You started your website, made sure it’s optimized, and you know how to produce quality content that will meet Google’s metrics. There’s just one question left before you publish your first piece. How often should you publish content?
Determining your publishing pace is one of the most important parts of running a website effectively. It’s key to build an audience that knows when to expect new content because they’re some of the most important parts of spreading your content once it’s live. Every website has different needs, so how often to publish content will be up to you once you figure out your ideal pace. There are many factors that will help you make the right decision for your niche and audience.
Finding Your Publishing Pace
What is your website’s niche, and who is it aimed at? The demographics of your website play a big role in how often you’ll want to publish new content. If you’re aiming your content at a younger audience looking for fast, easy-to-digest content. If you’re appealing to a more scholarly audience, give them time to digest each piece of content. Keep an eye on when your website gets more traffic. If your audience is concentrated on the weekends, publishing fewer pieces at the right time may get the best results.
How much effort are you putting into each piece of content, and who’s producing it? If you have a team working on your blog, it can be easy to bank content well ahead of time, and you can step up your publishing pace accordingly. If you’re a one-person show and producing content for your niche takes effort, make sure it doesn’t take precedence over more critical tasks involved in running the company. Your website and blog are great tools for spreading awareness of the company, but content alone doesn’t bring success, so don’t be afraid to dial back the frequency.
Finally, how long of a life do you want your content to have? If your content spreads briefly but doesn’t get long-term traction, you should be publishing more often. If you’re aiming for evergreen content, you’ll want to give your content more space to breathe.
So what makes for good evergreen content, or content that remains relevant long after it’s published? You’ll want to look for content that answers frequently asked questions, provides general advice, or is entertaining and positive without being too tied to the current moment. Listicles and how-tos are common formats for evergreen content.
Less Is More
It can be tempting, especially when you’re starting out, to publish daily or more. This has its benefits, but it can also backfire. You don’t want to flood the internet and drown out potentially evergreen content with new pieces that don’t catch on. It’s better to find some content you believe in and focus on that, actively promoting it and keeping it up-to-date. Many sites that publish several times a day gain a reputation as a spam site not just in the eyes of the audience but also in the eyes of Google’s metrics.
There are better ways to build your domain besides frequent posting, and it starts with making sure your content represents your brand well. Research what your competitors are doing right and build on that. You’ll want to look into the keywords that work best for your website and build them organically into your content.
Keep your content varied, not relying solely on text to make your points. Images, infographics, and videos can also spread your site’s message and content on other platforms. Podcasts are a great way to reach out to those using your site on mobile or during commutes.
The goal should be to send your website up the search engine rankings, focusing on organic SEO optimization. Work to ensure that all areas are covered—on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and back-end clicks. You don’t want to miss any opportunities, so make sure to find and track unlinked brand mentions with content explorer tools.
Find Your Perfect Pace
The answer for how often to publish is different for every website. Before you start publishing, learn as much as you can about your audience and what they want from your content. This is your key to long-term success and evergreen content.
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