should blogs update at the same time each day?

[basschick]

Gaystoryman wrote something in another post, and it was something i had never thought of before. do regular readers of blogs come by at the same time each day, the same way as paysite members come by on update day each week? if so, it makes sense to do them each day at the same time.

you know, once i read that it made perfect sense, but i had never considered it before.

[barnkin]

Basschick, it does make perfect sense, I just checked stats on 3 of my blogs and they all have the same traffic pattern, the most traffic is on Wed between 7 and 8 PM, so it would be very logical to start updating about 6 pm on Wed. I usually do it on Friday.

Thanks for putting the thought in my head.

[HunkMoneyLuke]

IMHO, updating blogs every day at the same time is very mechanical and corporate, blogs were meant to be more free style where people update them when they had something new to say. I know today most blogs are ad vehicles, but scheduling updates for the same time each day is a bit too splog-like.

Members areas, on the other hand, should always be updated on a strict schedule so your members know when to login and get the updates. If you ever miss an update, members get rather pissy and quit!

[abostonboy]

Ummm. My favorite blog gets updated when news break http://www.xbox360fanboy.com.

That's the TRUE intent of blogs. Post when you have something to say.

However I feel that blogs first need to get on the schedule of updating content as it comes from the sponsor. There are so many blogs that update their blog with updates from our site a week or so after it is no longer on the top spot. It hurts the blogs sales. It really does. If we release an update to affiliates on Sunday and they wait until next week to post it, the impact is gone. Blogs and sites like JUB that post updates as they are current to the site do MUCH better.

Why would a surfer click on a blog entry with content that they have already seen before?

[Gaystoryman]

Let's be realistic for a second. Most people are not employing a staff to do their 'webmaster' work. They are at best two person operations, but mostly one person trying to earn an income.

By posting at times when your traffic is viewing, or if when starting out, posting at regular times is about all you can do. It isn't like you can simply stop solving a tricky css, php, or html, headache when something strikes your fancy to write about. It isn't practical.

Secondly, you have the ability to 'schedule' your advance posting to not just the date, but the time. If your traffic begins at 8am your time, it is logical to post at 7am so that the new post is top of the page.

Scheduled posts keep your blog active, doesn't mean you can't add a new entry at any other time, simply that the meat of the blog is constantly being updated, regularly, for the convenience of both the reader & the bots.

Third, the hardest part of being a single operator is time. By doing several day's posting at once, you create a habit for yourself, you insure your blog is always being active, and you manage your time effectively.

Scheduled posts are dependent on your theme, that is the topic of your blog. If it is a 'news' blog then sure, when something breaks you want to get in on it, but we are in the adult industry, there really isn't any 'breaking news' if our blogs are about sponsor programs or video releases. Hell DVDs are released to stores on certain days, newspapers have special sections released on certain days only, even the news stations on television have 'certain days' for specific features. Saturday sports shows have their pre game NFL lineup, Monday their wrap up.

People, and they are the ones who read and buy what we sell, are creatures of habit. By having something new at specific times, they become accustomed to visiting, they become comfortable, and that helps in getting them to buy. It is marketing 101.

But heck, just my 2 cents worth.

[abostonboy]

Agree with you GSM.

I guess my point was there are webmasters that do update on a regular basis. Some I don't really understand the schedule.

I sent out an email to affiliates with out best selling update. One blogger replied back and said he had it scheduled for a certain date. That date was three weeks in the future. Now, by the time surfers read his blog post, they have probably already seen the update on other sites (JUB, Queerclick) and the update is no longer on our front page. So the "impact" that is has was minimized by the schedule.

Blogs can be like free sites. The content can become overused. Best advice I can ever give is not worry so much about the time of day as the "freshness" of the content. If you schedule a post at 12pm every day and your traffic is biggest at 9 am, doesn't really matter as they still see a new post at the same time they visit every day. The 12pm post yesterday is still new to the 9am visitor the next day.

Hehehehe. I do have the domain name gaypornreporter.com. Imagine what i would need. A staff to monitor every site and post as an update goes live!

[Gaystoryman]

Agree, and while I am one of 'those' that tend to procrastinate in posting certain topics, I think that scheduling is something to look at, to make your life easier as a webmaster, but not something written in stone.

A lot depends on 'who' your blog visitors are. Do they surf for hours, or do they come to you for a quick peek at what's happening? For some, and I have a few who have written saying this, they don't have time to wade through endless searches and blogs, they pop in, read what's up, either check it out, or head off to do other stuff.

Then too, there are the time zones. :bang:

[Chubbs]

I think its a good idea. Try looking at like this. Each thread here on GD is in a way its own topic specific blog. I know for me, there are certain threads that I really find interesting and look forward to seeing new posts. Many times I check the thread only to find out no new posts have been made in that thread. If I knew that every hour, (5:15, 6:15, 7:15, etc) there was going to be a new post added, I would definitely check it out.

So as a surfer, if I find a certain blog to be very "interesting", it helps me a lot to know not only what day, but what time new posts are added.

--Chubbs