9 Reasons To Blog Less
Blogging is a HUGE asset to your business, but I can tell you there are people who blog too often and this is HURTING their business. Today, we're going to talk about how blogging less can actually help your business. Plus you'll get a free episode of the new ConradPRO podcast series.
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When it comes to blogging, a common misconception is that more content is better. Is it really true?
If you're anything like me, you love scanning pinterest. You might even stop looking at tattoo ideas and home decor long enough to read an article relating to your business. If this is the case, I'm sure you've clicked on a promising blog post only to find a 300 word essay on why blogging is good for business. Bummer.
I can't even begin to tell you how many blogs I see with beautiful graphics, perfect branding, awesome service offerings, and absolutely terrible content being published once per day on the blog. THIS HAS TO STOP PEOPLE.
Fair warning - if you're the person who blogs once per day, this blog post might make you angry - but you're also the reason I'm recording this, so buckle up and hear me out. I want to help you!
What makes a blog? Is it the fancy User Interface? The eye-catching graphics? Neither, it is the content, the words. Readers won’t think twice about hitting that back button once they realize terrible content is being brewed. Heck, even if they subscribed to your posts they may even unsubscribe and write bad reviews for your site. Damaging your business even further.
When you get someone to come to your blog and engage in your content, you're given access to them. They like your style or maybe your title was enough to hook them, either way, you got them right where you want them. You wouldn't ask out the man or woman of your dreams while dressed in black-tie attire then show up to the restaurant in sweats and flip flops. Don't do this to your audience. You should understand that posting every day, just won’t cut it. Your traffic and income goals could potentially take a nosedive. More blog posts does not equal more traffic.
Don’t let the “pros” talk you into wasting your time on daily posts. Save that challenge until you have a team of writers under your payroll.
If you're spending 10 minutes on social media, promotion and graphic design for your new blog post, you need to spend AT LEAST 50 minutes writing the content. Anything less isn't worth yours, or your reader's time. Granted, some people are faster or slower writers than others. I can write a 2000 word blog post in 25 minutes and have it scheduled and ready to go in half that, but one of my best blogging friends takes over an hour just to get to 1000 words, it’s not a bad thing and it doesn’t mean she’s bad at blogging, but you need to gauge your skill level.
My point is, if you're going to put a ton of effort into a blog post every day of the week, beautiful photos, graphics and some bad-ass marketing, you can probably spend a little extra time writing more in your posts. Not convinced? Here are more reasons why too much blogging is downright dumb;
Daily Posts Destroy Social Proof
Social proof is basically the evidence left by your avid readers. They spin a tale of how interesting and worth reading your blog is. They include subscriber count, comments, retweets, likes, dislikes, and even that “new visitor” notification.
Without this social proof, subscription to your blog becomes much harder that looking for a needle in a haystack.
Posting too often reduces viewing time of subsequent posts and ultimately their social proofs. People are only interested in today and not yesterday’s conversations. NO ONE is going to read your 365 posts and sift through them to find the best one.
Let me put it this way, if you publish posts daily, the most recent are the one that gets social proof. If you publish weekly, the post will be your top for the week. The longer a post stays at the top, the more exposure it receives.
Daily Posts Destroy Reader Bonding
Quick question, do you have a blog that you read every single day? Most people don’t. Let’s say you are an avid blog fan – how many blogs do you read every single day? 2? 5?
Your subscribers won’t read every post you write. They probably won’t read every post you’re writing even if you only post once per week. When you’re posting once per day, you end up missing a bonding session with them per post they skip. You also miss out on spreading the intended message.
Think of how effective it would be to combine 5 small posts into one really detailed and thought out one. Your readers would probably read it and gain much more value.
Daily Posts Destroy Subscriber Counts
Pinterest, like most sites, offers the ability for others to subscribe to your profile. Nothing enrages a subscriber more than an influx of mail from the same person, in this case, the blogger who constantly send posts via email, tweets or Pinterest posts. Subscribers will automatically hit the unsubscribe button.
People will appreciate receiving two or three blog posts monthly, even better if it is just a single post. They will even thank you, by maintaining the subscription. It should be understood that, Scarcity breeds value while abundance doesn’t.
No Amazing Content
The best thing you can do for your blog is to provide amazing articles. This is what generates traffic to your site. Filling up weekly quotas is just a waste of time. The time you could have used to ensure that one or two articles per week are top notch.
No Time to Promote your Article
Maybe you have the opportunity to write amazing articles, but are you promoting them in accordance? You may write amazing articles every day but then again lack the time to promote them, or spending less time promoting them. Remember your reader needs to be wooed and not the other way around.
You Fail to Keep Track of your Viewers
Publishing many posts essentially turns you into a machine, unable to interact with your viewers. You become unable to provide feedback to their queries or even answer their emails. This is a quick way to lose subscribers.
You End up Writing for YOU
Posts written are usually published for the reader and the reader alone. Writing too many posts you lose focus and the blog will eventually be less about your audience and more about you.
Why would readers what to read about you? What impact does that have in their life? Think about what’s more important, the work or the response your work elicits.
You’re Stuck with Blank, Short Posts
Since you are fixated on publishing every day, you become fixed in a certain number of words. Short blog posts are quick to read, but they lack in depth content. What is to stop your readers from subscribing to blogs that have more meat in their posts? I still stress that readers need to be engaged, they need to be left wanting more. This is why I advocate writing fewer (maybe twice a month or weekly), longer engaging blog posts.
Trust me, the reader will be left wanting more of your blog and continue coming back for more of your amazing content.
You Miss Out on the Niches
Having a successful niche for your readers is easier when you are generating fewer posts. Analysis and tracking of traffic are easier, making you point out what topics entertains readers more, and subsequently, concentrate on them. This puts you ahead over those who post frequently and have failed to realize the needs of the reader.
So, here's my challenge. Take your last 5 blog posts and use the Google machine to find out how many words where in that post. Now multiply that number by how many times you blog per week. For example, if you blog 4 days a week, and each post is around 600 words, that puts you at 2400 words total. Instead of wasting time making 3 more graphics, scheduling 3 times the social media posts and promoting 3 extra blog posts, why not condense that into ONE post.
One 24 hundred word post full of tips, video, graphics and content that will make your readers bookmark your blog and come back next week for more. That's my challenge to you today. Change your blog schedule. Quality over quantity. Odds are, you already know I'm right. And you hate writing a new post every day anyway. Plus, let's be blunt here - NO ONE is coming to your blog every single morning to read you half-assed post. I love you, and you're going to write great content, but you need to get your blog process in order.
Imagine if you were dishing out incredible content every week. You'd see a jump in your visitors, better turnovers to paying customers and more comments because you'll be able to offer your readers some serious value.
And before you say it - yes, you could break that 2400 word blog post into a 4-day series, but why? It's an inconvenience, it's a waste of your time, and not all 4 posts are going to do equally well on Pinterest. Just give your audience what they want!
The internet is a big place,little 300 word posts don't make people stop and read anymore, you need to step up your game and start offering value, or your blog is going to do more harm to your business than good. Blog less and offer more value. Your audience and wallet will thank you for it
