Recommended Frequency for Posting to Social Media and Blogs
We have a lot of clients that aren’t sure how often to post on each social media platform or how much of a commitment they need to make to have a successful blog. A potential client recently told me that she was afraid to add a blog to her website because she just didn’t have the time to write a post everyday. And then she looked at me and said “I would have to write everyday, correct?” She was avoiding a potentially integral part of her website strategy because she just didn’t know what it would entail. So many small businesses find social media and blogging to be an overwhelming task of content creation, so they never get started. Here are some general guidelines to get you started, but they should be tailored to your business and capabilities.
Facebook: We suggest that you start with these guidelines and then measure the success and adjust accordingly, possibly adding or removing a few posts and trying different times of the day. Now that Facebook offers better insights, you can see when your page’s fans are on Facebook and plan to post during those peak times.
Most studies conducted on the level of engagement based on number for posts came before the algorithm change at the end of 2013. Many of them suggested that your ideal posting strategy on Facebook should be between 5-10 posts per week, but we see that the algorithm change is more about rewarding fresh, original content then punishing for frequency of posts. So you can post more often as long as you have good content. We suggest between 2-3 posts per day and to maintain a budget for boosting the really important posts to be sure you get the eyeballs. Even a $5 boost can make a significant impact- Facebook has become a place where you pay to play to a certain extent.
The creation of quality content is some thing that many brands struggle with, since it can be very time consuming and challenging. Do not increase your posts just to hit a number, but strike a balance of what you can create that is informative and original and important to your brand.
Twitter: You can reach a different audience at different times of the day, but clustered tweets start to diminish your reach. Spread out your tweets throughout the day and test the times that work best for you. We recommend approximately 5 tweets a day during the week and less on the weekends. This is an opportunity for you to reuse the content on your blog and Twitter schedulers like Sprout Social can allow you to schedule a tweet for multiple days.
Pinterest: Every time you have a new blog post be sure to pin it. When you create a great visual for another platform, pin it and then link it back to your website. Anything that you create that has a visual component- pin it! This is less about frequency and more about visual content and linking back to your website. Ideally you have a minimum of 5 pins a week based on blog posts and other visuals created.
Instagram: This is all about the really great visual- a creative and fun product shot, a behind the scenes picture of the company, a photo of something people don’t see very often. These images should be different from the steady stream of memes and cartoons on Facebook. If you can post to Instagram 2-3 times a week that would be ideal.
Google+: Consider this another piece of your SEO strategy for now and publishing platform rather than a social network. Get all of your blog content posted there publicly- so 2-3 times per week.
Blogging: Ideally you will post your blog a minimum 2-3 times a week to increase the benefits to SEO since Google is looking for new content on your site and will reward you for it. It is also important to make sure your posts are written for your audience and readability while also including the keywords that are important in search for your company. You should also consider your blog to be a fantastic source of fresh content for social media posting. I would much rather bring traffic back to my website via good content on my blog then to another blog.
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