How and Why to Keep Your Blog Up To Date
One of the single most important things you can do when you are blogging for your business is to keep it up to date. You can almost hear the crickets chirping on some blogs when it has been weeks or months since a post has been made. To keep traffic coming and bring in new readers it is important to stay on top of your blog posts and be consistent. Depending on the content of your blog visitors won’t necessarily expect a new blog post every day. A good rule of thumb is to shoot for 3-4 new blog posts a week. Not only do readers like fresh new content, search engines do as well. So how can you keep your blog up to date?
Set up time to work on your blog posts everyday: Try to spend time at least a small chunk of time working on blog posts everyday. You may or may not be able to complete a whole blog posts but at least work on it everyday. The more you do it the easier it becomes. If you make this a practice you will find it becomes easier to keep your blog fresh and up to date.
Set up weekly time to do research on blog ideas: You need ideas for your blog posts so spend a day or two of your week researching blog ideas. If you can gather all the information on a day or two you will have the material you need to get your daily work done.
Keep a notepad handy at all times for when ideas come up: I find inspiration for blog posts on occasion in the strangest times and places. I could be at a movie or having a conversation with someone and ideas for my blog are born. If I do not write it down I will forget it.
Use publishing tools to set up times for your blog posts: If you have a chunk of time to work on your blog posts you could do more than one at a time and then set up to publish your posts at later dates. This keeps new content coming and the blog fresh. This can be a very efficient way to work on your blog if you find you have a block of time to work.
Keep at it, keep consistent and you will have happy readers and a successful blog.
So I would love to hear what you do to stay on top of your blog and keep it up to date. What methods do you use?
Angela Paige
angela@angelapaige.com
Connect with me on Twitter - Angela_paige
Connect with me on Facebook - Angela Paige
Learn about working with our team - About our team
p.s. Want to learn to get more leads and sales? Check out this great video!
Great tips on Blogging.
Thank you for sharing.
[Reply]
Angela Reply:
July 8th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Thank you for your comment Maggie!
[Reply]
I surely don’t do three to four a week. I try to do one to two a week. I have not figured out the formula for this yet. Is it better to post once a week and get more comments or more times a week and get less comments on each one?
Nicole Rushin´s last [type] ..Releasing Butterflies to Manifest Your Dreams
[Reply]
Angela Reply:
July 8th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
I think 1-2 a week is fine, especially if you are trying to get more comments. I just don’t think you want to let it slide so you are only posting like once every couple weeks or once a month.
[Reply]
How timely to read this Angela,
It is important to be consistent and follow a schedule on blogging. Your readers do come to expect a new post at the same time after awhile. I got lo over the 4th & it felt so wrong not having my usual post time done.
Very good advice!
Val
Val Wilcox´s last [type] ..Renew Your Mindset With Faith
[Reply]
Angela Reply:
July 8th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Ah yes, the holidays can throw you off schedule. I agree that you readers will expect new posts at the same time. Thanks for your comment!
[Reply]
Great blog and congrats on you completing your 30 day challenge with Amanda, keep up the great work. It is a great idea to make sure that you post content on a regular basis so that your followers will not forget all about you.
Lori
Lori Robertson´s last [type] ..What’s Stopping You From Succeeding
Twitter: Lori07
[Reply]
Angela Reply:
July 22nd, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Hey Lori! Thank you, Amanda’s challenge was great to really get me going. I think it is important to post on a regular basis to keep yourself out there and your stuff fresh.
[Reply]
Great post Angela – it’s true that the search engines love fresh content and so do your readers.
Congrats on completing the 30 Day Challenge and also in being the top commenter of the week in the TSA!!
Wendy
Wendy Hewlett´s last [type] ..How Do We Identify Our Inner Self-Limiting Beliefs
[Reply]
Angela Reply:
July 26th, 2010 at 8:35 am
Hey Wendy! That is the best thing about a blog, new and fresh content that the search engines love. Thanks for the comment!
[Reply]
Thanks Angela. Nice simple doable tips. I like the tip of doing something everyday even if it is not to complete it.
It is similar to my meditation commitment – something everyday no matter what is better than huge chunks of time sporadically.
cheers,
Amanda
Amanda Lee´s last [type] ..Law of Attraction- Use it Wisely- Not Selfishly
[Reply]
Angela Reply:
July 28th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
It really is helpful to do a little everyday, it feels good to see the progress you are making that way too. Thanks for your comment!
[Reply]
Great post Angela, this is so important to every blogger. I try to get ideas from things I wanted to know about when I was first starting network marketing. When I first found new strategies and applied them I never thought about blogging about them. Most network marketers go through the same struggles and are looking for the same answers so this is a great post for anybody that wants to have an effective blog. It’s the hub for all your marketing pieces.
[Reply]
Angela Reply:
July 28th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
Yes, a blog really needs to be the hub so I think it is so important to keep it up to date and fresh. Thanks so much for your comment!
[Reply]
So, there I was idly surfing over to your blog and what do I get?..a sharp poke in the ribs! Yep, I hold my hands up, my blog posts haven’t exactly been up to date. Your advice though is bang up to date and a very good reminder to make, what sometimes feels a huge hurdle, into part of everyday life – little and often gets the job done is my favourite saying…although clearly I haven’t been taking my own advice lately!! However, I do have an excuse..firstly, the kids have just broken up for summer holidays and secondly the gremlins have been at work and I’ve been trying to fix a dodgy RSS feed (now thinking of moving to FeedBlitz). But all (fingers crossed) should be fixed, so normal service about to be resumed. Thanks for yet another great post.
Best wishes
Joanna
Twitter: Mysitcomlife
[Reply]
Angela Reply:
July 28th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Oh, I understand how easily life can kind of get out of control sometimes. It can get tough but it is great to be consist when you have the time. Hopefully everything is back to normal for you soon!
[Reply]
Angela,
Coming up with useful relevant content consistently is the hardest thing for me. In high school I used to write all the time. I took a creative writing course my Senior year, and I think that drained everything out of me. It became creating stories, poems, etc of what someone else wanted instead of writing what I wanted. One thing I did learn from creative writing is to just start writing, something, anything, stream of conscious, and you’ll eventually gravitate towards what you want.
Thanks for the thoughts.
Jeremiah M. Wean´s last [type] ..Overcome Your Limiting Beliefs
Twitter: JWean
[Reply]
Angela Reply:
July 28th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
It can be challenging to come up with content. I have been trying to work on different ideas for content and do some stream of conscious lately. That is kind of fun, I always get interesting results. Thanks for your comment!
[Reply]
Hi agian Angela,
I continue to love the layout of your blog and I am so happy to syndicate its conten. Short, informative posts packed with relevant information.
I have chosen Tuesdays (Choose days as my days to blog for nw content so I am writing at least once a week). I also use these posts as ezine articles too to get the message (and my site) out there so I get a lot of exposure.
I look forward to reading what Angela did next…
Howard Hughes´s last [type] ..My Responseability
[Reply]
Angela Reply:
August 1st, 2010 at 7:59 pm
Thanks so much Howard! I like that you use a certain day to post, I am trying to do that as well and post on certain days. Do you repurpose your content for the article site?
[Reply]
Angela…I have experienced drastic drops in google when not posting on a regular basis. I hope I have learned to keep fairly consistent. Even when time seems to not give any openings I have begun to see that not having time is not a good excuse…because the bigger picture is that all of the time I have spent in the past gets lost right with its ranking in the search engines.
Thanks for your insight!
Bruce Backman´s last [type] ..How to Create Ebooks- Video Tutorials- Audio Series and so much more by attending Crushers College
[Reply]
Angela Reply:
August 28th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Hey Bruce! I have seen that same thing happen during times when I have not been consistent. That keeps me trying to be as consistent as I can. Thanks for your comment!
[Reply]
Thanks for reminding me of the importance of keeping my blog fresh. I’ve been severely lacking in that respect. My first post took me forever but I enjoyed learning the process of how to use WordPress and how to actually get some content together. I admit I’ve been a snail blogger. Now that you mention it, I do hear crickets chirping on my blog.
Twitter: casamonika
[Reply]
Angela Reply:
August 28th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
I think it can be hard in the beginning as you are just learning to blog but as you get going it gets easier and easier to create content. Thanks for your comment.
[Reply]
Great blog post! I have always kept several note pads around, so when an idea hits me, I can write it down. I am now taking those years of notes, and writing a book from them!
Twitter: playingbiz
[Reply]
Angela Reply:
September 19th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
That is really cool that you are writing a book. All those great ideas can really add up.
[Reply]
What a wonderful idea to write a book from your notes. My plan is to write books from my blog posts.
I love your tips on consistency . . . and wish I could follow them.
With two active blogs . . . and the desire to be very deliberate in what I post, keeping to a schedule has not yet reached the top of my priority list.
Also, because my posts are not usually short, I know that my readers would almost “resent” if I posted more than 3 times a week.
[Reply]
Angela Reply:
October 26th, 2010 at 10:44 am
Hey Shari! I think that if you have longer blog posts and you readers don’t expects posts that often that is okay. I think the main key is being consistent. Thanks for your comment!
[Reply]
I find that by posting one meaningful article a week I get more comments and it allows me to get more work done. Plus, joining TSA has been a boost.
[Reply]
Hi Angela
I have definitely let regular blog posting slip recently with so much going on in my life. However, I have just put out a new article and will be back up to speed shortly! I am always thinking of what to write about next and realise that I need to keep a little notepad with me to note them down.
Unfortunately most of my good ideas come to me when I am in bed and I find it hard to make myself get up and write them down! Annoyingly I can never quite remember them in the morning
Thanks for giving me a kick, Angela!
Sue
Twitter: soocee
[Reply]
Thanks for this Angela. Do you think that when you are just starting out in the blogging world that it’s best to create more content or to create a presence on other people’s blogs through comments and etc? I have been trying to balance both commenting and creating content. Trying to stick to at least 1 post a week. Wish I could manage the time to do more! Some good things to start with are creating a schedule for writing time, to create a list of major topics, subtopics as well as how to structure the posts. How to’s, top 10′s, interviews, latest news, etc. I got that info from socialmediaexaminer.com.
Twitter: shenpaul
[Reply]
Keeping your blog up to date with fresh content is important. I know I’ve visited blogs that haven’t had anything new posted for weeks or even months. That always leads me to believe that the person has abandoned the blog, unless I know otherwise. I think if you are trying to attract networkers, it’s especially important to keep fresh content going. This also gives Google a lot more to index, which ultimately leads to more visitors over time. Thanks Angela!
Twitter: eldonbeard
[Reply]
I don’t know why I had not thought about breaking up blog writing into daily work. I love your idea of having a weekly time to brainstorm possible future topics. I actually plan to use my year end planning to put together topics for the entire upcoming year. And keeping a notebook handy is another great idea. Thank you!
Twitter: steveborgman
[Reply]