Blog Posting - Quality vs. Quantity - You Decide

Blog posting consistency is one thing all bloggers need to maintain in order to attract and maintain traffic. Another variable involved concerning posting is the frequency of which fresh blog entries appear on a site. There is little doubt that in the early stages of blog building the frequency of posting is a major factor in the growth rate of a site. In order to attract any blog traffic you must have posts on your site for readers to view. Obviously in the very early stages you need to build up an 'inventory' of content therefore your posting must be more frequent. Once a blog has begun to attract a regular flow of traffic however is posting frequency still a factor?

Here is a discussion comparing the pros and cons between posting schedules concerning their frequencies and how readers and content may be affected.

1 - Frequency/Quantity

Strengths

a) Continuously fresh content is being posted to the blog.

b) The more frequent the blog entries the more frequently search engines will 'crawl' your site. This normally results in a higher search engine ranking.

c) The more entries that are posted the more likely the content will be shorter in length and therefore easier and quicker to read.

Weakness

a) It stands to reason that the more frequent the posting the less research and depth the material will contain leading to a decrease in content quality or originality.

b) Posting quite frequently can also lead to a tendency to run short on relevant material. This may create 'temporary' circumstances when content is not relative to the theme of the blog.

c) Once again the 'rush' to post an entry may result in content that contains information with as much depth as you would expect to find in a comment left on a blog. When your aim is to make money blogging your posts should be more useful to the reader since you expect them to spend money at your site.

2 - Length/Quality

Strengths

a) When posting infrequently blog entries tend to be longer in length and contain more comprehensive quality content. This is especially helpful when you want to make money blogging since readers can see more of an investment of your efforts and contributions. This tends to have a more positive influence on their purchasing decisions.

b) With more time between entries there is generally more insight included in the content due to the time invested in developing it.

c) A less frequent posting schedule may in fact be more appealing to many readers who have hectic schedules. This gives readers more 'breathing' room between their visits allowing them to keep pace with any new updates.

Weakness

a) Many who visit blogs tend to rush through what they read due to eye strain, time schedules, multi-tasking or other reasons. As a result of this readers may lack an appreciation for any additional research or depth a post may offer since they may prefer a 'lighter' and quicker read.

b) By posting less there will be fewer visits by search engines which can result in a decrease in blog traffic due to lower search engine rankings.

c) If a post appears longer in length after an initially scanning it some visitors may opt to skip over it completely. This is not unusual especially on the internet where people tend to 'scan' content more than they actually read it. 

Although a frequent blog posting schedule is needed in the very early stages of its development that may not be the case once the site is established. There appears to be some merit to posting infrequent blog entries as long as content quality remains high. Once your site establishes a regular flow of blog traffic these readers place more importance on quality than quantity. Frequency seems to be of more importance early in the blog building stage to simply attract 'attention' but quality tends to better sustain the popularity of the site. In the end it all comes down to what your readers have become accustomed to but one thing does remain consistent, your content must be worth their time.