Posting Frequency & How It Can Affect Readership
If you ever wondered if posting frequency affects readership then you best believe it does. I’m not saying that if you switch from 7 days a week to 5 days a week that there will be a drastic drop, but if you start blogging every other day, there will be a change. I know that in the past 3 weeks I have had my ups and downs due to school and I realize that readership levels fluctuate greatly. Why do you think it happens, is there a reason? Lets think about a few things here:
Youre NOT Consistent!
The main reason readership fluctuates is because youre not consistent. If you think about it, I have always posted 5-6 times a week and when it drops to 2-3 times a week, it makes a major difference. Readers expect that you’d continue posting at 5-6 times a week. They want consistency.
Although, your readers understand that sometimes there are other circumstances that arise, it still results in a drop in readership. Im not saying that you can’t bring it back up again. I had recently re-invented my blog in August of this year, so it is possible. Its just that if you’re not as consistent as you used to be, you’ll see a drop in readership and visitors.
Quality/Quantity Analysis
There is a difference though, think about when you go to a blog that writes 3 quality posts a week versus a blog that writes 7 regular posts a week. I call that the quality/quantity analysis. Your readers want quality posts and if you write quality content 3 days a week instead of 7 posts a week that you can find anywhere else, the readers will take quality over quantity.
The idea is that you can get junk posts anywhere on the internet but the reason you and I pick one blog over another is because we like to read content we enjoy. We like to see a new, innovative twist on things. Everyone can write a routine post but, personality and the writers appeal makes one blog stand out from another.
It Wasn’t That Good To Begin With
Now that I’ve shown you an alternative viewpoint on how less could mean more, lets think about how many of you would actually stop reading a blog if the frequency of their posts drop. If you’re the one that says that they would stop reading a blog if the frequency of their posts drop, then the blog wasn’t worth reading in the first place. You stick around and read a blog regardless of whether their post frequency is up or down. Now, if their quality deteriorates then I can understand.
If youre willing to stop reading a blog if the number of posts they write goes down, then you didnt really like the blog that much in the first place. Its true, think about it!
Wrapping It Up
So there we have it. I wanted to talk about how consistency can affect your readership but then again, it doesn’t mean that you have to chunk out 6 so-so posts a day to retain readers, you could take the quality route versus the quantity route as I discussed. Also, I wanted to mention that if youre willing to stop reading a blog just because they don’t post as much anymore, then the blog wasn’t really as interesting to you in the first place.
I hope you enjoyed this post. I put a lot of thought into it to make it comprehensive and interesting. Hope everyone is having a great Thursday!
Having a good posting frequency is very important, just as you’ve stated. I learned my lesson when I didn’t post for more than 1 and a half weeks over the summer.
An ideal blog should have 3 posting a week , thats what I strive for on my blog
Personally, if someone quits posting, they will likely stay hanging out in my RSS reader for quite some time. I’m still subscribed to a couple of blogs that haven’t posted for 6 months or more.
Someone answer this, how do you benefit from unsubscribing to a blog that doesn’t update?
On the other hand, I haven’t been very regular recently and am inserting my own rendition of a Carly Simon song here:
“I’m so vain, yes I think this post is about me…”
I usually do 2-3 posts a week, so I’d say quality posts are what I try to write to make up for not posting as much as I would have wanted.
Peter Lee