This is a very real issue that all bloggers should think about when they are trying to maintain their blog and bring in new readers. How often should you post a new blog?
Are Daily Blog Posts the Best?
There seems to be a general consensus that a "good" blog has new posts at least daily, or even more frequent. A site with constant new material must be better than one with less frequent updates. Right? Though the daily blog mentality continues, people (especially professional bloggers) are starting to learn more about what their readers really want.
Yes, a website that is fresh is going to be more appealing to anyone who stops to read. But the way people read and follow blogs has changed over the years, and you no longer have to rely on people coming to your site to see if there is anything new.
The majority of serious blog readers are likely going to subscribe to your RSS feed (you do have an RSS feed, right?), meaning they will see your latest headlines without having to visit your site. So, even if you only blog once a week, your followers are going to know it immediately. The point is that your readers will come to your site as soon as you do post something, even if it's not daily. Since they no longer have to actively go looking for new material, most people don't care how often you post. What matters is that you post things that they are interested in and want to know more about.
Don't Overwhelm Your Blog Readers
In fact, when a loyal reader does subscribe to your RSS feed, they may actually be turned OFF your blog if you post too often. Too many headlines come flooding into their feed reader and they will drop you, regardless of how great your posts are. It becomes overwhelming and too much work for a reader to keep up with.
Both these scenarios are talking about regular readers who subscribe to your feed. What about the casual visitor who only sees what's there in front of them on your site? Well, you can never tell what a casual visitor is after or how often they visit your site. Are they really coming to your site every day? Anyone that interested in your blog will quickly become a feed subscriber anyway.
So How Many Blogs Should You Post?
There is no one answer to the original question. A good guideline is to post enough to keep your page fresh, but there is such a thing as overkill. Try for a couple new posts each week before you go crazy with the daily (or more) posting schedule.
Of course, the frequency of your posting is also a reflection of the topic you are posting on. Anything newsy or related to current events will need to be updated whenever there is something newsy or current going on. A celebrity blog that waits 3 days to talk about a huge scandal is not going to be that successful. These types of sites will continue to do well with extremely frequent postings.
