MediaVision Blog : Search Engine Marketing

Blogging is considered to be one of the most stressful jobs of the modern age. Which is pretty weird when you think about it. I mean, no lives hang in the balance of an interesting post, world economies won’t disintegrate because of a bad one, and the sun will continue to shine if you miss a deadline. But many bloggers don’t see it that way. I think that something in the blogosphere makes them lose perspective and they go a little nuts.

Two bloggers have died of massive heart attacks in recent months, a third barely survived his. Sure, there may have been other contributing factors, but their families and friends have blamed the stress of constant blogging. There is enormous pressure for professional bloggers to be the first with an interesting news scoop, or to be controversial with their writing, or to simply stay ahead of trends. Being left behind and losing traffic is akin to death for a serious blogger. Being only second best, or delivering second hand news is a life sentence, aptly demonstrated by the recently deceased.

In their quest to be the best, bloggers have been known to spend 20 out of 24 hours in front of their computer screens, trawling for news. They eat badly, not taking the time to cook a decent meal, seldom go out into the fresh air and even more rarely exercise. It’s not a lifestyle that promotes good health, no wonder the effects are starting to be felt.

It’s prompted a string of blogs promoting healthy blogging tips, which are in essence, merely the same tips for healthy living that we already know – ditch the ready made processed meals in favour of fresh fruit and veg etc. But it’s also made people question the whole blogging process, including whether constant posting takes its toll on the health of your blog, let alone on you.

Jiannis Sotiropoulos, from Pandemic Blog, wrote that blogging daily can have a negative effect on your blog. Among other things, the pressure to write constantly can have a negative effect on both your subject matter and your writing. You may blog with less discretion than you would normally use, opting to write wishy-washy posts on wishy-washy topics rather than risk not writing at all. Your readers, who are not stupid, will be able to tell. They can sense when you’ve written in a hurry and haven’t taken the time and care over your posts that they deserve. They may, in turn, feel that they needn’t take the time and care to read them properly. What you have to say, no matter how pertinent, ends up falling by the wayside, along with all of the other virtual waste already littering the Netscape.

You also run the danger of subjecting your readers to an information overload. You may post so often that they have trouble keeping up. There is the chance that you may both lose your focus in the ocean of content that you produce. Then it doesn’t matter what the quality of your writing is, your readers may simply chose to go some place else, some place less cluttered. They may unsubscribe from your blog (if they had subscriptions in the first place) or they may just stop reading your blog at all. It all amounts to the same thing, loss of traffic, which is a blogger’s worst nightmare.

On the other hand, when you’re starting out as a blogger you need to post often to establish a presence online. You need to ingratiate yourself with search engines and readers and to generally announce yourself as a credible source of news or entertainment in the world online.

So where is the balance? It’s a good question, and one to which I don’t have the answer. I think that you, as a blogger, know what your limits are. If you’re capable of posting two or three blogs a day, then go for it, knock yourself out. But if posting that often takes its toll on you emotionally, physically and psychologically, then don’t. Cut back to two, three or four times a week. Just ensure that when you do write a post, you make it count with excellent content and top notch writing.

Another option for posting-mad bloggers, who can’t stop the content, is to spread themselves over several blogs, with guest posts or maybe trying a new niche. That way they still get to feel like they’re feeding the machine, but they’re not overwhelming their readers with constant posts.

One thing that I wouldn’t do is make any sudden changes to my schedule without first letting my audience know why. Your loyal readers deserve to know what’s going on. A sudden change in your output may leave them confused and a tad put out. You should be able to gauge your audience’s reaction to your new schedule by their comments, as well as by the traffic. Most readers will appreciate your devotion to quality and will look forward to your posts with greater anticipation than ever before.

How often you post is up to you. It would be wise, however, to bear the consequences of constant blogging in mind, for your sake as well as that of your blog.