How often should you publish blog posts?
So, you’re going all in on publishing blog posts. You’ve made the right decision! Brands that prioritise publishing blog posts see 13 times more ROI than ones that don’t. You read that right.
According to Semrush, blog posts are still the most popular content format, with 9 out of 10 marketers relying on blogging to achieve their content goals. Now, you’re sitting there thinking to yourself, “How often should I publish blogs?” You’ve come to the right place.
Sit back, grab a cup of something hot (or cold—it’s 22 degrees at the time of writing—a hot drink would be simply criminal right now), and let’s dive into how often you should publish blog posts in 2024.
How often should you publish blog posts?
It depends. I know it’s an annoyingly vague answer, but the number of blog posts you should publish monthly depends on various factors, including your goals, expertise and desired ROI. Let’s explore these factors in more depth:
Blog content goals
Before you start planning your blog content, you need to have a crystal clear view of your goals. Ask yourself: what are my content marketing goals? What do I expect to achieve from publishing blogs on my website? Am I keen to build brand awareness or generate new leads? Ultimately, your blogging frequency will depend on the goals you set.
Let me demonstrate my point with an example. For time-strapped businesses keen to generate leads, a flurry of low-value blog posts won’t get them anywhere. Instead, they should spend their time producing high-quality bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU) content for their blog, including case studies and product/service comparison articles, to showcase their product or service without making a direct sales pitch.
Expertise
Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines are clear: quality is key. But it’s not only the E-E-A-T guidelines you need to keep in mind. Google's March 2024 core update made it very clear that AI-generated spam content isn’t welcome.
The update, which you can learn more about here, tackled scaled content abuse, where users leveraged automation to generate low—quality or unoriginal content at scale with the goal of manipulating search rankings. So, any temptation to use generative AI to produce hundreds of blog posts for the sole purpose of manipulating rankings should be avoided at all costs.
AI-generated content doesn’t communicate expertise, and Google agrees. Instead, you should be focusing on communicating your expertise with current and potential customers through valuable content that demonstrates your worth.
Now, producing valuable content takes time and resources. If you have the capacity to create a high-quality, experienced-driven blog post every week, that’s great! If you don’t, there’s no harm in publishing two blog posts each month. What matters is the value it brings, both in the eyes of your readers and Google (for those looking to rank high on page one).
Return on investment (ROI)
Many businesses follow a set content strategy. This allows them to aim for measurable results, such as a percentage increase in website traffic or conversion rates. Measuring these metrics allows them to quantify ROI and find an ideal publishing frequency through experimentation.
For example, a hypothetical cybersecurity software provider aims to increase the number of qualified leads for their security platform by 15% over the next quarter. Their strategy involves publishing four in-depth articles per month, including technical blogs exploring common security threats and solutions, thought leadership pieces from the C-suite shining a light on the company’s unique approach and customer case studies.
Once the blog posts are published, they track website traffic and monitor relevant engagement metrics, such as the time spent on the page and bounce rate, as well as lead generation metrics, such as demo requests and contact form submissions. Over a few months, they experimented with different blog post formats and topics and adjusted their content strategy to focus on increased engagement and lead generation metrics.
This data-driven content approach allowed the cybersecurity software company to calculate the ROI of their content strategy. In this illustrative instance, let’s say that posting four high-quality blog posts per month for three months increased their qualified leads by 20%.
Quickfire blog post frequency questions
Do you have questions about how often you should publish blog posts? Let’s tackle some common questions with a little quickfire blog post publishing frequency Q&A.
Is it OK to publish a blog post once per month?
The short answer is yes.
The long answer (because I can’t just leave you hanging) is that creating valuable content that adheres to Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines takes time and expertise. If you don’t have the time or resources to create content that meets these high standards every week, that’s OK. Quality over quantity, always.
What is the ideal number of blog posts per month?
There isn’t one universal optimal blog posting schedule. As I said, it depends on your goals, expertise and desired ROI. However, my personal opinion is that around four blog posts per month is a good cadence to aim for, at least while you’re finding your feet. Once you’ve got the processes in place and blogging feels more natural, you might consider increasing to six or even eight per month. Just make sure to focus on quality above all.
I don’t have the time to write and publish blogs frequently. What should I do?
If you don’t have the time to produce high-quality content in-house, consider outsourcing. Working with a freelance content writer, especially if they have extensive expertise in your industry, allows you to meet your content goals without stealing too much of your time or attention away from your main focus: running your business.
You're in the right place if you find yourself in this predicament. As a freelance B2B content writer, I produce content that has a genuine impact, meeting your target audience where they are.
With six years of B2B content writing experience and over 500 blog posts under my belt (I think it’s actually closer to 1,000 at this point), I have the know-how to help you build brand awareness and generate leads for your business.
