If you’re about to start blogging, you may be wondering:
- How many blog posts should I have before launch?
- How many blog posts should we publish per week after launch?
Or maybe you have been publishing blog posts for some time but you don’t seem to get enough traffic. Your blog is designed well and the content is great. Then what could be the reason?
So you may be wondering: how many blog posts do I need in total to start getting good traffic per month?
In this post, I’ll try to address these questions and help you ensure that the frequency and quality of your blog posts are on point.
How many blog posts do you need for launch?
It’s an exciting time when you begin blogging. You feel creative and motivated. There are no limitations. Only good intentions and positivity. And your launch scenario looks like one of these:
Either: You try to launch fast without any planning. You buy a reasonable hosting plan, a decent theme, and start writing and publishing blog posts left and right. But eventually, you start running out of new topics and reasons to stay motivated.
Or: You strategize first. You have a plan to launch your blog. You have a series of blog posts already published before the launch. You have some ready-to-publish drafts for the next few weeks. And you have about 50 blog post ideas in the pipeline, waiting to be researched and written. That’s a lot of effort, right?
Now, both these approaches have their advantages and disadvantages. The fast approach lets you get your blog out there. You have something tangible up and running in a short time.
The downside is, sooner or later you’ll run out of steam.
The planned approach lets you ensure that you’ll keep blogging consistently for months. You’re less likely to burn out or face writer’s block.
But the problem is, you may take forever to get your blog on the web and publish something.
So what’s the right approach, then?
Yes, you guessed it. The middle ground, of course. You need to be fast, but not so much that you have no idea about how to sustain your blog. And you need a plan, but not so detailed that it paralyzes you.
You need to identify the right keywords, research your topics, and write blog posts. And you should do all these tasks in the right proportion.
So, how many blog posts should you have before you launch? My recommendation would be around 10-20. This way, you can ensure that every blog visitor will find something that interests them.
How many blog posts do you need in total to move the needle?
Millions of people are publishing blog posts every day. That means you’re competing with at least hundreds of them for your audiences’ eyeballs. So how frequently should you be publishing your blog posts?
The answer depends on a variety of factors.
Your blogging routine has to work for you. So it should take into account your experiences, skillset, personality, and your limitations in terms of time, budget, and energy.
Other factors that will have a role to play in this decision are those dictated by your market, such as your niche, blog post lengths, and your target audience. Let’s understand this in more detail.
Blog niche
Your blog’s theme or subject should be such that you have enough topics to write about over a long period of time. The more you can write on a consistent basis, the more opportunities you will have to keep your readers coming back.
That doesn’t mean you should keep publishing new posts even when you have nothing new or meaningful to say. As long as you don’t compromise on your content’s quality, you can have a decent readership even with less content.
But if the reason for not posting enough content is not having enough to say about your niche, it’s time to broaden it.
Capacity to write blog content
Whether you’re blogging to promote affiliate products or your own, you need to publish many review-style and list-based blog posts. These types of bottom-funnel content are essential to increase your likelihood of making more sales.
Plus, you also need to keep updating your old blog posts to maintain their quality and accuracy.
But if you’re a solo blogger writing all of your own blog posts, you may be at the risk of burning the candle at both ends. Or chances are that your writing habit will start feeling mundane and you won’t feel like blogging at times. Not to mention the pressure you’ll feel because of personal or family commitments.
The result? Your blogging frequency will decline. Or the quality of your blog posts will suffer. Either way, you’ll end up pushing readers away. So what can you do? Here are some suggestions:
- Delegate. Many bloggers are able to write and update multiple blog posts quickly because they have a team of writers helping them.
- Fasten your writing process. Learn to write more in less time. Spending a lot of hours on every blog post will hamper your posting schedule.
- Write something different from before. There are many types of blog posts: lists, reviews, guides, opinions, and so on. Some take less time than others. So make sure you’re writing a variety of styles, instead of only those that take considerable time.
Paying attention to your long-term blogging capability will improve your ability to churn out high-quality content at the right pace, while maintaining a work-life balance.
Target traffic and timeline
No secret here. The more posts you write, the more pages search engines can index on your blog, and the more opportunities for those pages to show in search engine results, bringing you more traffic.
Getting more traffic sooner is not just good for promoting your products and services. It also increases your popularity and authority in your industry, which means you get more opportunities to collaborate with other high-authority blogs and influencers in your niche. This leads to even more ways to grow and monetize.
Most niches have some competition these days. So you’ll likely need 200-300 blog posts for your blog to start showing signs of getting some serious traffic.
Blog post quality and length
If the nature of your blog is educational, you need your blog posts to be comprehensive. This means they’ll have to be longer than 1000 words.
Readers today are short on time and they’re drowning in a lot of similar content. So they’ll rather read one piece that answers all their questions and tells them everything they need to know about a topic.
But since your capacity to produce content is limited, the longer your posts, the less frequently you’ll be able to publish. So take this into account when deciding on your publishing schedule.
If you’re stuck, you can look at other well-known blogs in your niche. Check the typical word-count for their blog posts. And how often do they publish new blog posts.
Industry competition
This is probably the most important factor when it comes to determining how many blog posts you should write on a regular basis.
If your niche is very competitive, you may not get any serious traffic even with 100 blog posts.
There are just too many competitors, many of which may be publishing a lot more content than you.
If your blog is about making money online, or digital marketing, for example, you’re looking at producing at least 300 blog posts to start getting a reasonable number of visitors per month. So you’ll have to publish something almost daily.
Summing up
So, when it comes to determining how many blog posts you need, it’s clear that there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. The right number varies depending on your specific goals, whether it’s building an audience, improving SEO, or establishing authority in your niche.
Some businesses find success with a few high-quality posts a month, while others thrive by posting multiple times a week. Consistency and relevance to your audience’s interests are crucial factors.
Ultimately, finding the balance that aligns with your brand’s objectives and resources will guide you to the right blogging frequency. The key is to stay engaged with your audience and monitor what works best for you.
Did I miss anything? Did you try these tips? Do you have any questions or comments? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.
