While on my recent unplanned blogging break, I found myself asking these questions –
- Am I publishing too many blog posts?
- How many are too many blog posts?
- Am I overwhelming my readers?
- Am I publishing too few blog posts?
- Is anyone missing me?
- Am I really on a blogging break if I’m thinking about blogging?
No, forget those last two questions, but I did keep asking why was I asking the other questions.
When my last post, ‘Did You Miss Any Of These? Monthly Roundup – August 2021‘ got published; I hadn’t realised it was my one-hundredth post for 2021.
‘One hundred posts! That’s far too many in eight months,’ I told myself.
One hundred posts over eight months mean that, on average, I’m publishing 12 posts per month or around three per week.
I was rather shocked by the figures, but told myself that it shouldn’t be about me but my audience. That’s where I hope you will step in by answering some questions and leaving your answers in the comments section.
- Are 12 posts per month too many, too few, or just right on Hugh’s Views And News?
- How many blog posts did you publish between 1st January and 31st August 2021?
- Do you think you’ve published too many, too few, or the right amount of posts so far this year?
- What are your reasons for the answer(s) you gave to the last question?
If you blog on WordPress.Com, you can find out how many posts you’ve published by going to your blog’s ‘Stats And Insights‘ page and click on the ‘Insights’ tab.
You’ll find the information towards the bottom of the page under ‘Annual Site Stats.’
Join the discussion and let me know your answers by leaving them in the comments section. You don’t need to answer all of the questions if you don’t want to, but I’d be interested in reading the answers you do give.
In the meantime, if you’re wondering what I did on my unplanned blogging break, here’s a clue of one of the places I visited.
Doesn’t it look gorgeous?
Over the coming months, I’ve lots planned for Hugh’s Views And News. In the meantime, if you’d like to follow me on my other social media platforms, click on the buttons below.
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Hugh's Views & News 
Yikes I only have maybe 1 blog post per month. I enjoy it that way and also only feel like blogging if I have something interesting to share. Maybe one day I will create more content. Time is also a factor I guess. However, I don’t think it matters how often or how little. As long as you are happy with what you’re doing 🤗🤗. Very interesting posts Hugh. I look forward to reading more 👍🏻
Yes, I agree, Wayne. If you’re happy with the number of blog posts you publish each day/week/month, then it’s a good sign. Unfortunately, I see too many bloggers publishing too much content that looks and feels as if it was written under pressure just to get it out there. I’m not sure why they do it, but many don’t last very long and end up giving up blogging.
Yes that’s very true.
Hi Hugh, good set of questions.
I’ll start by addressing one of the first set of the rhetorical questions raised ‘is it considered a blogging break if you think about blogging
I would answer yes, that downtime is good as you maybe not doing ‘the doing, but it’s allowing you time to think, assess your position and allow you to get your creative juices flowing when you are ready to start working on what is next.
For your list of closing questions I would say:
12 too many?
– if the posts are spread nicely apart, and add value to the site and are not just some random thought I would say that is okay, though for me I would struggle to keep up to that many as a set routine.
How many published?
– 32 with two a week from Jan to March then one a week up to August
Enough? + reason for answer…
– I’d have liked to keep up to two per week, but I think it’s best to keep to a schedule you can stick to than overcommit. In an ideal world I would write at least 4 times a week, I’d like to really give my readers a constant stream of useful, quality and diverse content – if I could I’d write for a living!
Agreed, James. Most bloggers work towards finding the perfect balance of how many blog posts they publish every week. Most, I believe, fall into the proper routine without really knowing that they have done so.
As for your thoughts on blogging breaks, yes, I agree. I see many bloggers taking breaks, but some continue to publish posts. For me, all those bloggers are doing is taking a break from reading other blog posts, not taking a blogging break.
Thank you for answering the questions in this post. The answers I got back have all been very interesting.
Ah I see what you mean with a blogging break, I’ll usually plan and schedule posts in advance when I go on holiday so I guess ‘business continues’ while I’m away, but when I come back I can start reading, replying to comments and doing all the blog stuff when I get back.
I’m going to take a good look at the responses, as this type of stuff is always insightful to know.
I’d be careful about continuing to publish blog posts while you’re away. You could come back to hundreds of comments, all of which need responding to which, in turn, could have the reverse effect of what you thought your blogging break was supposed to do. If one of those posts goes viral, the comments could come flooding in while you’re away.
Recently I read a great post about blogging breaks that stated the following great points –
– Don’t sacrifice your home life, health, and relationships for the next post, the next series, the next promotion, the next…
– Schedule some time to try not to blog – don’t post, don’t visit. Do something else that you enjoy – guilt-free!
– Stay grounded and humble. Although your readers are interested in your blog, they aren’t hanging on to your every word. They’ll survive without you.
Such wise words, which I think every blogger should take.
Thanks Hugh I’d never thought about it like that, I’ve only ever had two posts go viral, and the only one got lots of comments (which was kindly shared by yourself!)
Thanks for the tips – it’s challenging getting the work-life-blog balance right. I’ll often dedicate weekends to focus on family but may spend a couple hours on blog business if the opportunity arises.
Hopeful I’m still humble, as I realise how fickle it can be with millions of other blogs out there!
This is an excellent question, Hugh. I’ve also wondered about it, what is too many blog posts and what is too little. My take on it is: it’s your blog, you can publish however much or little as you want. Like what others in the comments mentioned, post as much as you feel like it. That said, I do think if your blog was set up with a specific purpose, gaining SEO traction and growing your audience as one of your blogging aims, then blogging with intention and having a regular blogging schedule might help.
My blog is a collection of my writings on multiculturalism and observations on daily habits. When I started blogging almost ten years ago, I posted once a week. Then I got busy with work and I posted fortnightly. Then I wanted more time to refine my posts so I blogged monthly. Now coupled with work and crafting each post to my liking, and throw in writing my first book, I’ve cut back to once every couple of months or so.
It does seem like I don’t blog much anymore but it works for me – and the blogging community has always been so supportive. These days when I blog, it’s always fun and I really enjoy writing each blog post. If I’d went back to writing a post a week, it would probably be overwhelming and that would take the fun out of blogging for me. If your content is interesting and thoughtful, then I guess it’s a reason for your audience to come back no matter how much or little you post.
If it works for you and you still have people engaging with you, then that’s perfect, Mabel. I think many bloggers are fearful of cutting back because they think people will forget about them, but you’ve proved them wrong.
Feeling overwhelmed is something every blogger goes through at some stage. I’ve been there, and it was a horrible feeling. Hence I cut back, and while I was fearful that I’d lose followers, I knew deep down inside that what matters most is that I continue to write. I’m lucky that I still have an audience that engages with me, but much of that also boils down to how I promote my blog, which is something many bloggers shy away from.
Thanks so much for joining the discussion and sharing your thoughts with us on this subject.
I think so long as you blog for the enjoyment of blogging, you’ll always have an audience of some sort. I’ve enjoyed following your blog over the years. You put out content that we can relate to or need, such as your photography and blogging tips. That’s probably why you got an engaged audience – content people relate to or need.
Thanks, Mabel. Writing about blogging certainly gets lots of people talking and discussing. I’m always drawn to those types of posts.