In blogging, the matter of consistency is getting more and more important with every new reader you acquire. Even if your readership is still small, there might be some loyal users who expect to see new posts from you on a regular basis. The more readers you acquire, the more reasons you have to blog on a schedule.
Creating a schedule for your publications does not just mean publishing your posts on a specific day of the week. Additionally, it’s about publishing them at a specific time of the day. Here are some of the major reasons that will convince you to create a schedule for your posts.
#1. Better Time Management
If you write new blog posts only when you have free time, the chances are high that soon you will blog once per two weeks, then once a month, and then even less frequently. Finding free time for anything is getting harder and harder. When you know you have a task on your agenda, there’s more chances for it to be done. If you are disciplined enough, you are going to do your best to fulfill your day plans.
#2. Readers Love Consistency
If you have a list of email subscribers who receive your new posts right to their inbox, consistency is crucial. If you don’t blog for a while, the readers can quickly and easily forget who you are and when they subscribed to you. In the same way, if you decide to catch up on your blogging after a long pause and start publishing your posts too often, your subscribers will definitely find you too annoying. In either case, the chances are high you will lose a lot of your subscribers.
#3. More Tidy Blog
Whenever a new visitor comes to your blog (it can be your potential client), they are likely to check the schedule of your blog updates. For some users, your post date is the first thing that grabs their attention. If they are considering doing business with you or hiring you, your well-organized blog will speak in favor of your management skills. For them, it will mean you are disciplined and self-organized, able to meet deadlines, follow the plan, and work on responsible tasks.
#4. Making Use of Scheduling Tools
When you create a blogging plan, you no longer need to be afraid of other plans interfering with it. If you need to travel somewhere or simply have some other tasks at the time you have to publish your new blog post, it is possible to schedule the publication in advance. For example, WordPress has a very convenient feature that allows users to set the exact date and time of their new publication. The only concern is to make sure you have a new post ready by then.
#5. More Committed Blogging
Occasional blogging will not make you fully committed to your blog. But when you blog on a schedule, your sense of responsibility grows and you get used to the fact that the readers are waiting for something new from you. It’s like workout – either you get used to training regularly or skip it too often. Regular blogging is easily compared to developing any other habit, like drinking more water, exercising, jogging, or studying a foreign language. If you really want to become more committed blogger, it’s a good reason to create a blogging schedule and follow it.
#6. Preparing Topics in Advance
As soon as you create a schedule for your new posts, you are likely to create a more detailed list of topics. This will give you a broader picture of topics that need to be covered and will make your blog consistent in terms of information provided. Some topics might be easier to generate if you look at a calendar and your publication date coincides with a certain celebration or event.
#7. More Valuable Content
When you know you have an upcoming publication date, you are more likely to start working on the post a few days earlier. It will give you more time to research your topic, create a plan for your content, think of any graphic images for your post and create them, write your content draft, turn it into a well-coherent article, and proofread it properly. If your content goes through all these stages, you bring higher quality posts to your readers.
#8. Setting Strict Deadlines
If you hire other bloggers to help you cope with your busy blogging schedule, they will meet the deadlines more responsibly if they know that your publication schedule is really strict and no exceptions are allowed. When they go to your website and see that all your posts come out every Tuesday morning, they are very unlikely to send a new piece to you on Wednesday. If you have a schedule you follow incessantly, your employees or co-bloggers will be more motivated to do it too.
#9. Better Profile as a Blogger
It won’t sound surprising to you that companies frequently look for blog writers who have their own blogs. What they want to check is not just your writing skills, but also your ability to create schedules and follow them. They want to make sure their blogs will be consistent and well-organized. It’s your chance to show you are the one who can actually do it.
#10. The Best Time to Publish Updates
Dozens of experiments conducted by bloggers all over the world reveal that the best time to publish new posts is either on Wednesday or Tuesday between 9 and 11 am (EST). It makes sense to schedule your publications for this time. You might also want to collect some findings and the best practices in your industry and write your new posts based on them.
Summary
Blog writing is definitely a big deal when it comes to improving your reputation, your business, and your writing expertise. You surely want to become better blogger, who can find free time for blogging and combine it with other jobs. The first step to making it possible is scheduling your posts and meeting all your deadlines. Can you think of any more reasons why it’s really important? Feel free to share in the comments.
Richard Nolan is a writer and a private tutor, sharing his experience in spheres of writing, blogging and psychology. Richard writes for numerous blogs and gives useful tips for bloggers and students. Currently, Richard works as a general blog editor for ProWritersCenter.
