Is daily posting necessary?

Everything depends on niche and posts' size. When blogger writes usually posts about 1000 words or more and posts widely cover the subject - I like about 3 posts/week frequency.

For small, informative posts like news, gossips - I like 1 or more post per day.

I keep about 3-4 posts per week. I would like to increase my rate, but for start I'm sure it is OK.

I try to make an effort to post about 4 times a week. I hope this is regularly enough because I have trouble finding the time to do it every day. You had a very good point about making it routine. If its not, it becomes so much harder to stick with it. I would actually like to make my routine a little more strict.

I would never hold anything against a blog that didn't post everyday as long as I like what they have to say. Blogs that post garbage 5 times a day, on the other hand, do get very annoying. Its easy to skip the one good post in a pile of useless ones.

Thanks for another great article Ben!

There's a lot of advice on what's the best posting frequency. I read that article on Problogger too. The answer is probably that there's no perfect posting frequency for everyone. But there is one for the individual. It's up to that individual to find out.

Some points to think about:
1) Business blogs probably do better with Mondays through Fridays. Fits the business week kinda thing.
2) Tim Ferriss says twice a week should be fine because your post will then have time to gather momentum (your post is stellar and social-media-worthy, right?).
3) As Kacper mentioned, news blogs had better post frequently, because the readers expect it. (but TechCrunch was too much for me... I caved... and unsubscribed)

There's this blog I subscribe to, where the author posts like once a month. When I see his post come up in my feed reader, I make sure I have at least half an hour, because his post's going to be thought provoking, and usually quite lengthy.

I started off with Mondays through Fridays. Couldn't keep the pace up, so switched to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This gives me breathing room to do other stuff, like commenting here!

Ultimately, it depends on the blogger, his niche and his readers. What if posting less makes some readers unsubscribe, but encourages more people to subscribe?

This is very interesting, as I've been debating this same issue myself the last couple weeks. This is my fifth week now at blogging.

I started out posting every 4-5 days. After visiting a lot of blogs, I felt this wasn't enough. I'm posting every other day right now, and am comfortable with that for now.

I feel if I post everyday, my information disappears from the front page too quickly. But yet, I do agree that a blog without recent and regular posts is off putting.

I've been questioning whether I should post everyday. Part of me says yes for the reasons you outlined and hte part of me that's too busy says no.

I think it's fine to post 4-5 times a week. I'm trying to stay within that scope. I usually post twice on the weekend and three times during the week.

I know some popular blogs like Dosh Dosh post about once every three days. It's really just a matter of having a schedule and sticking with it.

Great post. I too posted daily for quite a while. Then went to 3 days a week which was a lot easier.

oddly enough, my posting this month has been very erratic as I'm busy cleaning and updating the blog itself (new theme, etc..) and my RSS has risen.

Go figure.

As we've discussed before Ben, I don't necessarily write for my readers - of course I appreciate them and love them but I write because I want to express my opinion on something. And apparently, I have a lot of opinions - so I post everyday.

I don't write everyday, but I gather a few different posts and schedule them to come up once a day. I tried posting every other day, but I found that I got bored so I switched back to writing every day. I don't know how many subscribers I have... but I don't mind not knowing. :)

But as always, great advice Ben!

I think rhythm is important. Whether you post once a day or once a week or whatever, if you keep to a similar rhythm most of the time, readers will get to know this and respond accordingly.

I post every day on what I consider to be my "top priority" blog. I have found since I got into the rhythm of posting daily, the ability to post (and think of ideas) has flowed a lot better.

On my Blogworld blog I post a minimum of 3 times a week with the occasional extra post as material presents itself. My readers get to know that I post my "beginner bloggers" series on Mondays, a blog profile on Wednesdays and a weekly wrap up post on Fridays.

I have 2 other much smaller blogs where I do post haphazardly because while people are welcome to read them, they were started primarily for me. I post when I want to and if people want to read, fine. If not, I'm not fussed.

I think the answer lies partly in the patterns you see in your analytics, partly in the rhythm of the comments, and partly in your own intuition. In general, from what I can see, consistency does pay off - but just starting to consider a theory that a successful blogging rhythm may be more to do with the total number of words per week, not so much the number of posts. I feel a food analogy coming on... Short snappy posts? Need more of them, like snacks - tasty but not so filling. Long thoughtful meaty posts? Fewer, so the readers have time to absorb and digest.

Kacper - welcome. :) Good point, I hadn't thought of post length. I think you should be fine with 3-4 posts per week.

Jeff - glad you liked the article - and I agree completely! Not much point writing loads of dull posts - it would make a lot more sense to write one per week and make it really good. More is not always better.

Vincent - good points, all of them. Especially the bit at the end. If you can balance the people you lose with new readers and it's better for your site in the long-term, then it might be better to do that. Better that than not change for the sake of keeping everyone happy, losing people over time anyway, and not getting new readers!

Curt - welcome. :) Your final paragraph sums up exactly why this can be such a difficult decision. I don't want to push the posts off the front page too quickly, but I want to give my existing readers new content too. I guess you just have to draw a line and stick to it - but change if it isn't working.

Jason - sounds good to me. Being consistent is the most important thing here.

Dennis - welcome. :) I've always wondered if subscribers increase if you slow your posting frequency because people might click through to see if perhaps the feed isn't updating properly. Or, they might just be poring over the previous posts while they wait for you to write a new one. This can only be a good thing, but it does seem odd that the figures go up if you write less.

fragileheart - it sounds like you've experimented with your posting frequency. Honestly, I wish more people would do this instead of assuming they don't stand a chance if they don't write daily. I know daily posting is important when you don't have much content, or at least a few posts per week, but there's a danger of burning out if you cover too much, too soon. Experimentation is the key - possibly even adapting your site if you really do run out of content. Not a complete change, just a subtle change. People can always include new types of content if they want to keep writing. :)

Lightening - by rhythm I presume you don't mean a drum kit. ;) It's good to know that different sites need a different posting frequency - it's a good way of showing that not every site has to update daily!

Jen - good points all round. The food analogy is great! Sometimes you want a hearty meal, sometimes you want a snack. Variation, perhaps? Keeping your readers on their toes? Not so much with post frequency, but more so with post length. Establishing some kind of schedule may help - e.g. short post on Friday, long post on Monday, tips on Tuesday... etc.

Thanks everyone for all the comments, they add a lot to the article!

Edited: March 22, 2008 13:29

IMO, everything hinges on how appealing (quality) your posts and how your readers participate in the discussion. In that case, daily or weekly does not matter much Ben.

Hey Ronnie, thanks for commenting. What about for new sites though? Sites that don't know how much of a potential audience they have, and sites who don't have a lot of readers participating yet. In theory you could choose any posting frequency when you have no readers, as there's nobody to upset; but I think it helps to think about how often a site should be updated when you're starting out. :)

i think it's vital. whatever the niche is, it helps to post daily. i'm findin git harder to come up with new material, and to post often cause i'm about to get married, but i still try to do it. stressful at times, but good in the long run. and it's still very fun.

Hi noob, I think the main reason why I wouldn't want everyone to write daily is that we'd then have that many more posts to read! I like reading other blogs, but I would probably read fewer if they all updated daily. I think one post per week is as low as I'd go, though.

lol Ben... I have a confession to make... I have a lot of content to cover because I like talking about a lot of different things. A lot. But I get conscious of boring people when I'm having a verbal conversation with them... and that's why I prefer having a blog... because if people are bored with what I have to say - they don't have to read it. And if I entertain someone, then by golly! ;D

But I think that you have a good point about how posting daily can burn your readers (especially subscribers out) so I've been thinking about relating timing between posts to the heaviness of the content in the post. If you get what I mean...? This way, topics that warrant discussion won't get pushed down to the bottom or subpages too soon. We'll see though - this may require too much thinking on my part!!

I do get what you mean. A few short posts are much easier to read than a few long posts. As with anything, it's all about balance - even too many short posts can be, well, too many!

I post 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). I knew I couldn't post everyday, so I tried to make regular posts each week.

I admire those that are able to post each day, but for me time is limited each day. I'm happy to post as many times as I do.

I also try not too make my first too short, but rather write lengthy posts. The size of posts is also debatable as is the number of posts each week.

Thanks for commenting, TechieGuy. :) I think every site is different because every writer is different. So while it might seem logical to write daily, as you rightly say, some people can't commit to that. I don't think a site should be hung out to dry simply because the author can't write daily.

Perhaps another way to look at it is to consider working patterns. Is a part-time worker any less valuable than a full-time worker? How many full-time workers have periods of little to no work? I've heard full-time workers running down part-time workers simply because they can't be around enough to do lengthier projects. But why not give them the tasks that don't need to span multiple weeks?

I think we should all find the routine that works for us, then find tasks that fit that routine.