When I first started blogging, I posted on a random schedule, basically whenever I could sit down at the computer and had inspiration strike. Then, as I got more into the swing of things I started posting daily. I would often write four or five posts at once and schedule them to post automatically.
Then two things happened at the same time that influenced how often I decided to post. First, I decided to start a second blog. Secondly, I found that I had received a grant which made it financially feasible to go back to school. With twice as much posting on the horizon, in one tenth of the time, something had to give.
So I decided to cut down on posting. I post Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at Almost Frugal (with a Sunday roundup) and Mondays and Tuesdays at Almost Frugal Food (with a Saturday roundup and a Friday guest post). Pretty My Blog has one new post a week, on Tuesdays.
A surprising thing has happened. My subscription and comment numbers have risen dramatically. These two numbers are examples of a self-fulfilling prophecy, as they are often the best way regular readers and new visitors have of judging the success of your blog. Will a post with 3 comments be judged as more or less successful than a post with 17 comments?
Well, of course that’s a stupid question, as the answer is obvious. The same goes for a blog with 114 readers versus a blog with 3114 readers. (In fact it’s best not to share your feedreader subscription count until it passes the hundred mark; after that show it off, baby!)
The moral of the story? Let people have time to read and appreciate what you write. They’ll take the time to join the conversation, and your blog will be better for it.
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