I was just keeping myself updated with all my subscriptions on Google Reader, last night, when a certain thought suddenly struck me. I realized a pattern in which I read my subscriptions. It just so happens that I don't get the time to reduce the unread items' count to zero everyday. Hence, there always comes a time when I fall behind by about 300 posts at the end of every week. I'm hoping that I am not alone here. What do you do, in such a case? Do you just click on the "Mark all as read" button or do you prioritize your readings?
As far as I am concerned, I don't really like the idea of keeping my subscribed feeds unread & hence I end up prioritizing the feeds. I find myself drawn towards the feeds that have lesser number of unread posts. Somehow, it gives me satisfaction to see the number of unread feeds reducing even though I know, at the back of my mind, that the effective number of unread posts are the same as it would have been if I had read them chronologically.
This certain behavior of my sub-conscious forced me to put on my thinking cap. I wondered, blogs like Problogger, Killer Startups & Quick Online Tips generate awesome content & that too at an astounding rate. Yet, they fail to get read regularly by bloggers like me (hoping there are other bloggers out there, following the similar pattern of behavior) just because their posting frequencies are very high.
Such an incident taught me a lesson that one should not post too many articles a day; two, probably maximum three. Although it is highly commendable if you are able to come up with more than 3 quality posts a day, it just might hurt your blog in the long run. How, you might ask. Well, a user not being able to read your posts in time shall mean lesser comments for your individual posts and lesser interaction with your readers. Moreover, you can, rather, schedule your posts to be published later on. Who knows? After a while, you just might be able to keep your blog on auto-pilot and earn yourself a blogging holiday!
So, what do you say? Do you agree with my theory? Or do you have some more interpretation of my observation?
As far as I am concerned, I don't really like the idea of keeping my subscribed feeds unread & hence I end up prioritizing the feeds. I find myself drawn towards the feeds that have lesser number of unread posts. Somehow, it gives me satisfaction to see the number of unread feeds reducing even though I know, at the back of my mind, that the effective number of unread posts are the same as it would have been if I had read them chronologically.
This certain behavior of my sub-conscious forced me to put on my thinking cap. I wondered, blogs like Problogger, Killer Startups & Quick Online Tips generate awesome content & that too at an astounding rate. Yet, they fail to get read regularly by bloggers like me (hoping there are other bloggers out there, following the similar pattern of behavior) just because their posting frequencies are very high.
Such an incident taught me a lesson that one should not post too many articles a day; two, probably maximum three. Although it is highly commendable if you are able to come up with more than 3 quality posts a day, it just might hurt your blog in the long run. How, you might ask. Well, a user not being able to read your posts in time shall mean lesser comments for your individual posts and lesser interaction with your readers. Moreover, you can, rather, schedule your posts to be published later on. Who knows? After a while, you just might be able to keep your blog on auto-pilot and earn yourself a blogging holiday!
So, what do you say? Do you agree with my theory? Or do you have some more interpretation of my observation?
4 Thoughts:
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 9:59:00 PM
I don't use a reader at all. I have a daily reading folder and I visit sites every day. Doing it this way helps me remember good content by visually linking it to a site. I also use Entrecard to hop around to new sites and I find lots of content I noemally would miss by sticking to RSS reader list.
Thursday, January 17, 2008 9:05:00 AM
Wow! You actually visit sites everyday? That's pretty commendable. As for me, i use a reader because I read most of the articles while I'm on the go, on my mobile. And well, I'd never said that one should stop visiting new sites. It's just that a reader makes life a lot easier for you.
Btw, thanks for dropping by.
Thursday, January 17, 2008 7:22:00 PM
Good thought. But, I don't read all the posts from my favourite blogs. I just choose those titles that attract me. There are so many good blogs out there and you will never be able to read all their posts.
On the second idea, I always suggested that the frequency of posting should be to the convenience of the author. If his schedule allows him to post only once a week, then be it. If I have the time and content to post two or three times a day consistently, I will do it. The best part here is search engines would love your blog due to regular new content. This will bring in more traffic from search engines.
Saturday, January 19, 2008 9:50:00 AM
Well...it's not that i too read each and every post. But I at least need to find out the time to skim them through :-P And truthfully speaking, even while I decide to skim them through according to the titles, there are a few blogs that make me feel like reading each and ever content of theirs :-)
Hey, regular content and all are fine, we all know about it. The actual problem that I was trying to address is creating a congestion in the readers. By frequently, I meant that maintaining an equal time duration between 2 consecutive postings!
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