It’s a tip that often crops up on blog-advice websites and articles that discuss the topic of online productivity.
Usually it’s in response to this question:
“How often should I post on my blog?”
It’s a valid question, but it’s not the most important one to be asking. There’s no real answer when it comes to how often you should post. That’s a situational issue which can change from person to person and can even change as a site grows and evolves.
What’s more important than how often you post, is how consistently you post.
In other words, your posting schedule is what you need to focus on.
Fitting Posting Frequency into Your Schedule
Before coming up with a schedule you do need to decide on how often you want to post. I’d break it up into weekly chunks and come up with something that’s manageable for you.
Three times a week, with a day in between each entry to work on content is a pretty robust schedule, but just go with a weekly number that you’re comfortable sticking with. Once you’ve done that, set hard deadlines for each post. You might post Monday, Wednesday and Friday, over the weekend or through the first few days of the week.
It’s up to you.
The important thing is that you come up with a schedule that you can stick to, then force yourself to turn out posts on the days you planned for.
What a Schedule Does for your Blog
Scheduling your post has a number of benefits, aside from simply getting content onto your site.
First, it helps you treat your website more like a job and less like a hobby. The freedom of being able to post whenever you want is great, but if you don’t balance that out with some discipline, your posting will be haphazard and chaotic.
A schedule adds some structure to the maintenance of your site, and motivates you to publish on a regular basis.
Good for the Reader
Additionally, a predictable and noticeable posting schedule is incredibly helpful and appealing to those who are viewing your content.
Knowing that a website posts material at a specific time and day has a certain allure to it, where people will come to expect and look forward to your content. That’s not to say that bonus posts and material on the odd day is a bad move, but the pillars of your posting schedule should be set in stone and noticeable to those who frequent your website.
Businesses have Hours
For you to be successful as a blogger or content creator, you must look at the activity involved in that process as a business-related pursuit.
That means you blog or website is a business and you are the chief editor and founder.
Successful businesses have hours and schedules that everyone has to adhere to. The only reason that works is because the bosses, managers and executives enforce it. When you don’t have a manager over you to make you stay on schedule, you’ve got to do it yourself.
Understanding that your blog is a business and that a schedule is crucial to the success of any business will make that discipline much easier.
