Blogging is a key component of content marketing strategies. Unlike the content you run on social media sites, a blog article hosted on your website increases more organic traffic has greater longevity and has no format limitations. A blog is a great way to showcase your brand and expertise, as well as convert leads.
But how much do you need to post to a blog to reap the rewards? The answer at first seems simple: more blog posts lead to more traffic.
More content leads to more traffic
Hubspot released a study looking closely at the relationship between the number of blog posts and their performance. For B2B companies, having a frequency of 16+ blog posts a month resulted in 3.5 times more traffic than 0-4 a month, and B2C companies saw a similar 4.5 increase. The research also showed that after your 401st post, site traffic increases dramatically. There is also a noticeable boost at the 300th post.
Generally, blog strategies find success with 2-4 posts a week, and more content means more traffic. However, 300-400 posts are no small task, especially for smaller companies. There is no magic number that will result in blog success — rather, you need to scale to the size of your team and resources. If you’re prioritizing quantity and not thinking of quality, you might burn out your content creators and deliver content that isn’t relevant to your audience.
More than just numbers
Creating a successful blog is more than just posting as much as possible. You need to have consistency and provide value to your leaders. Posting consistently is great for blog growth. If you post on a regular schedule, you will drive more organic traffic from audience members who are expecting to find new content at certain times of the month or week. This is great for readership loyalty and maintaining your audience’s attention. Have a schedule of at least a few months of planned content.
You also don’t want to write the same thing that everyone else is. Carbon copies of blog posts are unfortunately common and can lead to an over-saturation of search results. Bring your unique spin to the trending topics. It can be hard to fill out hundreds of ideas for blog posts. Get ideas from all parts of your company, find out what customers most frequently ask about, and know what your competition is doing. Keep an eye on news and research in your sector. If you are rolling out new products or initiatives, have articles that relate to those announcements. Blogs can also feature employer brand content, such as showcasing employees or taking a look behind the scenes.
It’s also a sound idea to update your past posts, especially ones that perform above and beyond. According to Hubspot’s internal data, 75% of blog views and 90% of the blog leads come from older posts. Updating will round out your performance numbers, as well as keep your best articles relevant for a long time.
What’s your strategy?
The frequency of your blog posts should also reflect the goal of your content marketing strategy. If your goal is to increase organic traffic, you will want to focus on a higher number of posts. Listicles generally can be produced more quickly than full articles.
If your goal is to increase brand awareness, you want to focus less on quality and more on quantity, while still posting regularly, such as once a week for smaller companies. Create content that demonstrates your voice, company values, and brand. You can also create branded infographics, which are immensely shareable.
Blogging frequency is in a gradual decline. In 2014, most surveyed bloggers posted several times per week, and in 2018 the majority posted only several times per month. During that same time period, the percentage of bloggers who publish every day declined by half. This may be because they are spending more time on blogs, and other social media.
Across the board, more blog posts indicate greater site traffic. At the same time, not all blog content is created equally. It’s important to keep an eye on your analytics so that you know if your traffic is valuable and adjust your strategy as needed. The goal is not just to hit traffic numbers, but to convert leads and grow your customer base in the long term.