Do you think that our niche of interest should determine our posting frequency (i.e. calibrating it to “expectations” in that area) or should we decide that based on intrinsic factors?What’s your view on minimum / maximum posting frequency for a one-person blog?
Let’s talk about the first part of the question. Yes I do think that the niche of your blog will affect your posting frequency. It will not dictate it (i.e., it’s not like if you don’t do what others are doing you will fail) but it will certainly affect it.
For example, a gadget blog needs to have a higher posting frequency than a personal development blog. This happens both because the gadget niche changes a lot faster, and because blogs inside that niche usually pump out several posts per day. In other words, if you have a gadget blog and only publish one post per week your visitors might think that a) your content is outdated once it gets published and b) your blog is not as active as others in the niche.
You still have room to decide what is more suitable for your own blog though. Still talking about the gadget example, it would be perfectly fine if you decided to post only once a day even when the other gadget blogs post 3-5 times a day. You would just need to make your posts longer and with a more in-depth analysis of the gadgets and trends in the industry, thus providing a different kind of value for the gadget lovers. This tactic is almost like the creating of a sub-niche of your own.
Regarding the minimum and maximum posting frequency, it again depends on the niche and style of the blog, but also on the age/authority of the blog, and on the length/type of the posts. That is, if you have a brand new blog you’ll need to sustain a higher posting frequency for at least six months, in order to establish your credibility and create a reader base. Once you have that you can lower the posting frequency. Starting with a low posting frequency is a bad idea because it might prohibit your blog from taking off.
Let’s put both factors together now and illustrate it with some examples. In my opinion the minimum posting frequency for a personal development blog that is brand new, for example, is a couple of posts per week, and those need to be linkbait style posts (e.g., long, structured and packed with valuable information). An established and authoritative personal development blog, on the other hand, probably could post only once a month and still retain still readers if the quality of the content remains the same.
A brand new soccer blog, on the other hand, should post twice a day if the owner is trying to make it popular and eventually make money with it. Once the blog is established lowering the posting frequency to once a day would be fine (although not recommended if the blog is to keep growing at the same pace as before).
As for the length/type of the posts, here is my rule of thumb: the shorter your posts, the higher your posting frequency can be. Conversely, the longer/more structured your posts, the lower your posting frequency should be. Remember that your goal is to make readers consume your content and derive value from it. If you give them more information than they can chew they will probably go somewhere else.
What do you guys think?
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