September 2, 2010 91 Comments

One Big Traffic Secret

Vintage ads collage sheet 1881 free to use

I’ll tell you one thing I know: the more you post, the more traffic you get.

It’s helpful if the stuff you post is worth something. I try hard to make that always the case. Others don’t try as hard, and yet, their traffic climbs when they post more stuff.

You can reply in the comments and tell me that you’d rather put out great stuff once a month, or once a week, or whenever the great stuff mood strikes you. That means you didn’t really read the first sentence of this post.

I’m not saying what you should do. I’m not saying what’s better or worse. I’m not telling you how often to write on your blog.

I’m telling you that there’s a reason why the top blogs on the Internet all post more than five times a day. All of them. It’s surely not because there’s always more than five amazing things to tell you every day.

But it’s 100% related to traffic and what we’ve observed by posting more.

Even now, while I’m writing these posts about six days ahead of when they go live, I’ve got two a day ready to go. Maybe when I get better at it, I’ll give you three or four amazing things to think about. Not likely. In a new project, I’ll have more than one writer, which will help.

My story still stands: the more you post (provided it’s reasonably useful), the more traffic you get.

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  • Anonymous

    How is this a secret? It’s common sense.

  • http://holiday-haven.blogspot.com Jessa

    THANK YOU!

  • http://twitter.com/donpower Don Power

    This post sounds like post padding to me…

    If this is what your six in the can read like, hmmm…

  • http://twitter.com/webby2001 Tom Webster

    I don’t think anyone would argue with you on this score, Chris :)

  • KevinK

    Common sense is often the best advice…good post Chris!

  • KevinK

    Common sense is often the best advice…good post Chris!

  • http://www.chrisljordan.com Chris Jordan

    Hey, Chris, Me again…

    Just three days of consistent content = 70% traffic increase.

  • http://www.chrisljordan.com Chris Jordan

    Hey, Chris, Me again…

    Just three days of consistent content = 70% traffic increase.

  • http://www.chrisljordan.com Chris Jordan

    You must admit that even if you wanted to consider this “post padding” – he still was able to illicit a response from you.

    Click-through + Comment = Win

  • http://johnantonios.com John Antonios

    I agree with you 100% Chris – actually for my brand, i was scientifically studying the correlation between number of posts and site traffic – there is certainly a strong positive correlation. I also noticed that for a starting brand, the number of tweets (regardless if they link back to your blog) also play a very important role in site traffic. I’ve only been blogging for nine month, so i don’t have enough data to make my findings official – but even now i can say that they are definitely related.
    As you said, “shipping” is what’s important, they don’t all have to be perfect – personally i have a problem with always trying to make things perfect – but the delay or the interruption in posting definitely affects my overall site performance.
    thank you for the advice that i might have already knew but maybe wanted to hear :)

  • http://twitter.com/secretinternet Secret Marketer

    Deep down we all know this is common sense. It’s only when the waters are muddied by those selling us an “easier way” that we get confused on it.

    And unfortunately, there are many on the Internet who’ll try and short-circuit common sense to make sales, and many who really, really want to believe what they’re saying.

  • http://www.seorankings.com Wes

    I agree, it seems the more you post the more traffic you get. It keeps Google coming back to your website more frequently and reminds your readers you’re there. Sure, I would love to say quality is always better than quantity, but depending on your goals, that’s not always true.

  • http://yoursalesplaybook.com paulcastain

    I guess I’m a late bloomer on this one and need to take your advice. My gut keeps telling me that people are far too busy to deal with multiple postings in a day (times however many blogs they subscribe to) but results are results and its certainly worth a try.

    I appreciate the tip!

    Respectfully,
    Paul Castain

  • http://www.vmdoh.com Brian Altenhofel

    If your post quality suffers because you are trying to post everyday, your chances at landing new readers could very well drop. It is important to break down your traffic into new vs. returning visitors.

    It’s one thing to get a lot of traffic. It’s another to get a lot of new traffic.

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  • http://www.pushingsocial.com Stanford @ PushingSocial

    I’m kinda lazy – so I was hoping you were wrong about this Chris. So…I checked my logs. In July I posted once a week. In August, I posted 2x a week. Umm…my traffic increased by 46%, my pageviews jumped by 53%. New vistors % – stayed the same.

    I hate numbers. Ok, at least for me, you’re right.

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  • http://www.retirepreneur.com Donna Kastner/Retirepreneur

    One sweep thru my blog traffic stats supports your observation 100% – Time to throttle up the blog posts big time.

    One more thing I noticed: When I make it personal, sharing a story AND give it a clever title, traffic goes even higher.

    I’m a believer – thanks Chris!

  • http://flavors.me/40deuce 40deuce

    I know that this is true, but I just have trouble either finding the time to post more as well as always coming up with new content to write about.
    I’d love to post everyday, but how do you come up with something to write about so often??
    Would love some tips and pointers.

  • http://www.conorneill.com Conor

    You have a good point. Sometimes my most “finished” posts get no comments whereas my brief, unfinished thoughts on a theme generate many more comments. Perhaps I should work harder on the unfinished posts that give my readers the sense that their comment can add to the finished thought… Hmmm… I may have learnt something here ;-)

  • http://www.mikeslife.org Mike CJ

    Ha! I remember posting exactly the same about a year ago, and I had loads of people harping on in comments about quality versus quantity etc.

    I’ve done it. When I spent three months posting twice or three times a day, my traffic doubled, when I stopped it went down again.

  • http://twitter.com/tikitravel Kimberly Juchnowski

    This is absolutely true, no one cold argue this one.

  • http://reallifemadman.blogspot.com Marjorie Clayman

    Hmm. But um…Hmm. Really? Hmm.

    It’s funny you post this as I was just thinking yesterday, “Maybe I should post more, but then maybe my posting every day is too much. Maybe people need time to go back and catch the posts they want to read. If you post 5 more times, they might lose it.”

    I guess I don’t see why blogging multiple times is a bad idea, but rather the promoting end of it. I try to keep the linking to my own blog to one time per day. One post, one plug. If I post multiple blogs in one day, then that’s that many more self-promotional tweets. I don’t know…I think for someone of newbie status like me that could come off the wrong way. I feel like a pretty new person should really emphasize other people, especially the more experienced people that I am learning from hand over fist every day.

    hmm….

  • David Siteman Garland

    From experience, posting more definitely has increased traffic.

    So has being consistent and making a promise.

    The promise on my website is EVERY Monday-Wednesday-Friday morning a new RISE episode is posted with an interview with a successful entrepreneur, unique marketer, etc.

    On Tuesday-Thursday there is more content. A blog post, short video, videos from our events, whatever.

    Once I decided in 2010 to make the jump to content every day during the week, the traffic spoke for itself.

  • David Siteman Garland

    Marjorie: I would say not to be afraid to plug your blog more than once a day. Be proud of the content. Also you might reach people in different time zones who missed it before. The key isn’t the amount of times you promote it, but what you do in your other social media posts…interacting, retweeting others, etc.

    However, I 100% agree on promoting others first especially when getting going (and then not forgetting about it like many do when you get big ;)

  • Anonymous

    So are we talking traffic as in how many people access the site? Are we talking traffic as in how many people stay a while? Are we talking traffic as in how many people subscribe? Finally, is it the old numbers game of sales conversion? Fast and plenty and something will stick. As a blogger nobody, my goal is ultimately to provide something new and useful on a constant basis and not to repeat the same stuff. Of course there are strategies that you have to keep in mind but I’m sure some of you know of a blog that started off with all sorts of nuggets and gems and then fizzled to just repeating the same ole noise.

  • Anonymous

    And I guess this is the game of it. The “pro” bloggers know how to play it best.

  • http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown

    Yes and no.http://dannybrown.me/2010/08/18/why-dont-need-blog-every-day/Check the Chris Garrett stats. Plus, I wonder how much of this would still stand without social sharing, and still “depending” on good old SEO and organic traffic?

    • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

      Beats me. I’m seeing the numbers. Your mileage may vary.

    • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

      But if any of you try the twice-daily to measure, you might see an even different number.

  • http://reallifemadman.blogspot.com Marjorie Clayman

    Thanks, David. I appreciate your feedback. I guess I still view myself as very much in the learning stage, and promoting multiple blogs in a day, or the same post multiple times in a day, just doesn’t feel like it jives with where I am in the cycle of things. (boy, that sounds deep, non?) But you make a good point about the time zones and balancing everything with engagement. Definitely food for thought!

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    Personally, I like traffic that sticks around and turns into a community. SOME of that community might also be a buyer, but I prefer the long view. I like people who will stick around and spend time with me. It works out better in the longer run. : )

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    A promise is a good thing, sir.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    A promise is a good thing, sir.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    I think that’s fair, but remember that once a day on something like Twitter is a tweet rolling down a stream. You will see it come and go if you’re there at that moment. Like David said, you can probably do it a bit more.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    Magic, eh?

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    google “blog topics” and see who you find. : )

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    I’m a believer in YOU, Donna, so it’s even.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    True that. A great stat to pay into.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    Math is Hard. Barbie said so.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    Here’s the trick, Paul. You can put out 100 posts a day. People are busy. They’ll consume as much as they can manage. MOST will just skip the ones that don’t sound interesting.

    See how they’re not exactly related? : )

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    True that. “Easier” is something I’m trying to crush on the way to “simpler.”

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    The world is telling you something, Mr. Jordan.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    It’s more like an exclamation point to this morning’s post. And if you don’t like it, there’ll be a new one tomorrow. : )

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    30 something comments on my lame post? I’ll take them. People interacting with each other and not just me? GOLD!

    • http://www.conorneill.com Conor

      Nothing lame about the post ;-) Interaction is key. I teach MBAs and my goal (after a few years of dominating and being the “expert”) is to ask questions that get 70 people interacting with each other (and ideally ignoring me). That is a talent in itself. Thanks for your “lame” post and keep up the flow of ideas. Thanks.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    All my secrets are common sense.

    Want to know a secret? Most people don’t actually PRACTICE common sense. They just know it when they hear someone else talking about it.

  • http://reallifemadman.blogspot.com Marjorie Clayman

    so then is it better just to promote 1 post more, or give different people throughout the day a different post? Or both?

  • http://www.netprofitmarketing.com/ Jared Detroit

    Most of my blogging is for my business website so it’s not strictly a blog but I notice the same thing. I not only notice a spike each time I post from people getting notified and visiting but I also notice unique keyword searches for the extra posts I create. I don’t try to go for quantity over quality but I’ve found that it doesn’t need to be an 800 word post to be successful.

  • http://www.copyblogger.com Brian Clark

    I’ll say that one great post a day kicks the crap out of 5 lame posts a day. And two incredible posts a week that go viral beats posting something so-so every day.

    But if you can’t pull that off, yes, you’ll get more traffic the most you post.

    The other thing to consider is, what is that traffic actually doing for you? That’s the part people are hopelessly screwing up.

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  • http://www.slymarketing.com Jens P. Berget

    I have realized this, but the problem is that when I post one or two posts a day, I usually end up with very few comments on each post. That’s because I haven’t built a strong community / tribe around my blog. I get more traffic the more I post, but I’d really like to get the feeling that people appreciate what I write (and the only reason is to get feedback).

    I don’t believe that the blog posts are of any less quality if I write once or twice a day, but since most of my readers come from search engines (and not regular readers), I lack the feedback.

  • http://oddlovescompany.com/blog/ Katybeth

    I would like to post more, its usually not a matter of enough content but a matter of writing the content well. Most of my content needs proofing for an over abundance of semicolons, whimsical capitalization, spelling, and coma’s. Proofing before publishing slows me down.I guess, the idea would be to write ahead, which I haven’t managed to accomplish. Yet.

    As always, thanks for the good ideas.

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