There was a question raised by a visitor of this blog and was posted as comment on one of my articles. The question is: Which is more important: Length of the post or the frequency of posting posts?
It’s actually a question that new bloggers are asking especially that there are established bloggers who advised new bloggers to write a long post. There are others who said blogposts should be short because the internet users tend to read short internet articles.
These bloggers who gave contradicting advices are all successful in blogging and making money online through their blogs.
There are also other bloggers who claimed that the length of post is not really important. What is important is the frequency of posting articles into the blog.
So, if you’re new to blogging and you’ve read both these contradicting advices, you will have the tendency to be confused. And this confusion sometimes will lead you to feel bored and disinterested in blogging.
Observations on Successful Blogs
There are already thousands of blogs that exist today that can be considered successful. Few of these blogs are: Steve Pavlina’s blog, Problogger, and Yugatech.
Below is my observation regarding the length of articles published and the frequency of posting those articles into each of the blogs.
1. Steve Pavlina’s Blog
The blog of Mr. Steve Pavlina at http://stevepavlina.com/blog/ is all about personal development. Articles published on that blog are all long which ranges from 2,000 words to 7,000 words (my estimate). Longer articles are posted 3 to 5 days after the previous article was posted, and shorter articles are posted 1 to 2 days after the previous article was posted.
2. ProBlogger
ProBlogger blog of Darren Rowse at http://www.problogger.net/ is a blog that contains helpful tips on how to blog, and how to make money from blogs.
Articles published on this blog are long but not as longer as those articles posted by Mr. Steve Pavlina. Most of the times, an article is published once a day. But there are also times that 2 to 3 articles are published in just a day.
But not all the articles published are written by Darren Rowse himself. There are guest bloggers who write and publish articles in behalf of Mr. Darren Rowse.
3. YugaTech – Philippine Technology Blog
Yugatech blog is owned and managed by Mr. Abe Olandres. He’s considered as the father of the Philippine Blogging. He’s not the first Filipino blogger but he is the first to promote blogging to his fellow Filipinos.
The Yugatech blog can be accessed at http://yugatech.com/blog/. Articles published on it are short that ranges from 200 words to 500 words.
Yugatech has no guest blogger. In other words, all the posts posted on it are believed to be his own personal writing. He is posting 1 to 2 articles everyday.
Conclusion
In other words, whether you are posting shorter or longer articles that are posted on your preferred frequency, you’ll still be successful in blogging, just like these 3 blogs we reviewed above.
Length of Posts or Frequency of Posting?
Length of posts and the frequency of posting the posts are both important to be considered in blogging. But on how long should your posts be and how often you will publish posts into your blog, all depends on the following:
1. Type of your blog
If you are maintaining a news blog similar to the following Pinoy Blogs:
- Daily Contributor – “Your Daily Contributor on News, Technology, Sports and Entertainment“
- Showbiz Intriga, Get it from Boy – “Your total Philippine Showbiz Authority! Philippine and Hollywood celebrities scoop and breaking news.“
- Starmometer – “Your Total Entertainment Blog! The hottest stars and the latest buzz in the entertainment industry, it’s all here! Now on its 3rd year.“
… You are obliged to post at least 1 (short or long) blogpost daily because your frequent readers, especially your subscribers will be looking for fresh news articles from your blog everyday.
But 1 post a day is actually not enough, considering that most of the news blog is multi-topic blog, from Technology, Sports, Entertainment, to Politics and other news topics.
The Yugatech blog that we reviewed above can be considered a news blog which is focused on technology, gadgets and mobile phones.
However, if you’re maintaining a Tips and Tricks blog just like the blog of Mr. Steve Pavlina and Mr. Darren Rowse (both reviewed above), then there’s a tendency that your articles will be longer than those posted in the news blog, because there are things that you need to explain and demonstrate clearly.
But writing longer articles can be time consuming. So, it is also expected that you can’t post articles in daily basis just like what Mr. Steve Pavlina did at his blog.
In Mr. Darren Rowse case, he managed to post article everyday even if those articles are long because he got guest bloggers on his side. In times he couldn’t write article, his guest bloggers are doing it for him.
You can check the articles of the Filipino Blogs listed below that can be considered as tips and tricks blog. Then examine the length of the articles and the frequency of posting them:
- Millionare Acts – “The Journey to Financial Freedom.“
- Father Blogger dot Com – “Useful tips on parenting, marriage and blogging.“
2. Design and Structure of your Blog
If you’ll ask John Chow, why the posts published at his blog are longer than 200 words up to 1,000 words or longer, his answer is this:
The reason I do the 200 words minimum is so I have enough words to wrap my Google box ad. If I make a post that has less than 200 words, like a video post, then I will leave out the Google ad.
In other words, you need to consider your blog’s design in deciding how long should your post be. If you think, short posts can ruin your blog’s design and structure then you need to make your posts longer or just enough to keep the design of your blog.
3. The Number of Visitors and Subscribers
Sometimes, it is wastful to write articles everyday if you only have few visitors and subscribers. It’s like producing more cola drink even if your target consumer is only few. So, more products will just be wasted because only few of them will be consumed.
However, we should not forget also that visitors of our blog is not just human. Search engine bots frequently visit your blog too.
So, if your blog is new and has only few visitors, then why not publish 1 article everyday. it will be advantageous to you if you publish at least 1 article everyday because search engines love fresh daily content. And through the search engines, you can gain more visitors and subscribers for your blog.
4. The number of your blogs
If you have lots of blogs to maintain, then it is also impossible to post content in daily basis, especially if you don’t have guest or paid bloggers who could write blogposts in your behalf.
But which is more Important: Length of Posts or Frequency of Posting?
Just like what I said, both the length of posts and the frequency of posting the posts are important. But the Frequency of Posting the posts is more important.
You can post shorter articles or longer articles into your blog as long they contain useful information. It will be fine for your readers or visitors including bots to read shorter or longer articles.
But failing to post articles based on your established frequency of posting articles into your blog will only frustrate your loyal readers, even the search engine bots.
And while coping the need to publish post in your establish frequency, don’t ever forget to publish quality articles… just like what everyone knows, “Quality is better than Quantity.”
