Since I enjoyed the last blogging experiment, I’ve decided to do another. But this time, I’m going to see how much of an impact consistent blogging makes in terms of traffic growth and average search result position. This means I need to hunker down quite a bit.

Because I am running this experiment across all of my blogs, I’ll need to write a lot of content. In this case, I’m really hoping to get a bit of help.

What the Consistent Blogging Experiment Entails

Recently, I did a case study on this blog to see if writing every day really made a difference for a website that doesn’t get much traffic. And although it didn’t make a massive difference in pageviews, it did move my domain higher up in Google search.

Before, it sat comfortably on page two when Googling my name. Today, this blog sits at position 5, underneath two of my social media accounts. In fact, I’ve completely pushed the doctor of the same name completely off of page one.

So, even though it didn’t pull in a ton of traffic, it vastly improved my visibility. I’d call that a win, to be honest.

This time around, it’s going to be a bit different.

Keeping with a Set Publishing Schedule

Since I am doing this consistent blogging experiment using all of my blogs, I’ll need to devise a good publishing schedule. After all, I do have quite a few websites at the moment.

However, I’m going to set up publishing schedules that differ slightly.

For instance, WriterSanctuary, ColoradoPlays, and PracticallyLivingGreen are going to have a Monday, Wednesday, Thursday publishing schedule. I’m also setting the posts to publish when the sites receive the most traffic.

ColoradoPlays gets more traffic later in the night while WriterSanctuary gets more visits during the morning hours.

CrossingColorado will only have a two-day per week schedule…while I continue to fix the site.

A 6-Month Run

I’ve found that it can take anywhere from several weeks to six months before a good blog post starts to see movement in Google search. And with the algorithm increasing its indexing rates lately, six months should be plenty of time.

According to various experts, maintaining a solid 6-month, content-publishing extravaganza, all three of my larger blogs should pull in a full-time income after this time frame.

That is, if I can also squirrel away enough time to come up with proper monetization. For example, spending a bit more time looking for decent affiliates, selling private ad space, or perhaps diving into print-on-demand or digital sales.

At any rate, it would be incredibly awesome if I made a full-time income from each website. I don’t know what I would do with that much money, to be honest.

Maintaining Quality Content

Perhaps the most difficult part of consistent blogging is coming up with quality content. After all, you can’t expect a flock of visitors if no one is searching for what you’re creating.

I’m sure some of the posts will have more of a journal-esque feel. But as an expert in evergreen content, I tend to write material that sticks around for the long haul.

I’ll need to put in the same effort and practices for my sites as I do for my clients. This means putting myself and my brands as much of a priority…which is something I don’t do very often.

My clients are always my top priority, and I’ve sacrificed quite a bit of personal growth to make sure they are operating as smoothly as possible.

I’m guaranteeing a specific schedule for content. However, we’ll probably have weeks there will be bonus posts. It all depends on if I can get some help and what kind of information I come across.

But in the end, I’m still watching growth across the total number of posts published.

What Kind of Traffic Can I Expect?

Obviously, more content equals more visitors. What I’m looking for is traffic growth potential.

I’ll compare the last six months to the period before to get a baseline of how much of a percentage rate in growth was recorded. In six months, I’ll run the same report to compare and see how much of a difference there was overall.

I’m sure there will be positive movement as I attract an audience looking for specific information with each blog post. What I want to know is how much of a difference will there be?

And, this might also contribute to the next metric I’ll keep an eye on, which is…

Why Monitor Search Position?

I’ve had a running theory for quite some time that consistent blogging helps improve search position and visibility of a domain as a whole.

In many reports, I’ve seen that most posts on an entire website will get a boost in search visibility if I keep up with a writing schedule. It’s happened for both WriterSanctuary.com and CrossingColorado.com.

Blog posts that were written more than a year ago will suddenly get higher visibility and search position.

If I’m correct, then after six months, the average position of the content should improve across the entire domain.

Yes, I know others have done this experiment as well. But, I’m the type of person who likes to see it for himself. Because in a world full of fake news, click-bait, and rage headlines, doing your own research is often the best way to learn.

Besides, most studies I’ve come across on the Internet were taken from averages of blogs spanning several different industries. I want to know exactly what works best for the niches I’m creating.

Setting Up a Publishing Schedule in Asana

I’ll use Asana to track my publishing schedule. I like how I can color-code all of the different blogs. And, it’s a tool I’ve been using for more than a year.

It’s great for managing tasks, and I can use it to track my progress as well as those I bring on board.

This means less Netflix and more planning time.

Getting More Active on Social Media

Although social media doesn’t contribute an awful lot to visitation, it does benefit by getting the brand’s name out there and improved searchability in Google.

For instance, “Michael Brockbank” shows my Crossing Colorado Twitter and Instagram accounts as positions 2 and 3. I’d like the same for all of the websites.

And I just noticed my Pinterest profile is on page one as well. Wow, I haven’t added anything to that in literally years!

This aspect is going to be the most difficult for me, I think. Mostly because I’m not all that active on social media as it is. I’ve met some great people on Twitter and find myself in really good company. But that’s only for WriterSanctuary.

I don’t know if this will be part of the consistent blogging experiment. Perhaps after six months, my next experiment will be the impact of social media on those sites.

It Starts Tomorrow!

I’ve already created posts for the sites which go live tomorrow. This will mark when the consistent blogging experiment begins…on the first publishing for the next 6-months of content.

For the most part, I’m using this experiment to get me motivated to write again. And since data collection is a fun game for me, it’s a great way to get my attention.

Run your own experiments and see what works best for your blog. By understanding your audience and yourself, you can take a website as far as you want.