How often should a small business blog?

There is no magic number, but there is a useful rule: publish as often as you can keep writing good posts — for a long time. For most small businesses that lands somewhere between two and eight posts a month.

Here's how to pick your pace.

Consistency beats volume

A blog builds value slowly. Every post is one more answer that can be found in search, and posts keep working long after they are published. Search engines also need time to find, index and trust a site’s content, so results usually take months rather than weeks.

That is why the blogs that work are rarely the ones that start with a burst. They are the ones still publishing a year later. Twenty posts in January followed by silence does less than four posts every month all year.

A simple guide by goal

• 2–4 posts a month: enough to keep a blog alive and slowly cover the main questions your customers ask. A good start for a one-person business.
• Around 8 posts a month (about two a week): a steady pace for a business that wants search to become a real source of customers.
• 16 or more posts a month: for covering a wide topic quickly — many services, several locations or a large product range.

The velar.one plans start at a steady pace: 8, 16 or 30 posts a month — two a week, four a week or one every day. Compare the plans.

Quality sets the ceiling

Publishing more only helps if every post is worth reading. A post should answer one real question better than what is already out there — or at least as clearly and more specifically for your area or industry. If doubling the pace would halve the quality, keep the slower pace.

What to write about

The easiest topics are the questions you already answer every week:

• What does it cost, and what affects the price?
• How long does it take?
• Which option should I choose?
• How do I know when I need this?
• What mistakes should I avoid?

One question, one post. Answer it in the first paragraph, then explain.

How to keep the pace

The pace usually breaks for one reason: writing loses to client work. Three ways to protect it:

• Plan topics a month ahead, so you never start from a blank page.
• Write in batches, then schedule the posts to go out weekly.
• Automate the routine — topic research, writing, SEO details and publishing — and keep only the approval for yourself.

The last option is what velar.one does. See how the posts turn out in our example posts.