Though I did not intend to run a case study on how important it is to post consistently to your blog, that is what I have essentially done in the past two months. I have posted intermittently, but not daily as I had done previously. There are several reasons for this, none of which are terribly interesting or original.

At first, my traffic wasn’t really affected too much by my inconsistent, intermittent posting (non)schedule. My uniques and page views stayed up around where they had been for most of the fall. The thing is, this should have been the time in the life of this blog when traffic really started booming. However, since I wasn’t posting anything new, no one was coming back.

In the last two weeks, I have noticed a serious downturn (about 20%) in the amount of uniques I receive every day. While the page views remain about the same. What this says, quite clearly, is that new visitors are reading archives, but daily visitors have started to give up.

Once I noticed this not-so-suprising development, something surprising did occur to me - the feed reader I use has a built-in delete feature. If a blog hasn’t been updated for fourteen days or more, my reader will prompt me to remove that feed. Should I decide to keep it, the feed will remain red in the feed tree on the left until I delete it or the blog is updated. Yikes!

So what did this mean for my blog? I’m sure not everyone is as patient as I am. What if they delete after a week? Ten days? In any case, I can’t go on like this. Basically, Pajama Professional won’t go on like this. I have been using overall life chaos and the upcoming installation of my home office as excuses not to stay on top of posting here.

What kind of bullsh!t is that? I sat in whatever quiet corner of the house I could find, fired up my laptop, researched articles and posted every day here for months and months. Now, suddenly, because I will have a home office soon I am unable to update? Lame.

I haven’t even posted a Trip Around the Blogosphere, even though I have somehow found the time and means to read the feeds that usually inspire it.

Home office or no home office (and there will be one, it’s just been pushed back a couple of weeks), there is no good excuse for semi-abandoning a blog on which I have worked so hard. It is not fair to me or my readers. Here are my new goals:

1. Post three times a week, including a weekly Trip Around the Blogosphere.
2. Post at least two extremely indepth articles a month.

Just two goals. And not so difficult at that. The bottom line here is that as my one year blogiversary approaches I don’t want Pajama Professional to be another statistic.

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46 Responses to “Why You Must Post Consistently”

  1. no imageRajesh Kohli (Check me out!) on February 18th, 2008 3:39 pm

    I had no idea about the deletion process. That is very interesting. So two articles a month I can do, but three times a week seems a bit much!

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  2. no imageDavid Gurevich (Check me out!) on February 19th, 2008 2:52 pm

    Blogging, like writing in general, is something very hard to do consistently. But like always, the Butt in Chair method leads to pretty darn good results.

    Best of luck!
    David
    Writing articles, business stuff

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  3. no imageBrennan (Check me out!) on February 19th, 2008 3:51 pm

    Great post.

    I co-write a blog that has just gotten back “in the horse” after a month of being focused on other things. Just in our first week back (we’ve posted every weekday for 7 days now) we’ve more than doubled our subscribers and increased our views by a significant margin. I really think that, while losing momentum is painful, posting every day for a while can get you right back up there in almost no time…

    Great insight though… glad to see someone talking about their own experience.

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  4. no imageSara Ch. (Check me out!) on February 21st, 2008 10:15 am

    Thanks for the great feedback, guys.

    I am very glad that my lack of consistency hasn’t had worse repercussions. I could have lost a lot more readers.

    Rajesh: My reader can be set to delete or warn me at different intervals. I’m sure that’s the case with many of them. I have found that, in general, the more often I post, the better response I get.

    David: I agree with your method - butt in chair is definitely the best tactic =)

    Brennan: I’m definitely interested to see how things pick up once I re-establish a schedule. I just don’t think I can commit to daily anymore with all the other stuff on my plate, but certainly three times a week is do-able. Your blog is very nice, by the way, I’ll be visiting it more often. My knowledge of viral advertising is somewhat limited.

    Sara

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  5. no imageInteractive Marketing Agency (Check me out!) on February 21st, 2008 11:05 am

    good luck! I think you can do it. Keep a schedule and establishing goals are great ways to accomplish many things.

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  6. no imageAverage Joe (Check me out!) on February 21st, 2008 12:16 pm

    Being fairly new to the blogging world, I’ve noticed the more I post, the more traffic I get. I try to post a minimum of once a day, because I’ve seen how badly a hit in traffic can affect you.

    Average Joe’s last blog post..Getting Started: A Beginners Guide To Checking Their Vehicle?s Fluids

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  7. no imagebabyblue (Check me out!) on February 22nd, 2008 5:07 am

    Thanks for sharing this knowledge with us.^_^

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  8. no imagePhoneBlogger (Check me out!) on February 22nd, 2008 1:14 pm

    This is a great reminder because we often forget how important consistency is in the blogging world. Not only does it affect traffic to one’s blog, but once you get off a schedule, it’s much harder to get yourself back on traffic. Thanks for the interesting info and it’s certainly a good motivator for all of us.

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  9. no imageGadgets (Check me out!) on February 22nd, 2008 3:06 pm

    I totally agree with the posting regularly, but its funny how even at times I found that when I didn’t post, my feed count still went up and up following the days after. Its a weird thing.

    Gadgets’s last blog post..The Carbonite Han Desk

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  10. no imageSarah (Check me out!) on February 22nd, 2008 6:15 pm

    I agree with regular posting as well. If you do not then it is just as you said your readers will fall off. If you buid up your traffic and see some monetization then you may be able to bring on a ghost writer to help or even just a friend or two in order to guest blog. Hey every bit helps.

    Sarah’s last blog post..The D-List

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  11. no imageMatt (Check me out!) on February 22nd, 2008 6:38 pm

    I know exactly what you mean, and this has been a problem of mine in the past. My problem is that I write too many blogs and sometimes have trouble keeping up with them all. BTW, I enjoyed this post so much that I linked to it from my blog. Keep up the good work!

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  12. no imageo1w (Check me out!) on February 24th, 2008 7:50 am

    always helps to keep a few articles back so if something gets in the way of writing you have something to fall back on, also try to get a couple of guest writers to help you out

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  13. no imageCollege & University Reviews (Check me out!) on February 25th, 2008 2:03 pm

    Great! I’ll be glad to see things back up and running. Good luck, and I’ll stay tuned.

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  14. no imageKeith (Check me out!) on February 26th, 2008 11:35 am

    I just ran across your blog yesterday. I hope you do start posting more. This seems to be a blog that I would like to visit frequently.

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  15. no imageKeith (Check me out!) on February 26th, 2008 11:45 am

    I just ran across your blog yesterday. It seems to be a blog that I would like to visit frequently. Hope you do start posting more.

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  16. no imageFree Online Recipes (Check me out!) on February 26th, 2008 5:20 pm

    Nice post. I agree, you should have a posted schedule but unfortunatly, most of us bloggers break it all the time. Any decent blog should be updated at least twice a week Id say.

    Free Online Recipes’s last blog post..Chicken Parmesan Recipe

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  17. no imagechristian (Check me out!) on February 27th, 2008 9:02 pm

    You have to keep your content fresh. Google loves to see the new and changing content on your site or blog.

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  18. no imagemac (Check me out!) on February 29th, 2008 10:19 am

    I totally agree. All bloggers should post frequently. The readers is important to us. The contents is also important. Think outside the box. Ive told every bloggers at my blog to keep on update their post. This is to prevent any losing on readers.

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  19. no imageHome Security Guru (Check me out!) on February 29th, 2008 2:39 pm

    I think that sounds like a good routine: 3 posts a week consistently. Search engines favor frequently updated sites and sites with a ton of links and consistent quality postings seems to be the best way to achieve that.

    Home Security Guru’s last blog post..Wireless Security Systems Basics

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  20. no imageRaphael (Check me out!) on March 2nd, 2008 1:19 pm

    Very interesting. Thanks for sharring ^^

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  21. no imageonline gift shop (Check me out!) on March 3rd, 2008 9:11 am

    It’s definitely better to have a blog post routine. Increases visitors.

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  22. no image360 Degrees (Check me out!) on March 3rd, 2008 10:32 am

    I’m new to blogging, so thanks in particular for these tips: “1. Post three times a week, including a weekly Trip Around the Blogosphere.
    2. Post at least two extremely indepth articles a month.”
    I’ll try to put these into practice!

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  23. no imageDigital Camera Deals (Check me out!) on March 3rd, 2008 1:35 pm

    We don’t just post 3 times a week, we try to post at least 5 times a day. It’s made a huge difference with Google traffic, and there is always something fresh on the site.

    Digital Camera Deals’s last blog post..Samsung S73 7.2-Megapixel Digital Camera for $80 at CircuitCity.com

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  24. no imageBrad Hart (Check me out!) on March 3rd, 2008 5:21 pm

    Those are definitely some good tips.

    Brad Hart’s last blog post..Promote and Publicise your blog with Brad’s SEO Meme

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  25. no imageHome Security Guru (Check me out!) on March 5th, 2008 7:21 pm

    Wow, 5 posts a day. That’s a lot of posting. I would definitely need to get some contributing writers to help me keep that pace. Good for you. I’m sure you get some good search engine traffic.

    Home Security Guru’s last blog post..Wireless Security Systems Basics

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  26. no imageJosef (Check me out!) on March 6th, 2008 8:50 pm

    One way to keep things consistent is to write several posts ahead and load them into an autoresponder or another automatic posting tool. Then even when you’re away your posts are being made on time without you.

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  27. no imageBest Webhost Search (Check me out!) on March 7th, 2008 10:01 am

    The frequency of posting in our blogs depends entirely how much time we allocate for this hobby or interest. We have other things to take care of as we go through life day in and day out. A full-time blogger, I believe, can post 20 times a day, if he or she is a prolific writer.

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  28. no imageChris Stormer (Check me out!) on March 9th, 2008 5:51 am

    Posting regularly is a tedious job. I totally don’t agree with the author. Every person needs rest from such kind of a job.

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  29. no imageiyinet seo (Check me out!) on March 9th, 2008 8:00 am

    very interesting concept.
    thanks for post

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  30. no imageSnow in Whistler (Check me out!) on March 9th, 2008 3:23 pm

    You are right, it is best to write on a consistent basis for a blog site. It looks like you are breaking your own law, this post is almost a month old.

    Snow in Whistler’s last blog post..Sunshine followed by fog

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  31. no imageSara Ch. (Check me out!) on March 9th, 2008 10:42 pm

    I knew someone was going to call me out soon, Snow in Whistler. =)

    After I wrote this post I realized I wanted to take some time to decide on the direction I want to take with this blog and my other online endeavors. During that time, I wasn’t ready to commit to a posting schedule. When I do post here again (should be within a week or so) I will be reestablishing my frequent posting habit.

    Sara

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  32. no imageSocial Networking (Check me out!) on March 10th, 2008 3:34 am

    I am not sure that posting consistently is enough. Along with it content should be appealing, informative, interesting to users. Then they visit your blog again.

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  33. no imageSara Ch. (Check me out!) on March 10th, 2008 8:43 pm

    I absolutely agree that content has to be high quality as well if you want a regular readership. However, if you don’t post consistently your organic traffic just won’t be there and those quality articles will be for nothing.

    Sara

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  34. no image1990 toys (Check me out!) on March 11th, 2008 3:45 am

    Its good to finally see you get back to posting a lot more!

    I have missed you!

    1990 toys’s last blog post..Do anyone remember the Slider burger?

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  35. no imageElaine (Check me out!) on March 12th, 2008 8:21 pm

    Yes, i have also just learnt that daily posting is important especially for those who are serious in blogging to achieve your page ranking. For new bloggers, this can be so very challenging as it seems to have “so much to do”. I find Courtneytuttle.com information there are very solid and valuable which was shared from his own experience in this game.

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  36. no imagebrad (Check me out!) on March 12th, 2008 8:40 pm

    does anyone find it odd that people are still commenting on the importance of daily blogging when the site reccomending this hasn’t been updated for 25 days?

    brad’s last blog post..New Do Follow List

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  37. no imagePlaystation 3 Update 2.17 (Check me out!) on March 13th, 2008 8:29 am

    yeah. that is what struck me the most when I hit this blog. It moved me here to comment.

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  38. no imageWeird Gifts (Check me out!) on March 13th, 2008 9:55 am

    It’s not all that tough doing a few big articles a month if you really enjoy what you’re writing about.

    Weird Gifts’s last blog post..Does Your Nose Hair Trimmer Have All the Comfort of Your Own Finger?

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  39. Around The Blogosphere | The Other Blog on March 14th, 2008 1:01 pm

    [...] the Pajama Professional: Though I did not intend to run a case study on how important it is to post consistently to your [...]



  40. no imageLimited gründen (Check me out!) on March 16th, 2008 5:13 pm

    Good to hear that you are posting more frequently. Thanks…

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  41. no imagejob (Check me out!) on March 17th, 2008 4:57 am

    totally agree!
    the bloggers should post consistently, with a great content of course… this is to ensure the readers keep on reading on our site..

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  42. no imageSteve Moss (Check me out!) on March 18th, 2008 3:42 pm

    I had no idea about the deletion process either. This article is extremely useful and informative!

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  43. no imageBrad Hart (Check me out!) on March 18th, 2008 4:27 pm

    well how nifty, I made it to around the blogosphere with my post about this site… I almost feel like i am a success having it come full circle!

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  44. no imageJeff Gordon (Check me out!) on March 19th, 2008 9:10 am

    great post

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  45. no imageHappy Camper (Check me out!) on April 8th, 2008 4:07 am

    Good point made, if you want to build a readership then consistently posting is needed. I never seen a feed reader prompting to remove the feed though, pretty neat but could also be annoying.

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  46. no imageBodybuilding (Check me out!) on May 27th, 2008 12:34 pm

    Once your blog is established you don’t notice much difference, whether you post every week or monthly, if most of your traffic is from the search engines and your site is established.

    Bodybuilding’s last blog post..MSG (Glutamates) in Protein Powders Dangerous?

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