How Often Should You Blog? — Blog Post Frequency Recommendation
I will take you through multiple blogs from all kinds of industries so we can identify primary trends and preferences when it comes to how often we publish articles on our company blogs.
Spoiler alert: There’s no common rule that says companies from the same industry need to opt for the same post frequency.
I’ve chosen my own approach to analyze hundreds of blogs that are actively publishing content in order for us to get a realistic look at what a successful content schedule should look like.
The short version on how often you should blog
Yes, I know you don’t have time to read it all. So if you just want the key ideas of this post, here they are:
Every company has a different content publishing pattern so relying on what your competitors are doing is not a solution. Find your own goals to define exactly what types of posts you’ll incorporate into your content strategy.
Most brands have adopted a blogging schedule based on the resources they have. More in-house and freelance writers = more content.
Companies who are not able to produce written content on a regular basis turn to filling their blog with other media such as podcasts and videos.
Blogs and writers with evergreen content pieces that rank for several years regularly update their articles and even republish their posts to bring more attention.
Blog post frequency remains one of the least important factors to take into account when crafting a long-term content strategy. Consistency, CTAs, quality of research, promotion, and freshness are just a couple of the elements to pay extra care to.
Read on to see exactly how often other blogs post and what kinds of content they prefer to focus on in their strategies. [Plus, a couple of my own secrets.]
So how many blogs should you post every month?
The complete analysis on how often you should post content on your blog
How often you should blog is a debate for a handful of reasons:
- It helps you maintain your thought leadership
- It provides a steady stream of visitors and leads
- The right post frequency helps you reach your general business goals
- It gives you enough time to plan your content and know when a new post should be up
- Your regular readers can estimate when you’ll publish new articles
Below you’ll find an in-depth analysis of multiple patterns you can opt for.
Pay close attention to the examples from your industry to benchmark the stats against your own plans. You can use your competitors’ experience to see what’s working and what’s not.
For instance, if a competitor posts an article/month and sees no engagement from these attempts, you might want to consider a more frequent post pattern or more comprehensive types of content.
These common approaches for scheduling content include:
Daily
While not realistic for most startups, this remains the way to go for news and media outlets that live off their blogs.
Some examples include:
Crunchbase
Content Marketing Institute
Envato Tuts+
Moz
Companies who have a large pool of writers to work with also attempt posting on a daily basis and even twice a day, like ClearVoice:
Once or twice a week [as much as possible]
This is the safest approach for most companies. Ask anyone how often they think blog posts should be published and they’ll answer with “once or twice a week”. This is because it seems to be the most logical approach, allowing you to publish regular content while also having enough time to prepare it.
BuzzSumo is a clear example of this approach that gives their writers just enough time to research a topic without feeling the pressure of delivering content faster:
Brands like Ben & Jerry’s also opt for this content publishing strategy:
2–3 posts/month
Figma is an example of a company that opts to keep their posts at a 2–3 articles/month frequency. How often they post does depend on the new features and announcements they have to make. So you’ll often see companies with an irregular pattern that changes in time.
On the Animalz blog they deliver content on a weekly basis by also turning their podcast episodes into written posts.
Irregular pattern with few posts
This is really the “whenever inspiration or need strikes” method.
See Adobe Spark:
Clearbit:
Or Fleep as companies who opt to wait until the right idea or opportunity comes around:
Most individual writers and freelancers turn to this approach too. Including myself. This is because we don’t have the time and resources to post high-quality articles often. If you see an individual posting long-form content on a daily/even weekly basis chances are they’re using other writers to keep up with the workload.
Irregular pattern with lots of posts
Bespoke Cycling takes this approach and opts to post whenever they’re launching something new or simply having an announcement to make.
The same idea lies behind the Lyft blog:
And Buffer:
While Etsy doesn’t post on a regular basis, they made it a habit to share seller stories and spotlights. With millions of sellers, they will always have someone to feature:
The Dropbox blog also doesn’t seem to have a strict pattern but they mix in news, customer stories, product tips, and educational content:
Regular updates on a monthly basis
This is honestly the approach I recommend as it involves writing one large evergreen piece of content/month and going back over your past posts to update them.
Despite all of our efforts, a simple search on Google for your keyword of choice will reveal an average life span of 2–3 years for most blog posts. The good news is that this life span can be extended with frequent updates and even opting to republish your evergreen content.
