The Three-Step Guide to Getting More Traffic by Writing Less

The Three-Step Guide to Getting More Traffic by Writing Less

Reader Comments (124)

  1. I agree with less is more. I’ve been wringing my hands on the frequency of posts, but find that I would rather post once a week and then guest post for others. Seems to be the right balance.

    By the way – I’m learning a lot from this “launch” 🙂 Especially how critical it is to promote with rock-solid content. Excellent stuff.

  2. Jon, I’ve heard you give the “less is more” advice in the past, and I’ve taken it to heart.

    The other advantage to posting once a week is that it’s a schedule that’s easier to stick to, so you can be very consistent about posting, and that’s important: your readers want to know you’ll be there, even if it’s not every day.

    It’s the tortoise and the hare story all over again: slow but steady wins the race, right? It’s better to build a blog full of carefully crafted content over time than to fill your site with stuff you’ve churned out without giving it enough thought.

  3. I don’t subscribe to any particular “frequency”. I’ve tried posting several times throughout the day which can cause crazy burnout. Then there are times when I’ve done the one post a day or every other day.

    The every other day seems to work really well for me. But there are those times that I just wanna hurry up and tell the world what I’ve got to say and resort back to my once maybe twice a day routine.

    What can I say? I’m a work in progress 🙂

  4. Thanks for the guest blogging info.

    What about trying to do some guest writing for magazines in your niche? How effective is that? Now days most magazines have an online portal as well as a blog. So it guest blogging for a magazine could be two fold. Your article could be published in print and online with links.

    Anyone had any experience with that?

  5. This was exactly what I needed to hear. I just started to do this on my main site my and it’s kept me sane, saved my marriage and turned my kids into angels.

    Why? Because I’m no longer stressed out and have room to enjoy every aspect of my life again.

  6. Jon,

    Fabulous post. Here’s me breathing a sigh of relief and letting myself off the hook for feeling pressured to crank out daily posts. I will run and catch your guest blogging videos before you yank them down. 😉

  7. Hey there Jon,

    I’ve been subscribing your Guest Blogging module and all I can said that the content are absolutely superb and straight to the point.

    I’m not going to argue with you because I do agree that Guest Blogging is the proven way to generate massive traffic and build authority fast in your niche.

    And once again… It doesn’t required us to be an expert.

    It is just how you can team up with the expert and guess what?

    You will be automatically been recognized as an expert!

    Just my 2 cents. Thanks for this post Jon. 🙂

  8. Good advice … almost.
    Frequency isn’t nearly as important as value. If you’re especially profilic one week, save a few. But please, don’t crank something out every Friday just for the sake of the name of the day. (Believe it or not, I’ll find a way to survive if I don’t see anything from a favorite blogger for a week or two.)

    Personally, my favorite posters are those who only add content that they believe is of genuine value to their readers. (Drayton Bird is a perfect example.)

    Content over calendar wins every time.

  9. The thing I hear most from people is that they don’t have time to do what they think they need to do. Most times the “extra time” is doing stuff that won’t build the bottom line, like blogging to much without really saying anything. Thanks for this, linking and passing along to others needing to read.

  10. I’m a new “blogger” and have subscribed to many different websites like this one in order to be better at what I do.
    The DAILY e-mails I receive as a result overwhelms me, and I end up not reading any of it! If I got the information on a weekly basis, I would read all of it. So, yes, less frequent posts would be a good thing.

  11. Oh man, do I love this advice. I’ve been doing a short post almost every weekday, but I really like the idea of one or two really good posts.

    The once-a-month guest post is one of the areas that I really struggle, but I vow to become more consistent.

  12. oh man Jon,

    focusing your energy back to the essentials is the way to go.
    I used to churn out material like a wild monkey on fire, but that didn’t really work.
    The impact is far greater if you concentrate on your essentials, without wasting anybody’s time with too many words.

    Publishing one post per week for your own blog and one per month for the biggies is a good idea – this way, you will create HIGH quality work without killing yourself along the process.

    PS: really enjoy your videos for guest posting – coool voice, kick-ass value !

  13. Amen, Jon. I’ve been blogging for four years. I used to blog every single day – then I got tired. I cut back to three times a week, and results were positive.

    I recently cut back to once a week while maintaining some beneficial guest post gigs I have, and it’s been better than ever.

    Readership went up. Traffic went up. Comments went up. And my energy levels and creative state of mind?

    Up as well. Nothin’ like rockin’ it out.

  14. I’m just concerned that if I cut back from my 5 posts a week, will I not see a drop in my traffic? My traffic generally goes up with each new post, but if I miss a day, I see my traffic drop back down again. There’s no way I could get away with 1 post a week on my blog. Maybe 3….at a push

  15. This is my strategy too. I’d rather put out one good post a week than several lacklustre ones.

    Right now I’m trying to work up to consistent, high quality, blogging twice a week. Sounds lame, I know but being a blogger isn’t my main focus, making my art is my core thing and I’m very protective of that.

    It also depends what sort of writer you are. If you favour short, punchy posts, more frequent blogging might work for you but I struggle to write that way. Most of my posts are on the longer side and take several hours to write. Plus things evolve slowly in my drafts folder for weeks because I like to think things over.

  16. Why I love The Three-Step Guide to Getting More
    Traffic by Writing Less

    Because someone needed to say it! ‘Nuff said.

    This is such an awesome Jerry McGuire memo moment.

  17. Scary – we post once a month if we’re lucky – too much to do too little time to do it in! I guess life is still in the slow lane here in the UK!!

  18. I’ve been posting several times per week, but I think I’ll give this format a shot for awhile. If nothing else, it will give me something that I can test and see what my readers enjoy more.

    Good advice as always!

  19. I’m so glad to hear this. There’s no need, in my view, to add to the coffers of empty content. Aside from saving your own sanity, when you refuse to post just for the sake of posting, you’re saving your readers the frustration of finding little value.

    That said, having recently started two blogs–one for business and the other to exercise the creative side of my brain–I do pressure myself to produce more content more quickly. But the more I do that, the more fragmented and scattered I feel. Your post reminds me to take it step by step.

  20. I’m reluctant to subscribe to blogs that post every day.

    You’re REALLY popularizing guest posting. Some have said that your course is going to make the competition for landing guest posts go through the roof.

    I don’t think it will. I think it will make the competition only slightly greater, but not that much.

    I mean, it’s like saying that if a book on how to write well is published, everyone is going to become a much better writer over night and suddenly it will become more difficult to shine in the blogosphere. But we know that’s not the case.

    I’m strongly considering signing up for your training program once it’s available. If I do, I better become a ninja that’s feared all across the blogosphere.

  21. Nice blog i have started a blog today and i love to follow this tips, hope this tips work for my blog yes regular updated means not daily update or frequently update means quality post on a particular period or whenever you got time to write.. But if you are doings this tips for professional blog or for coustmeriu also good

  22. Jon, you just made my day. I love this advice! It sounds like a very solid plan of action for the time-strapped small business owner who’s trying to build a blog.

    Great videos. Thanks!

  23. The nice thing about a substantial weekly blog article, in my opinion, is that it really counts for something. I find myself losing interest in “daily dribbles” of relatively minor information compared to larger pieces that go into depth on seriously interesting topics. I may beef up the blog on my own copywriting website with little daily updates in the future, but in the meantime I’m already offering value with my weekly insights into various aspects of copywriting and marketing. Focusing on quality instead of quantity is a good strategy for us writers anyway because we have to showcase our skills even as we present useful information.

  24. Jon,

    Great advice. Having a system to follow will definitely help eliminate the overload and increase my quality. Thanks for the succinct tips.

    Guestblogging.com is phenomenal so far and I can hardly wait for the course to actually begin.

  25. I’m probably not the only one making the transition from traditional PR to PR-2.0. At times it can be daunting … there is so much stuff to learn. The concept of the inner circle and the guest blogging makes so much sense. They really are the same strategies that you use in traditional PR … just applied with different tactics to reach somewhat more elusive targets.

  26. Great post, Jon.
    Am going to make some changes to my blogging routine and definitely change the approach I’ve used.
    Amazing what following the herd does for you – more work, less useful results. That’s what!

    On to today’s blog, based on your previous post here “Why No One Links to Your Best Posts (And What to Do About It)” this is not really going to cut it, in the short term.
    From that post, my understanding is that a newbie could be blue in the face posting once-a-week, once-a-day, or whatever, but until you have a rainmaker, or godfather, or popular blogger, take pity on your offerings , it ain’t gonna cut the mustard, if you’ll pardon the mixing of cliches.
    In other words, a newbie blogger will either have to water, fertilize, nurture, sing it the blues, or whatever, for a while before his blog gets to see any sense of notoriety.
    Or, am I going on a tangent here, and content is king, if you give it a few good ministers on the side, such as SEO, social networking on web 2.0 real estate, and so on. The regular stuff it takes to get a site from non-entity to entity.

    Still, the blog post is excellent as always. Another bar for me to reach in terms of conciseness and focused intensity. Ah well. One of these days.

    Thanks.
    Joe Cepeda

  27. Echoing others ahead of me but excellent, refreshing advice Jon. I’ve just come back from watching all your guest blogging videos. They’re superb (but you knew that already!)

    I fell into the trap of posting daily (and for a short time, twice daily) on the Give A Brick charity blog. It was exhausting and left me with no time for running the charity, the whole reason why we started the blog in the first place!

    With my own blog, I’ve just been feeling my way slowly and finally settled into posting three times a week. Before reading this, I had been toying with the idea of uping that rate but you’ve made me rethink.

    Thanks for that. 😉

  28. Jonathan,

    Thanks for writing this timely post. I’ve been having this cute little fight with myself, and a couple of folks who are better at SEO/traffic building than this King is.

    One person says that I should “do a post every day, because you’ll get more traffic.” They’re probably right.

    Then, I read your post-quality, not quantity. You’re probably right, too.

    (Great little videos you did, by the way)

    What to do?

    The Franchise King®

  29. I feel like you’ve just given me permission to cut back — when obviously, I could have made the decision on my own, if I had a spine. Somehow, hearing it on Copyblogger makes it OKAY. Whatever, I needed to hear it because I’ve been trying to post something every day and it’s interfering with my ability to work on all the other things I need to focus on — like creating products to sell.

    And I’m glad you pointed out the other side of this coin: that we as blog READERS don’t have time to keep up with daily posts on all the great blogs we want to read. That’s been a real problem for me. So bloggers, for my sake, please take Jon’s advice!

  30. I like the idea of posting once a week. That’s what I’m doing right now, because as a new dad, that’s what I can do. Also, I don’t like the idea of getting enslaved by a daily posting schedule. I want my business to thrive, but I want to do it while having fun and having a life. I’ll get to step 3 once the baby starts walking 🙂
    Great post!

  31. But what will the content-farms do?

    We don’t have to do more unless we’re news bloggers.

    And even then, who cares.

    Anyway, bless you my friend and keep doing what you’re doing.

  32. I’ve found the guest blogging strategy, while time consuming, can be a massive investment in your business.

    Is it scary to think about approaching more successful or established people than you? Yep. You bet. But it can be a huge advantage for them, and you, if you push it their way.

    1. How can they benefit from having you guest post? Most times, it could simply be saving them a boatload of time they do not have.

    2. Other times, you might come with the angel of the “little guy” and how he relates to their recent post, or series of posts.

    Example: I noticed you posted on how to get great deals on fresh fish at the supermarket. But what if some of the prices are still too high for some of your readers? Here’s how I became best friends with the fish guy at my local grocery and it saved me $243 each month.

    See how it can benefit their readers?

    Hope that helps. Thanks for the inspiration guys!

  33. Though I’m all about quality more than quantity, as Robert points out above, I wonder if cutting back on posts while a blog is new will adversely affect building traffic. Is there an optimum collected number of posts to strive for first, before cutting back? I’m happy to hear what anyone has to say.

  34. “if you’re spending less than two hours on most of your posts, you’re probably going too fast” – I don’t think I’ve ever spent even an hour on a post, unless it was to format it and add links. I’m a pretty fast writer, though, so maybe it’s just me.

    Also, I have found that the majority of people are online and active Tuesday through Thursday (at least in my niche), so I try to put up the “meatier” posts these days, with a “catch-all” post on Friday to keep the weekend readers up to date on what I wrote about during the week.

  35. James, that is really encouraging to see that less frequency sent the value of your words into overdrive.

    So many times I think well, I need to copy this guy or that guy, or that girl but to have your own strengths, such as, blogging frequency and quality of quantity, is so key.

  36. Ashley, the type of content may make a difference. Anything that requires fact-checking takes me a while, so I like the two-hour rule of thumb. With assessing resources, fact-checking, writing, formatting, adding links, and proofreading, two hours or more depending on the article sounds about right to me.

    I know of writers in another forum (for a content mill) who claim they can churn out ten 400-500-word researched articles in a day–all I can say is, “My hat’s off to you, Baby.” I can’t do that. An hour is tops for me, and that would be for an extremely simple article on a topic I know well and that needs little to no fact checking.

  37. I’m not sure I agree with you entirely Jon.

    Steps #2 and #3 are points taken – there’s no debating those.

    Step #1 is what keeps biting at me. Here are a few reasons why I am taking in #1 with a pinch of salt:

    1. For me, my writing gets better (both in terms of quality and quantity) if I keep doing it every day. With every break I take, I end up spending quite a bit of time cranking up – and getting back in the groove.

    2. For someone who is just starting up, a long post once a week is probably going to be as good as 6-7 shorter posts every day. Not much better. In this case, doing daily posts at least increases the skill level, and builds content.

    At the end of the day, it takes all kinds to make the world. And while #1 may or may not work for everyone, #2 and #3 will.

    Certainly looking forward to seeing you on the other side of GuestBlogging – and elsewhere!

  38. I’ve been wondering how I will keep up with my blogging schedule, guest post, AND create content for my launch and seminar at the same time.

    Seems the answer is clear – pull back and focus on promotion. Then one day, start acceptiing guest posts!

    ViperChill recently pulled back, and it hasn’t hurt his traffic. Good stuff.

  39. Great advice thanks. i also think it might be easier to get subscribers by only blogging once per week. You need to be really really copyblogger awesome for people to want several emails from you per week.

  40. Hi Jonathan. I’ve come to expect excellent posts from you, and this one is no exception.

    I’d like to comment on your statement: “. . . you need connections . . . and that’s hard when you’re a beginner, because you don’t have any . . .”

    Luckily, I have many connections, with influential experts in fields related to mine. I’ve just upgraded my website to an interactive Web 2.0 site, and plan to invite several of these connections to write a guest post. Easier than writing a guest post myself for someone else and, would you agree, equally effective?

  41. thanks for the great advice. funny how when someone gives us ‘permission’ to do something, we feel instantly better and relieved of pressure. i just started a new blog and feel like i need to produce more more more to get readers! i have enjoyed reading the supportive comments here. =)

  42. Jon and the Copyblogger crew –

    It seems that some of the traditional Internet Marketers go one step further than the “post once a week” strategy. I notice that they’ll pop-up only when they have something to sell, give away tremendous content, make an offer, then disappear.

    What do you think of that strategy?

  43. @Ashley and Carole – I can write about 500 words in 15 minutes, and it can be good enough to go without an edit.

    That said, good enough is relevant to where it’s being posted and for what reason. “How to make peanut butter” $5 content mills? You betcha. A leading blog with 100k readers?

    No way.

    Truly great blog posts take me a minimum of 2 hours and often around 4, when all the editing, reading aloud, double-checking and extra stuff is factored in.

    @Lawton – I’m a firm believer in asking why, and also in experimenting. “Blog three times a week.” Why? What does it give me? What happens if I don’t? Hm… let’s try and see. Worst case? I’ll post more. Best case, I’ll post less and get the same – or better – results.

  44. Thanks for the tips, whilst I have a thousand things I want to write about, I love the cutting back on my own blog to guest blog elsewhere strategy. Ill be checking out the videos!
    And I agree with @Ashley, I have never spent more than an hour on a post, maybe I need to start looking at my quality a little more if that’s the case.

  45. I did this – cut back to posting on my own blog once a week so I could guest post. It works. Now up to 2 a week on my own blog and taking guest posts there too. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing. It has it’s pros and cons:)

  46. It’s OK to post once a week? You made my day. I just watched your videos and they’re fantastic. Thank you thank you thank you.

    There’s just one thing I don’t understand. When you write a guest post, can you cross-post it on your own blog? Or are you supposed to write a guest post that ONLY appears on the other guy’s site?

    I worked briefly as a newspaper reporter and I’m still trying to figure out how the old rules translate to the web…

  47. Hey Jon,

    I really enjoyed the post, mostly because frequency is something I have been putting a lot of attention and feel bad because lately I haven’t been able to keep up the rhythm of 2 to 3 weekly posts and had to cut down to 1. You usually hear that frequency builds traction…

    I also enjoyed your videos on GuestBlogging.com and hope you keep putting out this kind of material.

    Good luck with your next project!

    Francisco

  48. Great advice Jonathon. Wish I’d ead it 6 months ago 🙂 This is exactly how I approach it too. The guest posts (when you finally manage to get one on a really big site) can be phenomenal.

    On that note, I’d offer a wee bit of advice for guest posts:

    1. Try to make it the best thing you’ve ever written (if it’s a really big site you’re posting on). It’s hard to give up your baby – but you can also post a summary of it on your blog and link on through.
    2. Make it actionable – people love it when you mix your ideas with a task people can actually perform to get better.
    3. Respond to every comment you get in as much details as you can. You can skip the obvious ones, but you should thank everyone personally and engage them in a further discussion. This has two benefits, it lets people develope a deeper understanding of your main topic, and it shows how valuable you are to have around in the community.

    As an example, I just did a post for SEOmoz last week that gave us our biggest traffic day ever and has bumped us up significantly since.

    Note: really great guest posts need to be special and as such they can take a long time. You just have to do it. Try it out, if it works – great. If not it’s a good learning curve.

  49. I totally agree with this line of thinking!

    With my SEO clients I always encourage them to produce fewer, higher quality, posts on their site and then distribute their budget towards link building and other traffic generation sources.

    The SEO work will find them ranking far higher in the search engines – potentially bringing in more targeted and long term traffic than than any extra blog post would have.

  50. Good, sensible advice Jonathan. Slow and sure to start, building it up as you go. It’s easy to compare with top blogs and bloggers with their active presence and high subcriber numbers but best to first get a firm foundation. Get blogging at a pace that’s comfortable and then reach out a bit and connect to the wider blogging community is a wise suggestion.

    Get to know your blog and what it’s about and let it develop organically. I have taken that route and it’s been real fun and now I’m getting right into it naturally. You want it to be enjoyable not a chore.

  51. Thanks Jonathon,

    I have still not dipped my toes into the waters with Guest Posting, but I think I really should.

    I will watch the videos before you remove them, made it by the skin of my teeth before they are removed.

    Bet your training is excellent and will product a new breed of bloggers.

    Sally 🙂

  52. When I first started I used to publish every single day. Now I write between 2-3 posts a week. Some weeks I just have more to say and others I don’t. But, one thing I’ve run across in all the interviews I’ve done for BlogcastFM is very successful bloggers all recommending against daily posting and citing that as a turning point for their blog.

  53. I’ve started writing roughly two posts per week of late. Moreover, I do guest blog post for one of clients’ blogs on a weekly basis. No to mention managing a team of my own as I lead a marketing company. I guess I need to spend some time doing some commenting posts across relevant popular blogs in my niche. Thanks again for some wonderful insights!

  54. The biggest mistake I see people make is posting daily to “get traffic.”

    There’s great reasons to post daily.

    Seth Godin lists a few, as do a few other high profile bloggers (verify with Google search on benefits of daily writing).

    But getting traffic is probably the least important.

    Except…

    It really does help with search results!

    (Provided the content is very high quality, but that’s a given. Or should be.)

    Looking forward to reading your upcoming offer, Jon.

  55. Trying to come up with an interesting and engaging blog post everyday may eventually result in lesser quality content. Why not just write whenever you have a good idea, which will lead to a brilliant read? You may be desperate to gain more readers and think that increased posting should achieve this, but in fact you may be causing more harm than good. Stick to quality content and your viewers will build up far more effectively than if you post copious amounts of unengaging writing.

  56. Thank you! I was just arguing the “less is more” idea of blog posting on the #blogchat conversation on Twitter, but no one believed me. I told them that when I cut my posts from every other day to twice a week, I saw no decrease in traffic. If anything, traffic went up because I was able to spend some time promoting the post (absolutely essential as a early-stage blogger).

    Makes total sense to me and I’m really excited about the training. You’ll send the info to all the subscribers, yes?

    Jen

  57. Very clever plan of action that makes sense. I have coached clients on blogging and use the 90/10 rule to guide them. 10% writing and 90% marketing which can include guest blogging, study and commenting on influencers blogs.

    As you correctly point out, guest blogging is a an excellent blogger marketing tool.

  58. The trick for writing less but getting more for it is simple: just be sure to sit on each and every one of your articles for at least a couple of days.

    You’re bound to improve your article in some way, and you might even find a typo or two along the way.

    For each guest post (and regular blog post) I write, I use this technique, and haven’t been turned down in a pretty long time.

    Stressing to come up with a post every day will never end the way you want it. Quality comes before quantity in SEO, and the same goes for smart copywriting.

    You’ve got to be reserved then punch your readers in the face (therefore making it impossible not to subscribe) with an amazing piece of content every week or two.

    Plus, as you said, you might even overwhelm your readers and make it harder for them to stay on the subscriber bandwagon.

    Lists do the job just fine, and in my opinion, they’re one of the easiest ways to get natural links pointing at your content, and with connections, those links might just come from the leaders in your niche.

    Overall, great post, John, I’ve been following your story since the beginning! Thank you!

    -Karan

  59. Jonathan, I couldn’t agree more with your advice to scale back on the number of posts per week. As a blogger, there’s nothing I want more than to pump out quality content and lots of it, but I’m also a blog READER. If you take a second to think from a reader’s perspective, like you said, they’re just going to be overwhelmed by the amount of content that you’re forcing them to sift through which increases the likelihood that they miss some of your best posts. It’s at that point they they soon become frustrated and look elsewhere for their needs.

  60. I’m very much of the less of more is more persuasion too. There’s not always time every day to fire out a top draw post on your own site, so why make do with a below par contribution.

    Guest blogging is something I’ve always wanted to get into, although first I need to get my own site up to scratch first. It can be a balancing act though, particularly for a personal/professional blogger to promote, write and still work. But I guess this all comes with experience.

    Great tips Jon, now to put them into practice…

  61. I think the less is more approach definitely works, but it’s hard not to post daily, especially when there is a compulsion to express thoughts and advice. But weekends off are a must.

  62. I like the idea of guest posting. I had one at TwiTips a while back that spiked my traffic somewhat. I didn’t capitalize on it well though. I’m a bit of a slow learner 8=)

    I don’t know why I haven’t pursued this more.

    I enjoyed the videos that I’ve watched so far (the first 3). I plan to finish the rest tomorrow (hopefully they’re still up).

  63. Great! That’s exactly what I am planning on doing as I start my new blog. Thanks for the confirmation that I am on the right path.

    Speaking of balance, it’s time to check in with my kids! They are being quiet…

  64. I have only just started out in the blogosphere as I am in-between jobs at the moment and I honestly have no idea how people with a full time job and a family have time do do all the things that it takes me days to do!

  65. available time is finite so doesn’t it make sense to use it to turn bad (or no) copy into good copy? The bonus is that practising on that bad stuff can make it good (perfect?)

  66. I’ve always been thinking that you need to write one post a day at the beginning and once you get the results, you can then reduce the frequency of posts. But now, I feel that I am wrong. Will follow the steps you’ve provided.

  67. agreed,writing quality content and letting it build up over time works out better in the end. No need to burn out trying to get tons of content down in a day.

  68. I’m not so sure about blogging once a week. I seem to be getting more traffic when I started blogging daily (or almost). Google seems to reward sites which are active. Update frequency likely has an impact on search engine rankings.

  69. This sounds like solid advice, Jon.

    I have to admit I was a little sceptical about how posting less often could generate more traffic. But what I’m seeing here is that it’s a tactic that needs to be worked alongside the other two, namely getting a great guest post a month, and putting out more promotional stuff. The latter two, alongside the first, help the whole thing go viral.

    Thanks for your videos. Great food for thought there.

  70. Changing the game is the best way to change your results.

    Competing on frequency is no way to win, when really the game is about value. I see too many people fall into the efficiency trap … but who wants to compete on efficiency? There’s always somebody faster or cheaper, and that’s the space of innovation in processes and technology.

    Blue Ocean teaches us that, and now that the world’s smaller, flatter, and more connected, we get faster reminders from every direction.

    The real game is delivering your unique value to the world, in a way that you’re often emulated, but never duplicated.

    It’s about giving your best, where you have your best to give.

  71. @J.D. Meier, I’ve always thought the same.

    There’s no shortage of landscape designers/landscape writers faster and cheaper than me, but few (Canada’s Michael Hough is a notable exception), who deliver the same unique value.

    ‘It’s about giving your best, where you have your best to give.’ Absolutely, I couldn’t agree more.

  72. I guess I must have learned from old-school blogger, but considering success has been marginal, maybe you’re right. So I’m going to try out your tips and watch your videos. Then, after giving it some time, I will come back to comment on my results.

  73. I can write quite fast. I am writing 3-4 posts a week. I enjoy every minute of blogging. For me, that is the most important thing. Thanks for your videos.

  74. Love your article as always, I also do blogging for one of my sites recently, and I only post like once or twice a week. So long as the content is good, people still read my blog. I thought it wasn’t a good idea until I read your blog. Thanks.

  75. Yeah…Getting 1 nice post with good content is a really good method for making a blog successful than a blog with 10-20 posts daily with copyrighted or poor content.
    Nice tips for getting traffic to the blogs. Thanks for sharing.

  76. Hi Jon,

    Thanks for the great post! Very interesting indeed. I happen to be in the process of conducting my own research.

    I had posted an article on content creation, quality vs quantity. Up until this point, I was posting once a week…once in a while squeezed in a second.

    Based on a response from one of my readers, I decided to take up the challenge of posting 2-3x/wk and see how this would impact my position in Google.

    Up to this point I was steadily at position #23 for my targeted keyword. After a week of posting 3 articles I moved to #15. Coincidence? Who knows. I believe it was a collection of actions I was taking, but definitely interesting enough to warrant looking into more.

    But I agree it’s more important to focus on quality than quantity, even if that means less posts. And really, who the heck has time to post every day and still manage everything else?

    Also, spot on about guest blogging. I’ve actually been fortunate so far that I was approached by a few sites to guest post, and it’s definitely a power tool if you can be successful at securing these positions.

    Sorry for the long comment 😉 Thanks again…you rock!!

  77. I used to post at least five times each week — sometimes more. I’m down to about three posts a week. My traffic keeps growing, so I guess you’re on to something!

    –KB

  78. Good point, Jonathan.
    I have been advocating this for a long time. It is indeed nonsense to have to write every day. Write only when you have something to say. Your older posts will go longtail and get more attention this way too.

    Quality is very important, certainly now with so much competition out there. lso, it is a myth that traffic goes down if you do not write daily. http://www.miracletutorials.com is a living example of a blog in which I do not even write every week. Sure, you will lose some subscribers, but the rest appreciates that you do not churn out mediocre stuff to keep the numbers crunching. It’s all about integrity, really.

  79. I used to write ‘ Letters to the Editor ‘ if, and only if, I had something to say. Pretty good rule for blog-writing too!
    But there’s another requirement – regularity/reliability. If you can be interesting seven days a week – regularly – go for it. If not, like me and like many others who haven’t yet made the full self-assessment, the thing is to work as long and as hard as necessary to maintain the standard once a week which may be the minimum I think.
    And then who knows – external events and personal development may lead to occasional ‘bonus issues’.

  80. I think once a week is a good plan. I can usually get one or two good informative articles in a week. More than that and I’m pushing myself on time. I also like the idea of the guest writer. Thanks!

  81. @Martyn, I’m sure some sites suffer from a drop in traffic as it depends on expectation from your visitors.
    Therefore, I tell subscribers clearly upfront I’m an irregular writer and only write when I have something to say . They appreciate that and my list is still growing.

    Like @Viv says, if you have the talent and you can write quality posts daily, that is great, but for all others, do as you can, instead of forcing yourself in a daily treadmill.

  82. What an interesting post. I have been spending more time guest blogging lately and have noticed an increase in visitors to my own sites.

    It would seem I may have stumbled on to the right balance.

  83. Hey Jon! This is great stuff. I already tore through your three videos and I am going to start using these strategies right away.

    I’m taking a new path with my blog so quick and incredible tips like this will hopefully change my game!

  84. Wow, and I thought about how will i be able to do those 2-3 posts a day and if I’ll have some time for other, also important things.

    Thank you!

  85. I think cutting down on the number of posts per week is okay (should give you more time to really come up with a great post, and give you time to do other things), but on the other hand, I also know of blogs that publish daily or three times a week and they get tons of traffic. I guess it would also depend on the demand from your readers, or what they’re used to. If they expect and really look forward to your daily post in their inbox, then I don’t think one should slow down.

    Again, it all boils down to quality, of course. And the guest blogging idea — it’s great! Thanks for sharing about the site. Will definitely check it out. thanks!

  86. Good post….goes back to quality Vs quantity. Some bloggers feel the urge to get their blog count up while others pride themselves on writing only when they feel their content is unique and worthy enough. I think if you’re writing one post by day, then you’re doing very well.

  87. Great post thank you. I used to post often but I wanted to write better posts and I reduced it and I must say it works a lot better that way. Even if people don’t link to you, you can do some self promotion within your online community by keep referring to your post hence more links, participation, traffic, etc.

  88. Yes, I think a lot of our readers are working too.So we writers need to relax,take notes all week and repost once a week.

    Time to relax and write better content.

  89. Focusing on quality rather than quantity of posts is an excellent strategy. It allows bloggers to really sit down and focus on a topic. It also allows for time to rest and unwind.

  90. I’ve managed to stick with a twice weekly posting schedule for the last two months and it’s done wonders for our traffic and subscription rate. Of course, there are still calls to develop more content and reach out to a wider audience (and to actually increase our post rate), but I’m looking forward to learning more from your GuestBloggin.com series. Hopefully I can pass on your message!

  91. What a relief! I keep getting pummeled with “post every day” advice, and I simply do not have the time to develop that amount of good content, let alone promote my site. Very stressful, and that’s not why I’m in this game! I also get way behind trying to read the blogs I subscribe to that post every day, so I can see how posting less frequently would be appreciated by my own subscriber base. Thanks for the great 3-step plan …

  92. Excellent post as always.

    I think that the posting frequency thing depends upon the type of blog under discussion. I have a photography blog and have found that committing myself to having to post one new image every day, shot on that same day, along with some commentary has been great for my focus and discipline.

    Saying that, it really is horses for courses and if I were writing about marketing I am sure that once or twice a week would be more than enough for both me and the readers.

  93. Sounds like great info. I alternate between rapid posting and then long well written posts when I get a great idea. I also bank idea’s and posts and work them overtime.

  94. Jon,

    I can verify your strategy – it works!

    I started blogging few months ago with these very same steps: Publishing a post once a week with random guest posting.

    Now I’m ready to push more content to my blog and I do this by increasing the amount of posts to 2 per week. Also, I’m focusing more and more of guest posting as my promotion method.

    One benefit that I see in publishing one post per week is this: once you decide to write many posts as once and you schedule them for later publishing, you can free up your time to other important tasks/projects of yours, like writing free reports or e-books.

    That is yet another way of engaging your audience even further.

    Timo

  95. Less is more always works. When I try to do lots of things in a day, nothing gets done. The three step method looks do-able, will certainly take the pressure of the new and aspiring bloggers.

    As usual another post on copyblogger which points at the right direction in the simplest steps. Thanks Jonathan.

  96. Scaling it back to one post a week can be hard if you’ve been convinced that more is always better. But I’ve found one or two good, in-depth posts a week make much more of an impact with readers and are therefore more likely to be shared.

    Great content is the new SEO.

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