There’s a lot said about various SEO factors, but one that doesn’t get a lot of attention is the importance of updating your site on a consistent schedule.
More often is best, of course, but if you can only update the site once a week, then make sure you do update it each week at about the same time. Don’t publish a flurry of updates one week, then nothing for a couple of weeks.
The reason is that one of the factors Google uses to rank your site in search engine results is the consistency of site updates. Imagine that you’re Google, trying to figure out which web site to put in the number #1 slot for a particular keyword. All other things being mostly equal, would you go with a site that was updated inconsistently, or one that had regular updates? Google goes with the regular updates because, to them, that reflects a more reliable site.
Note that having no updates might be perfectly fine for your site. My neglected niche sites are ones that are not updated at all, and continue to get a trickle of traffic. You won’t get #1 in Google, but you might get onto page 2 if your other SEO factors are good.
Inconsistent updates really hurt, though. I have another niche site that I’ve had trouble finding time to update. It was on the road to being high on the first page of Google for its keywords, but the inconsistent updating has killed its rankings. I’m not sure how long it will take me to reestablish its credibility (assuming I can find the time to update it!)
My recommendation for new blogs starting out is to pick specific days of the week to publish new posts, and then to stick with those days. If you write more one week than usual, schedule the posts ahead. That will help if you come up short another week. And make sure that you pick a posting schedule you can live with long-term. There’s no sense posting 20 times your first week and then going to once a week after that.
Remember that creating a niche content site should be seen as a long-term investment. Don’t burn yourself out before you see the rewards!
I do agree with you.
and I had experienced this when I was just starting to blog.
My site became virtually dead after just a couple of weeks without any updates.
I had seen some blogs though putting in a “On blog leave”. I’m not so sure how this works.
Eric
I’ve never checked into taking a break from the blog, so don’t know if there’s some way to tell Google, “I’m taking a break, don’t hurt my rankings”. It’d be worth checking into.
Hi Jay
I have long known the benefits of regular posting but I am still struggling hit my self imposed posting target (it’s not that high, either). The trouble is my life is so un-clockwork that I have to try to aim for # posts per month.
If I could say “Mondays Wednesdays Fridays”, I think it would be easier. I don’t suffer from a shortage of content but actually making time to get it done is hard when your life/work doesn’t have a schedule (at all).
I am trying to learn more about blog productivity by listening to advice from ProBlogger et al.
I am thinking of creating international “Leave your stats/adsense/social netoworking/affilate accounts alone!!!” week.I reckon all those little bits of time could ad up to another couple of articles per week. What do you think?
Best wishes
Rob
[quote post=”545″]I am thinking of creating international “Leave your stats/adsense/social netoworking/affilate accounts alone!!!†week.I reckon all those little bits of time could ad up to another couple of articles per week.[/quote]
You should definitely try that! Most of the stats don’t have any real-time meaning that will help you blog better, they’re best viewed over time anyway. It’s so tempting to get on and check them, but you can easily eat up enough time to do another post each week.
I’m fond of a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule. If I ever cut back posting here to three times a week, that’s what I’ll go to. It helps to have a defined day and time for posting. I think to myself, “Google’s going to be looking for that post on my regular day and time, I don’t want to miss getting it indexed as soon as possible”, and it helps motivate me to get the post done.
It´s hard to come up with something useful on a daily basis, or how often the blog is updated.I have updated my blog daily, but it is hard to keep up.
Hi Jay
Have been looking at my posting workflow. Here a few things that I have found out that work for me.
– Find out what time of day you prefer writing and set that time aside with the browser, twitter, skype, email shutdown. Forget about everything but your imaginary reader. ( I have always used imaginary readers to aim my posts at).
– Break up the creative process. Write a few points down and come back later to expand. Don’t stop writing though, just work on another post. This more “professional” approach to writing as a process is more productive for me.
– Just because you post everyday, doen’t meant that you have to write THAT article THAT day. The web is so immediate that this has only recently occured to me. I realised that all the top blogger were working at least 2 or 3 articles ahead. This gives you more space to develop, check and edit articles.
– Use the timestamp feature on WordPress to publish pre written articles when you want to. Sometimes I have weeks when I can write loads, sometimes no time at all. I am going to take more advantage of timestamp.
I have had a hard look at the weaknesses in my workflow (I am not a professional writer) and have identified some good ways to improve my own blogging life. I am currently writing myself “into post profit” by stocking up on six articles that I will publish in the next few weeks that will give me the space to create my content with less panic.
Cheers for now.
Rob
[quote post=”545″]Break up the creative process. Write a few points down and come back later to expand. Don’t stop writing though, just work on another post. This more “professional†approach to writing as a process is more productive for me.[/quote]
I often have drafts that start out as little more than bullet points. It really helps me to not lose something important I wanted to mention, and makes it easy to come back later and fill in the rest.
[quote post=”545″]Just because you post everyday, doen’t meant that you have to write THAT article THAT day.[/quote]
WordPress’s timestamp feature saves loads of time. I’m working from day to day right now, just because of what else is going on in my life, but I’m normally a week ahead in my posts. It’s great, because after I think I’m finished with a post, I’ll often come up with improvements to it that I can put in before the post goes live.
My biggest problem is that I’m a natural procrastinator, so there’s still some discipline needed for me when I get ahead in posting to keep ahead.