How Frequently Should You Update Your Blog in 2014?

If you are ever in the car with me when the theme to Speed Racer comes on you better buckle up because my foot suddenly turns to lead and the car turns into the Mach 5.

Same thing happens when I hear certain songs that remind me of Smokey and The Bandit or The Dukes of Hazzard ‘cuz music moves me. But if I had to pick between the ’77 Trans Am the Bandit drove, the General Lee or the Mach 5 I wouldn’t hesitate to make a choice.

That Mach 5 would win every time. Really, a car like this with the memories I have…well it is hard to beat.

What Does This Have To With Blogging Frequency?

The answer my friends isn’t blowing in the wind. It is right here, in front of you.

When you are determining how frequently to update your blog you need to compare how much content you produce versus how much your readers want.

The sweet spot is going to vary from blog to blog. There are no “real” rules just subjective decisions people have made that work for them but like all things in blogging there are few rules that are applicable across the board.

I ignore people who say there are limits on how frequently you should update your blog. My philosophy is  based upon the relationship I established with my readers and my goals.

The long time readers know I update daily and that sometimes I update multiple times a day. My experience has shown when I update 2-3 times a day my traffic almost doubles but so does my bounce rate.

Typically that increase in bounce rate is met with an increase in subscribers. Bring more people into your store and you increase the possibility that someone will buy something.

The trick is to try and provide content that is entertaining and of value. I don’t expect nor try to be all things to all people but I do know that the pop culture references like the Speed Racer and Smokey and The Bandit ones tend to resonate with others.

Not just Generation X, but Baby Boomers and even some of those pesky Millennials go for movie quotes, especially The Princess Bride Stuff.

Inconceivable!

Not in this case.

How Frequently Should You Update Your Blog in 2014?

I’ll confess I used that headline because in 2011 I  wrote How Frequently Should You Update Your Blog and didn’t want to duplicate the headline.

I was going to ask Kinnear about but I got distracted by the burgers on this post so I moved on to Bill’s places and read about the Future of Things and that got me thinking about homework which of course meant visiting Whit and Larry.

Damn kids are getting far too much homework and I spend way too much time trying to figure out what benefit there is in overloading our kids with so much work they don’t have time to play with Legos.

Yeah, no time to play with Legos.  Julianelle ought to be grateful the worst he has had to deal with is the dreaded Lego in the foot moment, granted that is painful but it disappears in moments, not like the 13 hours of homework our kids get nightly.

Ask me how I came up with 13 hours and I’ll tell you I can’t make head or tells of Common Core math. I’d blame it on the bloody English who are always chuffed or gutted about something but I am not quite sure if I used those expressions properly. Someone call Henry.

Does Cursing Belong In Blogging

I feel the same way about it as I have for years:

When I curse in the post there is a rhyme and reason for it. It is done because it is supposed to add flavor to the soup, but like any spice it should be used sparingly.

In the post before this I said “I would always be a better motherfucker.”

It makes sense in the context of the post and more importantly it works as the flavor for that soup. Several people made positive remarks about it but no one has said they were offended.

What if someone was offended?

I write for me first and everyone else second so I can’t say I would change the way I write unless I received so a boatload of negative feedback.

But I don’t swear in every post and more importantly the relationship I have developed with my readers makes this possible.

You should be aware I do things differently than other bloggers. I suspect if I spent more time playing the game I could generate more opportunities for myself and the readership would be substantially bigger than it is now.

But I have chosen to take the road less taken. I like trying to blaze a trail. I like the challenge and because I miss old fashioned blogging I do some things differently.

“Writing is the fuel that feeds the fire in my belly. I just love this stuff. A day without writing is unusual. Even if I don’t put pen to paper I am usually composing and constructing stories in my head.”

That was true when I started blogging in 2004 and it is still true today. I do this because I love to write and I am compelled to do so.

Someone asked me if I ever worry about whether my best material gets buried in the archives because I have produced more content than people can keep up with.

The answer is sort of.

There is little if any rhyme or reason to what does well.  I wrote a post about how to hard boil eggs that has generated a boatload of traffic but I wouldn’t call it great writing.

Some of the pieces I think are representative of my best work are ignored.

Don’t get me started on using comments or shares to measure what is popular. Comments are not currency. You can have a 100 comments and only 5 of them will advance the conversation and be worth a damn.

Same sort of thing goes with the shares. You can tell me your post was shared 89,210 times and I’ll ask how many people read it before or after it was shared.

Not everyone agrees with me there and that is ok. They can go step on Legos in their bare feet.

I’d share more thoughts with you but my mind is filled with the sounds of the Mach 5 and the freeways are empty now. See you in the AM.