Posting Schedule – Do You Need One?

Just one of the many questions that crop up in the blogging community. Do you need a posting schedule? Over the years, I’ve changed my mind A LOT on this topic. It’s a bit like niches or self-hosting. Some people say yes, some people say no. What is the right answer?!

After agonising over the subject for a long time, I have come to the mind-blowing realisation that it’s up to you. Your blog is first and foremost yours, and you have the power to decide when you post.

If you are struggling on whether or not a posting schedule is right for you, here’s some reasons why or why not a schedule works.

Reasons for having a posting schedule:

• You enjoy planning and organisation – This is me 100%. Having a schedule works for me as I’m organisation-mad. I feel more settled when I know what’s needing to be done and when. I base my posting schedule on what suits me best. As I’m currently on a gap year, I’ve had more time, so I do three posts a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. When I’m back at university, I have a 2 post a week schedule to fall back on which is Monday and Thursday. There’s no set reason for these days, they just work with my routine.
• Have a full-time job? Student? – If you work full-time, or go to school/university, then there may only be certain times when you are free to focus on your blog. Therefore a schedule may help, so that you can use your blog time effectively. Likewise, full-time bloggers may like to set out a posting routine.
• Statistics – Have you noticed that you get more views on a particular day? If statistics mean a lot to you, then it’s worth posting on your popular days.

Reasons against having one:

• There’s been a couple of times when I felt pressured to create content just to stick to my schedule and I’ve ended up writing things I’m not 100% happy with. If you have writer’s block, don’t force content creation. Take a break, find inspiration and post when you’re ready.
• Your blog is a hobby and you just want to write when you’re in the mood.
• While schedules may work if you’re really busy because you can timetable your day, some people may not like them and just want to blog when they have the time.
• You have so many ideas that you want to write more posts than you would usually. Maybe you have a collaboration post that you need to get out by a certain date or just had a spark of inspiration and need to get the words down.

What are your thoughts on posting schedules? Are you for or against them?