So, you’re about to start a blog. Great! Being a blogger is an excellent way to build an online platform, establish yourself as an expert, and grow your brand.
But are you fully prepared to launch a blog that gets a lot of traffic?
New bloggers need to know how many posts they should have ready before launching a blog. Then, to build and sustain traffic, it’s important to know how many new posts to produce every week, and how this content should be structured to rank well on Google.
You’ll also need to think about your audience’s search intent and come up with titles, headings, and copy that reflect their conversational search queries. And if you want to monetize your blog, your posts should be centered around blog ideas that make money.
If these issues keep you up at night, read on. This article will be taking a close look at how many posts a new blog should have, how those blog posts need to be structured for SEO, and how much regular content you should produce to gain serious traffic for your blog.
How many articles should you have before launching?
Bloggers should have at least 10 to 15 posts ready to post before launching their blog in order to bring in meaningful traffic.
Of course, that’s just to start your blog. To build a decent following and sustain good traffic, you need to keep adding new blog content regularly. If you can get your blog up from 10 posts to 24, one study finds you’ll increase your blog traffic by over 30%. Once you have more than 50, you’ll be able to increase traffic by 77%.
Still, the quantity of your blog posts is only half the picture. Producing quality content that answers questions people ask will help you rank higher in search engine algorithms.
If you put in the time and effort it takes to provide your audience with high-value blog posts, readers—and Google’s algorithm—will recognize you as an important online resource. This could help reduce the time it usually takes (often three to six months) for most bloggers to see significant traffic.
How should you go about creating this quality content? Here are the most important Google ranking factors to consider when structuring your blog posts.
How should posts be structured?
Good blog architecture involves putting links to your best content in areas of high visibility. This increases traffic to your most popular, high-value blog posts and improves the search engine optimization (SEO) for your blog overall.
However, each blog post also needs to take several ranking factors into account if you want your blog to appear on the first page of search engine results. Consider the following questions:
How should search intent influence blog topics?
Search intent describes the reason a user searches for something online. Based on what they’re looking for, your audience may be seeking content that’s:
- Navigational – to help you find another web page or site
- Informational – to help you learn more about a topic
- Commercial – to help you purchase a product or service
Search intent also influences the type of keywords your audience types into a search engine.
For instance, if your blog provides informational content on digital marketing, your target audience will probably use long-tail queries like “small business email marketing campaign.” This may lead you to create high-value posts like “10 Ways an Email Marketing Campaign Helps Your Small Business Grow” that your audience wants to engage with.
Conversely, if you have a commercial content blog full of affiliate links, you’ll want to study the search intent of users who want to buy products and services. This may lead you to come up with blog post topics like “Buying the Best Software for Your Small Business” and other blog ideas that make money.
How long should blog posts be for SEO?
You may have heard that long-form blog posts that are between 1000-7500 words are better for SEO. Search engine algorithms do tend to rank them higher in the search results because they provide more information and more in-depth explanations on each topic.
However, this is only true if your posts provide meaningful content and helpful advice. Take the time to showcase your expertise by providing your readers with easy-to-understand definitions of key topics, useful examples, and actionable tips, and you’ll increase your engagement.
In terms of length, posts that run about 1600 words tend to keep readers engaged for about 7 minutes and often get more shares and likes. These posts also get linked to more often.
What should be your first blog post?
If you already have 10 to 15 posts ready before launching your blog, your first blog post should be supported by your other online content.
Nevertheless, many bloggers find it useful to create an introductory post for their readers, where you introduce yourself to your audience and establish your credentials. You’ll also want to share your blogging goals and establish what type of content you’ll be offering. Describing your target audience and the people who’ll get the most benefits from your posts helps connect you with your ideal readers.
Finally, you can communicate how your readers can interact with you—by leaving comments, sending emails, or pitching guest posts. A well-written introductory post can serve as a useful guide for new subscribers, so it’s a good idea to create a direct link to it on your blog as you add additional content.
Freshness & frequency: when to update your blog
Coming up with a dozen excellent posts might get your blog off to a great start, but if you want to grow your audience, you’ll need to update your blog on a regular basis.
How often should you add new content—and where can these new blog posts come from? Let’s talk about it.
How many articles should you post every week?
High post frequency helps you rank higher for SEO and generate new leads for your business. At a bare minimum, you should post at least one new high-quality blog post per week.
However, posting more frequently can offer more benefits to your blog. So, if you have a large site with a good following and access to a team of content creators, you should aim for posting twice a week—or even every other day.
Posting a new blog post every day is a good maximum, although if you already run a high-tier site with a large team of content creators, you could offer multiple posts each day and grow your traffic even more.
Ultimately, only you can decide how many articles you can post on your blog. However, posting new content once or twice a week is usually a good place for new websites to start.
Should you curate content or repurpose content?
Content curation is when you search, select, and comment on outside blog posts, eBooks, podcasts, and other content related to your audience’s interests. This is a great way to add value to your blog by sharing links to online resources along with your thoughts on each piece.
Another way to make updating your blog easier is to repurpose your existing content. For example, if you have a YouTube channel that covers topics similar to your blog, you can adapt the information from your videos into new blog posts. Since you won’t have to create each post from scratch, your writing speed will be faster.
Alternatively, you can turn your most popular blog posts into infographics, online videos, or social media posts. This gets your content out in front of entirely new audiences, expanding your reach and giving you a new source of traffic.
Should you encourage guest posting?
Guest posting is when bloggers create content for another website or industry blog. While some guest bloggers get paid for creating new articles, many simply contribute articles to get links back to their blogs, increasing their own domain authority. (which increases traffic over time).
By inviting guest bloggers to create quality posts for your blog, you’ll generate high-value content more rapidly. You’ll also develop good relationships with other bloggers, which is helpful when they start promoting their posts (and your blog) on their social media channels.
You can also guest post on other popular blogs and include backlinks in your articles that link back to your blog. This helps improve your blog traffic and establishes you as a credible expert in your field.
Getting started
Need help getting your blog off the ground? ClearVoice has experienced writers and content creators who can create quality blog posts that attract traffic and build your following. By using ClearVoice professionals, your blog will be easier to find online and gain a reputation as a resource for high-value content. Get started with ClearVoice today!
