“How often should I post?” is one of the first questions a new blogger asks. My answer is always the same. As often as you can keep up for a year. This post explains how I turn that answer into an actual schedule.
Steady beats frequent
A blog grows through accumulation. Each useful post is a new door into the site, and the doors add up over months.
That only works if the posts keep coming. When they stop, it is usually for the reasons in why most blogs stop after ten posts. Ten posts in one month followed by silence does less than ten posts spread over ten weeks. Readers come back to a site that shows up on time. Search engines return more often to a site that keeps changing.
Start lower than you want to
When I plan a schedule, my first number is always too high. I picture my best week and plan for that.
Now I plan for my worst normal week. The week with extra work and no free evening. If I could still publish in that week, the pace is right. For most people writing alone, that means one post a week or one every two weeks.
Quality sets the ceiling
There is a pace above which my posts get worse. I can feel it. The research gets thinner and the editing gets skipped.
A weak post is not neutral. It takes up a reader’s time and makes the site look careless. So my rule is that the pace can only rise if the quality holds. If I have to choose, I publish less.
Build a buffer
The best thing I did for my schedule was to stop writing on the day I publish.
I keep two or three finished posts in reserve. When a bad week comes, the schedule does not notice. When a good week comes, I refill the reserve. The buffer turns an uneven life into an even blog.
This is where a drafting tool earns its place. Sastras can have drafts waiting for me every week. How much of that I automate is in what I hand over and what I keep. I still review them, but I never face publishing day with nothing ready.
Pick days and keep them
I publish on fixed days. It removes a decision and gives regular readers something to expect.
The exact day matters less than people think. What matters is that I do not move it every week.
When to change the pace
I review my schedule every three months. I ask three questions:
- Did I miss any publishing days?
- Did any post go out that I was not happy with?
- Is my buffer growing or shrinking?
If I missed days, I slow down. If the buffer keeps growing and the quality is steady, I can add a post. I change one step at a time.
What I would do first
Choose a pace you could keep in your worst normal week and commit to it for eight weeks. Write the eight dates down. A schedule on paper is far harder to skip than a plan in your head.