto of Enron stock.
Should your business be somewhat larger than a handful of people, you have the human resources to post once or twice each week. Perhaps posting every other day and reserving some content for the weekends.
Most guides will suggest that every business posts a new article/blog once per day. Yet, we understand this isn’t feasible for small businesses where all hands are required on deck. Trying to find an appropriate chunk of time to sit down and craft new, relevant, SEO-heavy content is half the challenge.
Whereas some sites benefit from higher content flows due to their nature (news websites and the like), your business’s online portfolio differs. To remain relevant and gain trust, posting once or twice a month is the target to aim for.
At the end of the day, you are offering a physical and hands-on service rather than a constant stream of news. Posting multiple times per week isn’t going to bring the SEO benefits that you hope for. Sure, the audience figures might be higher because more content is being published. But, in focusing purely on digital growth and ignoring your core business responsibilities, your practice will suffer.
If you struggle to find time, then a professional content creation service can help take this task off your plate. You can get in touch with us anytime, as we offer both content and blog writing services.
Why Should I Blog In The First Place?
As we have mentioned, it’s easy to dismiss blogging as an activity for those who seek fame, or simply have too much time on their hands. But as many business owners will tell you, hitting the magic number and posting once or twice a month bring leads and conversions.
Some PT clinics have seen a reported 45% increase in traffic once the total number of onsite articles exceeds 30. Having more blogs results in a larger topic bandwidth, which attracts more searches – and when Google deems you an authority source with trustability, your blogs will instantly be picked up as worthy top-end search results.
Lead generation is one of the greatest reasons for regular article and blogging activity. When the frequency of fresh content dips, people can lose trust and assume that you are no longer operating on the level you once were. This can affect the bounce rate and other vital website statistics, which in turn affects your SEO positioning.
By blogging regularly and on roughly the same day, or within a specified week per month, users learn when to visit the website for your advice, insight, and opinion (so long as it’s not politicized or about cats or Lewis Hamilton).
This doesn’t sound like much, but it builds confidence in your brand and will encourage users to contact you, or book a service/session. Especially if your content is well presented and well written.
So, What About Daily Blogging?
It’s common to find SEO experts promoting the concept of a daily blog, but we think that’s overkill. Not only does that mean each individual blog is denied a chance to breathe and find its audience before being replaced, but your content quality will dwindle as you become exhausted.
You are likely to enter the ‘burnout zone’ and feel hollow behind the eyes while trying to undertake the daily running of your business, alongside punching out 1500 word articles of high quality.
Wait…1500 words? Oh yes. Google won’t give much in the way of accreditation to content that resides under that 1500 word bracket. Not unless you’ve SEO-ed the bejesus out of your short articles.
Publishing short articles won’t damage your already gained SEO status with the likes of Google. Still, neither will your shorter articles aid your SEO quest. Chances are, lots of short articles won’t be read by the same large audience as your more extended pieces.
By trying to incorporate all the SEO factors into a daily blog, you are putting tremendous pressure upon yourself. Stress will eventually take hold, and besides developing a murderous intention towards those crossing the street on your commute home due to an impending mental breakdown, the overall quality of your daily posts will dwindle. It would all be for nothing.
Boiled down, blogging is the most significant cost-effective channel for generating leads. It feeds directly into your organic SEO and can be shared by vast numbers of people if the content is worthy. We wouldn’t advise messing all that up in the name of pumping out as many articles as possible.
But What If My Competitors Are Posting Like That?
Everyone has their own rule of thumb regarding how often blogging should occur. Of course, there is no industry-standard answer, per say, and what works for some might not work for you.
Remember how we said it’s about the balance between quantity and quality? Well, suppose your rival clinic has a more extensive staff base. In that case, they are therefore capable of posting on a more frequent basis to those who have only two or three staff members.
Don’t compare yourself to others when you are already maxed out. The reality of the matter is simple – it all comes down to data and results. If you are pushing out blogs and leads aren’t coming in, there is something wrong with your produce. Don’t bash away at it with a bewildered hope that things will change for the better.
Getting the balance right for you takes a few goes. They call it trial and error, but look upon it as experience. It’s a learning curve where, once you find your perfect balance for good content and lead generation, the sky is the limit.
Sound like a problem that you are currently going through? Get in touch with us. We can help you.
Calum Brown
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