Hey babes! How was the holiday weekend? We had the weirdest/creepiest weather alll weekend long- it hot & muggy, yet pouring rain, so I took full advantage of the rain (minus the heat), cranked up my AC, lit a pumpkin spice candle, & pretended it was Fall. I took an hour long bath, read a good book, & prepared my content calendar for the week.

YUP, every Sunday (or Monday, in this week’s case!), I spend a chunk of time planning out my content for the week.

I get so many questions from you guys about my calendar, so today I thought we would talk about how my posting schedule + how I plan my content.

First & foremost, I stack content. I research, study, listen to you guys, & put together post idea lists all the time- it’s just a huge running list of ideas I have (many of which come to me in the wee hours of the night). I make my way down the list in advance, so I have time to shoot photos/edit the photos/brainstorm my content to go along with the post/write the copy/ design graphics/etc.

Secondly, something that is kinda new for me, I have scaled back my blog posting schedule. I used to be crazy OCD about posting every single day of the week, sometimes even weekends, & that really bit me in the ass. I look back on some of these posts & they are just so BLAH. You can totally tell they are filler posts, they actually HURT my SEO more than help it (low word count is bad for SEO), & they just don’t provide enough value for my liking.

the no.1 thing to remember: Quality Content is King & the key to blog growth!

SO- over the past year or so I have cut back on the daily blog post schedule & it has been a real game changer for me. I embraced the fact that quality really is so much greater the quantity in the blog world. You still will have no days off, because blogging is a 24/7 kinda thing… but you will be able to dedicated more time to getting creative & bringing your readers really strong/visually pleasing content along.

My site views are up, the time users spend on my site has increased, & the interaction on my posts has definitely grown tremendously. All in all, posting less has been doing so much MORE for me & I am feeling it.

the importance of creating high quality content + what does quality over quantity mean

Here’s the deal… not to be harsh, but most people are NOT visiting your blog everyday. Everyone is busy & everyone follows tons of bloggers. You may think your letting your fans down by not providing fresh content on the daily, but no matter how dedicated you are to your craft, you are letting down your fans more with watered down content… which exactly what happens when you are expecting yourself to blog EVERYDAY.

It’s not sustainable, it’s not realistic, & it really doesn’t help you very much. Blog readers have a routine, & it usually consists of a twice a week visit to all of their favorite blogs to catch up on their latest content. Keep that in mind & it will help decrease the initial guilt of not writing on your blog everyday (cause there is an initial guilt stage!).

just a little bit more about the crucial importance of creating higher quality content

It’s really up to you at the end of the day, but would you rather them come to your site with 5 pieces of content that aren’t providing value, or three DAMN good impressive posts?

I’d go for the latter. When your readers visit your site they won’t be overwhelmed with a ton of new watered down content… & they will actually be more likely to spend their time on your site reading every written word.

No one is going to forget about you if you don’t blog daily, I PROMISE. Free up some time in your schedule so that you can spend more time brainstorming/finding inspiration/getting creative/& providing content that leaves a lasting impression on your readers so that they want to come back for more!

Also, be sure to use your new found spare time to create some MEATY posts. Longer posts, as I said, provide so much more SEO value, which is the most effective at bringing new eyes to your site.

also- a less demanding posting schedule will give you time for other projects

If your days aren’t spent solely focused on providing content every damn day, you will be able to dedicate other projects to help grow your brand.

Just a few ideas of things you could be doing with a bit more free time: build up your social media accounts, respond to emails/comments, create freebies for your newsletter, updating affiliate llinks to old posts, working on the visuals of your site, design a media kit, grow your community, create a product, etc. etc.

Also, life is a project too & that needs your attention. Posting less will reduce your stress levels & give you some breathing time to make dinner, watch a show, or just paint your nails!

it’s not a bad thing to keep your readers waiting

The old age game of playing hard to get works with blog readers too. Keeping them waiting isn’t a bad thing, as long as you don’t keep them waiting forever & the content is killing it.

I once followed a blogger who posted once a week TOPS, her content was SO damn good I checked back obsessively every single day praying for a new post. Eventually she stopped blogging, and I kid you not, I was heartbroken. I still check her blog every once in a while, just in case she threw up a blog post that I may have missed.

I don’t know about you guys, but that’s the kinda blog I wanna be. I want people so excited about my content that they keep my site bookmarked in anticipation of a new post. One day a week is definitely not what I am recommending cause I do think you need more than that, BUT it just goes to show- if the content is king, the readers will keep coming back.

gives your posts time to go get some traction

If you are spending all this time creating content with viral potential, GIVE IT TIME TO GET THERE. Posting everyday will dilute your content & things will sadly get lost in the shuffle.

Also, you can now spend more time promoting your own content (sharing on social media, link backs, etc.). If a blog post is really good with a TON of great information for my readers, I will share on social media throughout a few days even.

Focus on drawing in readers to that amazing post so they can get a great taste of the content you are creating, which will definitely want them to come back for more.

IMO- here’s how often you should blog…

I think 3-4 days a week is 100% sufficient. Ultimately it’s up to you, but weekends are worthless because no one is on their computers reading blogs.

I personally like to give myself a one day a week break from creating content to work on other stuff. I don’t get to anal about a schedule these days, because I really like my content to come naturally & not feel so forced!

What about you guys? What’s your posting schedule? I’d love to hear your guys’ thoughts & if you have any other blog post tips you wanna see, let me know!

x, E

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