How Many Times And On Which Days Is It Best To Blog Per Week?
Posted 15th May 2012
Category: Chit-Chat Genres: N/A
6 Comments
A question I’ve asked myself many times is how much is too little? Indeed, rather than wondering if I’m over-saturating my corner of the blogosphere with content, I wonder instead it I’m saturating it enough. Often I don’t post if I have nothing to say, it seems silly to post short posts of excuses for lack of inspiration, but on other occasions when I do have enough to say, I worry I’m not speaking as often as I ought.
I find that having enough to say and posting frequently are related. When I am actively posting on a schedule, nine times out of ten, content comes naturally, even if it’s not written to the standard I aspire to (standards is another thing that sometimes stops me posting content). But when do I post it?
I see people posting every day and visitors being able to keep up with it, and I also see people posting every day and many of their posts have no comments because visitors don’t have the time to read them all. And of course I see people posting infrequently and no one visiting because the random nature causes them to forget to check the blog for new posts.
The schedule for The Worm Hole, when there is time and content to post, is an update every three days. This is because it gives you guys time to find the posts, and it gives me a breather and space to relax and not worry about writing. But my schedule is random – if I post on Monday, the following post will be on Thursday and the one after that Sunday. However this means that the next post from that will be on Wednesday, a completely new day. I wonder if this style is confusing and whether I should stick to certain days of the week. This would still mean three days a week, but the frequency would seem quicker, because Saturday and Sunday tend to be slow days.
I’m very much leaning towards Monday, Wednesday, and Friday – and to hell with my worries about having enough content.
What do you think? How many days a week do you try to post, and as a reader which days do you prefer to read blogs?
May 15, 2012, 10:27 am
Two years ago you’d see me posting 4 or even 5 reviews a week (and now I feel kind of guilty for clogging people’s GR), but that was because I used to read A LOT and review almost every book that I read. These days I read far less, and I don’t try to force myself to review a book unless I really have something to say about it, good or bad.
My posting schedule is a bit erratic, but even when I have a nice backlog of pre-written posts I try to limit myself to 3 reviews a week and maybe one discussion or fun post. It’s less stressful for me that way, and probably for my visitors as well.
Having said that, I don’t mind it when others post every day, even if it means I’ll end up skipping some posts. It’s only multiple updates a day I can’t handle… this isn’t common among book bloggers, but I had to unsubscribe from some general commentary/music/feminist blogs because I just couldn’t keep up with 5+ posts a day and having them in my reader was stressing me out.
As for when to post, I usually avoid Saturdays because over the years I’ve noticed that they’re really low traffic days, but other than that, no rules. I just do whatever works for me that particular week.
May 15, 2012, 2:55 pm
I think you should post whenever you have something good to say. I don’t mind whether someone posts 20 times a day (http://beattiesbookblog.blogspot.co.uk is a good example of someone who manages it) or twice a year – as long as it is interesting. I hate seeing filler posts from people who feel they have to post a certain number of times. I’ve gone from 8 posts a week down to 2 or 3 because I don’t have the same amount of free time, but I don’t think it matters. Do whatever you feel happy with.
May 18, 2012, 1:07 am
I actually don’t think there is a right or wrong answer for this question. I think each blogger needs to work out what works best for them. For some people this means once a day, or every few days or once a week but it needs to be what you are comfortable with. Personally, I was getting overwhelmed with the pressure that I was putting on myself to review every book so I stepped back from that and now just post about what I want to (or what I have committed too). Personally, I prefer not to see multiple daily posts from one blogger consistently but there are some I read who do that.
Personally, I post most days (sorry to you and Aarti) and I have a schedule that I kind of stick to but if I miss a day that’s okay too.
May 19, 2012, 6:36 am
I don’t follow many blogs due to a lack of time, and I don’t post that often these days, due to a massive reading slump. :) I just post when I have something to say about a book I’ve read and the time to write a post a about it. Not many people read my blog, but those who do know to expect erratic posting. :)
May 20, 2012, 6:01 pm
Aarti: I’m afraid I agree with you. I don’t mind memes when the posts have something unique about them, or it’s a temporary thing like BBAW, but so many times it’s more of the same. I quite like your schedule for that reason, whenever you can be sure it’s worth getting a coffee for :)
Ana: I like having a backlog, but you really do have to have the time to read. Multiple updates that are one big post and a few photos are alright, but yes, otherwise it’s definitely too much. I have to avoid Saturdays as a rule because my boyfriend would moan if I wrote on our day together, though I agree with your logic, my stats, and even just Twitter, backs up that Saturday isn’t too great.
Jackie: You ended your comment with being happy – that’s very much the point, isn’t it. You worry about your readers, and you worry about yourself, and it’s finding a balance that is more in your own favour that’s important. Otherwise good posts won’t happen anyway. I’m intrigued by someone who can post so much in a day, though!
Marg: I agree with you that every blogger needs to work out what is best for them. It’s getting a balance between what you want and others can keep up with, but of course you yourself come first. I did the same last year with my reviews, only reviewed what I particularly wanted to. It does lessen the pressure a lot. I’ve been lucky so far this year that I’ve read books I always want to talk about.
I find your schedule pretty good, actually :) You write different lengths of posts and some have lots of photos and less text so there’s not lots to loose track of. That’s the thing, blogs that have ream of content everyday are overwhelming, but mixing it up makes it easier.
Violet: Yes, that’s a problem with being a book blogger, unless you can crank out lots of book-related posts, you are beholden to your reading schedule and how quickly you can read and write a review. I look forward to your posts :)
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May 15, 2012, 4:41 am
Oh, THANK YOU. I personally hate when people update every day. This usually results in a lot of filler posts or memes and those are not interesting to me and do nothing but clog my Google Reader and overwhelm me when I try to sort through it. That said, I only post when I have a book to post about, so I am probably more on your schedule than anyone else’s and may be very biased :-)