Blogging is amazing for SEO – but how often should you post?

We all know blogging is amazing for SEO, and now that we’re in this new interesting age of AI generated content, we also know that blog content is great for showing up in people’s query results on platforms like ChatGPT, and Google’s new AI search “experience”. If you know me, you know I don’t particularly care for those platforms, but I accept that we’re in the AI era, and that we’re not going back. I’ll talk about it a bit more soon, most likely, but in the meantime… like I said, we know blogging is a brilliant strategy for climbing search ranks. And not just for your blog posts themselves to appear in search results, but to help bolster your primary pages to the top of search for THEIR chosen keyphrases as well. It doesn’t stop there though, because it’s ALSO a great way to get people onto your email list, promote your freebies – there are about a million benefits to blogging, I can’t possibly list them all.

But when it comes to actually writing blog content, a lot of business owners (and those wanting to blog for a living, too!) find themselves asking, how often should I actually blog? We know how often to post on Instagram, or TikTok… but with blogging… what should your plan be for optimal growth?

Everyone’s blogging schedule needs to work for THEM

And here’s where I get to the cop-outs – don’t you always love those? Look – blogging isn’t an exact science, and anyone who tells you it is, is trying to sell you something. Especially now, while we’re in this liminal in-between, with “traditional search” on the one hand, and “AI enhanced bollocks” on the other.

The most important part of your blogging plan, is that it works for you, and you can stick to it. Not some manufactured schedule that you feel chained to. Not something so aggressive you feel like you have to use artificial means to create your content, or hire someone who can’t keep up either because you’re not bringing a full-time blogger on as staff at your small business, it’s just nonsensical.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach.

So when it comes down to it, there is absolutely no one-size-fits-all approach to blogging, or to your web presence promotion as a whole. You have to figure out what works for you, and what schedule you can stick to. If it’s only one post every eight weeks, then that’s what it is, and that’s okay.

Going into starting the blog you’ll use to promote your business, you should know, blogging is a long-term growth strategy, it’s not a bandaid, or a quick solution to stagnation. And I will repeat myself, by saying that anyone who tells you it is… is selling you something. Probably their blogging services. So because it’s a slow growth strategy, your best approach is a MARATHON approach, not a sprint approach. You’re not aiming for one piece of content that goes viral, you’re aiming to slowly teach search engines and GPTs about your website, what you offer, and who you help. Slow and steady wins the race, quality over quantity. You’re much better off creating three long-form blog posts that get into depth on a topic than you are creating 10 short-form posts that don’t say anything.

As a General Guide:

Now I know I’ve just repeated endlessly that there are no rules and you need to come up with a blogging schedule that works for you, but I love contradicting myself. Even though there are no hard and fast rules, there are some general guidelines you can adhere to that will make your life a bit simpler. And that might give you a scaffolding to use for your own custom blogging strategy, that lines up with your available time, energy, and expertise.

Generally speaking, post no less than twice a month.

You can make 12 posts, if you want, and for someone promoting their own small business (not a career blogger!) that would be a tiny bit of overkill. Posting two, would be on the low end. But somewhere in between that range, is a number of posts that feels real and useful and like you can accomplish writing them in a month’s time! And that number, is the number of posts you should put up on your blog each month. No more, no less.

Having trouble coming up with ideas for your blog content?

If you choose one of those higher numbers of posts – in the 8-12 range, you’re going to be coming up with TONS of blog topics. And if that’s not as straightforward for you as it could be, then it might be time to speak with a pro about creating a blogging schedule that will work hand in hand with your primary site pages, and help your website climb in the ranks.

If that sounds like you… let’s talk about how I can help. I’d love to support you to create a blogging plan that you can actually stick to, and that will lead to real growth over time!