How your schedule affects your blog

Well, I decided to have a different topic today and write something related to general blog writing. I try to make this blog cover a variety of topics that interest me and I try to write about stuff that I actually know about. I know the content I write about like the back of my hand, though I don’t really have a definite schedule of when I post, which I believe somehow affects the quality of The Ultimate Nerd. But, meh, I promised to myself that this would be a laid-back blog and I’d only write quality stuff when I feel like it.

My blog is an example of a website that has no concrete, recurring schedule of when content is updated or added. Most personal blogs seem to fall into this category, when its authors are laid-back, busy with more important priorities or simply lazy (i.e., me). There are many reasons why blog owners choose to update their blogs whenever they want. Perhaps it is a personal choice of the writer (usually connected to the reasons stated above) or maybe there are limitations, technical or otherwise, that hinders the writer (e.g., limited Internet connectivity). Personally, I don’t feel like sticking to a set schedule, so I only write when I feel like it. While my content is very limited and scarce, it allows me to write with quality. Because I only write when I feel like it, I am motivated to write blog posts with great quality, rather than being stressed and pressured to write with a schedule. This is the option that I believe is a good choice for personal blogs, or RL-busy bloggers.

Of course, there are a lot of blogs (and websites, in general) that do stick to a schedule. These schedules are either daily, weekly or monthly (who writes blog posts once a year?) depending on the topic, genre and interest in the niche of the blog. Writing with a schedule entails discipline. You are responsible for updating the blog for the designated schedule. A well-followed and consistent update schedule generally invites more interested followers, as they know when to come back to your blog in case they want to see something new (keep in mind you need to let your readers know when the blog actually updates, usually in the home or about page of your blog). Still, I believe that a schedule pressures the writer into churning out content. There are moments of last-minute write-ups to meet schedule deadlines. Thus, the quality of the articles is compromised. Well, maybe there are people who tend to write better under pressure, but whatever floats your boat I guess.

Well, that outlines what I believe to be the pros and cons of a blog schedule. With a free update schedule, the blog generally has better content. With a consistent one, on the other hand, the blog has more followers. As the blog author, you decide which option to follow, and you should stick to it. Consistency definitely invites readers, knowing that the writer is a responsible one. Maybe my blog visitors think I’m a lazy bum, but when I feel like writing, I make sure to write the best content. 🙂