The weekend is here and I’m looking forward to some fun. You see today is my Son’s first birthday party (his actual birthday is next Friday) and we’re getting together with family and friends to celebrate his first year as well as doing a dedication ceremony (sort of like a Christening). It’s going to be a great day.
Weekends present bloggers with an interesting challenge when it comes to thinking about what to do with their blogs.
‘What do I do with my blog on the weekend?’ is a question I’m often asked.
- Do I post less because people are not online as much?
- Should I post more to try to keep traffic levels up?
- Should I just take a couple of days off for my own well-being (ie get a life)?
- Should I write posts in advance and set them to go off automatically?
- Should I use the weekend to write posts for the next week because I’ve got extra time on my hands?
All of the above strategies are ones that I’ve seen different bloggers use (and most of them I’ve tried myself). There’s no real right or wrong answer I guess – but I’d be interested to know what others do with their blogs on the weekend? Is it blogging as usual or do you change your strategy?
What do you do with your blog on the weekend?
On one of my blogs I have a regular Saturday feature, Of Note. I take Sunday off.
I write more because I have the days off. I also do back of house stuff and read more blogs since i have the time. I would think that more good content would come out of the weekends. Then again, I’m a teacher with weekends off and that may not be the work schedule for most the blog population.
Ditto to what Laura said.
I have a regular Link Love post that I do every Saturday, and if I post on Sunday at all, I save that time for off-topic posts, site updates, memes, etc. I save the valuable “during the week” time for my core content and strategic posts.
– Aaron
I usually post on Saturday and take the day off on Sunday. I recently decided to take it even further and only post a link roundup on Saturday. Everybody is allowed to take some time off from work.
While I don’t have a live blog yet I do have an e-commerce store and have had one for the last 3+ years. I tell myself I will take the weekend off but never do. It just always turns out the be a good time to get things done without having to worry about shipping orders, answering an e-mail inquiry right away or worrying about the phone ringing as my website states we are only open Mon-Fri.
For some reason Saturday is my biggest ad click day. My page views are usually slightly less, but my AdSense earnings are more (sometimes much more). I have a blog (http://itsvista.com) that targets both IT pro’s and general computer users. I can see where the ad clicks would be lower during the day when IT pros are accessing and ignoring the ads, but I’d think there would be more ‘amateurs’ at night on a weekday than on a Saturday. I can’t explain it!
To be honest, the weekends are usually not very different than weekdays. But that’ll probably change eventually, and I will begin doing my important posts for the week, and I’ll save my link love or blogosphere round-up posts for Saturdays and Sundays. I will probably also use the weekends for writing posts I can timestamp for the week, when I am a lot busier. ;)
I do my weekly linkdump on Friday to give people something to click through to over the weekend. Traffic from Friday evening through most of Sunday is much lighter than usual so I don’t usually post anything new. If I do post something over the weekend it is a light or fun post. Occasionally something gets posted Sunday evening when traffic begins to pick up again.
Otherwise the weekend is for non-writing activities. Tweaking the layout, responding to emails, etc.
I think the weekends should be reserved for time off and away from the keyboard. That being said, I sometimes find myself posting adventure posts of travels I might have taken during the weekend.
The weekends are also good to think about the week that has passed and plan for the week ahead. Even if that means future dating a few posts to make the week ahead a little less stressful.
I don’t post on weekends to give myself a break, but when I have a busy week coming up, I will take time on the weekends to get ahead.
However, my blog doesn’t generate revenue from advertising, so it’s not essential to keep visitors up. I usually try to put something fun up though, so people will get a reward for visiting my blog from Friday to Monday.
Good question! Thanks for asking!
I generally get to catch up on blog work and maintanance, like adding plugins and fixing/changing widgets. I also get serious with longer articles that caught my eye during the week along with any audio or video articles.
I find I get the most hits on weekends. Mostly I think because my target audience (mother’s) have more time on weekends with partners home and kids playing sport or whatever, needing a break.
I try and do two posts on Saturday (early morning and late afternoon) and one on Sunday morning to make the most of the extra visits.
I find when I’ve done this my hits later in the week have stayed up.
I try to write some posts in advance as I have more free time over the weekend than during the week.
I also try to do a bit of research on blogging; tools, techniques, social sites etc, as I’m pretty new to this space.
Also maybe try to make a few small changes to my template, such as adding boxnet widget.
Usually, I take Saturday and Sunday off and give myself some time to:
1). Re-energize my thoughts for the next week.
2). Continue programming on other projects for clients.
3). Spend some time with the family since I also work full-time during the week.
Oh, and Happy Birthday to your son. I remember those times. Make sure you take TONS of pictures! :-)
JD
Usually just keep up my regular posting schedule, only time I take them off is when I’m out of town or taking a small break.
Most of the time on weekends I’m sitting there looking at the stats, since traffic levels and such are almost always 20-30% lower on weekends for me… scares the crap out of me sometimes.
Trying to post at least once per day on three blogs is starting to take its toll on me after nearly 16 months of solid blogging. As a result I have started to give myself time off on weekends – Sundays particularly – to ease the work load. If I do post on weekends it is usually something I’ve written earlier in the week.
Happy birthday to your little one!
On the weekends, I do maintenance work on my blogs. I catch up on the feeds I read and prepare some posts for the coming week.
Looks like my strategy is to write awesome posts on the weekend as everybody else is just doing link dumps, off-topic posts and taking time off!
First things first. A big birthday hug to the little one!!!
I have dabbled with all choices and getting into a new groove. Mondays I have two weekly features Meatless Mondays and Monday’s Movement, with sporadic participation in a writing prompt meme Manic Monday. So I now seed my posts for the week by researching, finding links, recipes and video on the weekend.
Again Happy Birthday to the little one, enjoy his youth while it lasts.
Be well and enjoy the day.
Aw, first birthday. How wonderful. Didn’t that first year go fast?
Anyway. I still struggle to find a pattern so weekends are my catch-up. I think I will always post at least one weekend day since Mondays are my column deadline. I know I should pre-date and post ahead but that isn’t on the map presently.
I post a ‘weekend survey.’
Sometimes it’s related to a series I’ve done or am about to do, and sometimes it’s random.
I go blogging as usual. But sometimes it’s nice to take a break…
On my Daily Chronicles of the American Civil War blog, the weekend is the same as any other day. On that blog I publish diary entries and news articles from the current date for a particular year in the war. For instance, today was published material from June 29, 1863. Needless to say, much of this material is pre-published in the blog, scheduled for the applicable day. I’m not trying to monetize this one too much right now, but, rather, am building up content for the sesquicentennial (150 years) for the civil war which is just under 4 years away.
On the other blog that I am concentrating on, I am working on getting it going in a consistent fashion and I will be working on it on the weekends. I’m trying to actually write more rather than finding filler material to incorporate into the blog and it’s going to take some consistent effort to build that into a regular habit.
I am in a bit of a different situation, though, than most folks. Weekends differer very little from weekdays for me as I am retired and do not have to take work into consideration.
I write less / not at all. I write a lot during the week, in between doing actual work.
Sometimes, but rarely, I’ll write something in advance, but usually my blogging is kinda knee-jerk. I’m working on improving.
Heck, I don’t know what i do with my blog during the week let alone the weekend!
I just keep plugging away in hopes of achieving just a bit of your success.
I don’t change my routines on the weekend; but my link love post is on Monday to start the week with nice easy posts from readers. :)
Blogging about a sport that only happens at the weekend, mine are usually busy. But when there is no Formula One, I usually have a post pre-written, and I spend the time either cleaning the site up a bit (bug-fixing, tweaking) or planning posts for the future. I occasionally leave the house as well and try to get some fresh air. ;-)
I ‘Study’ on the weekend; means I read blogs, those informative blogs like problogger.net to learn more from these guys on their path to success.
Then I will do research on what to write for my sites… this takes time.
After reading and still have some free time, I will write some post and schedule to post it on the weekday.
Posting stuff that was prior written and then just posted on the weekend is a bad idea, worse if you have comments on manual approval. When you post and people read it, they will respond to 99% immediately. If you have comments on manual approval, all comments will be stuck in the approval queue and no conversation starts. Then it will be forgotten on Monday and comments will never see the light of the day (like it did when Mr.Battelle posted here).
If comments are on auto-approval, a conversation might starts, but without you. What is the point in that. If you want to do that, don’t use a blog :).
If you don’t post on the weekend, people will understand that (and who does not is a jerk who needs a life hehe), but if you feel like blogging and post one on Saturday or Sunday, nobody will complain about it.
Cheers!
Carsten
I either blog a lot more or a lot less. :)
I write posts set to publish during the upcoming week, catch up on feeds, work on new articles and drafts, and I still post! No rest for the wicked blogger… When you have a blog called GoogleTube Video of the Day, you don’t get a day off!
I wont miss a chance like week end ,I usually dont get time to write on my blog after attending my college.
I used to say I’ll take the weekends off since my blog activities are usually low on weekends, but I never do. I find weekends a very good time to work on those draft posts that I might need in case of “emergencies”, LOL.
Well I am not sure. This is my first weekend!
Probably post something. Not really sure.
Looks like it is split down the middle with you guys. Half past on weekends and half dont.
Some weekends, I turn off the computer and take a walk outside, enjoy great times with my friends or enjoy other positive diversions. Other weekends, I research online and/or read books in my niche so that I can gradually improve the quality of my blog posts and comments on other blogs. Its all about trying to find a balance. Its also about diligence, persistence, and growing in knowledge.
Since traffic during weekend much lighter for my blog than usual, I usually do the following:
1) Post the links of entries that I made through out the week
2) Think / draft of topics as “backlog” entries
And this week is the Canada Day Long Weekend here =)
Have a nice weekend everyone !
Since traffic during weekend is much lighter for my blog than usual, I usually do the following:
1) Post the links of entries that I made through out the week
2) Think / draft of topics as “backlog” entries
And this week is the Canada Day Long Weekend here =)
Have a nice weekend everyone !
On Fridays I post a new round of a game called Guess the Internet Marketing Site. Friday, Saturday and Sunday are lighter traffic so this is a fun way to ease into the weekend.
Hey, it’s my son’s first birthday today! Cheers to all us dads :) Way to go and take time off for your family. While blogging/work is great and important, family is the most important thing.
James
I take Sunday off, Saturday night may spent time limit for update a blog and revised some plan for affiliate programe, But even it;s holiday I always keep thinking for blogging and online make money
First things first – Happy Birthday to your son! That’s quite a milestone, probably more for you than the little guy at the moment. Take a million photographs!
As for blogging, I confess to being erratic but am trying to write more regularly. Weekends are a great time to catch up and at least plan what to write. I try and balance my time between writing and creating more t-shirts to write about, as the whole focus of my blog is about what I do in a favourite t-shirt, from going on safaris around Africa to putting my feet up and watching a favourite DVD. Which gives me an excellent opportunity to write about travel, write book and DVD reviews, philosophize about life, share the inspirations that lead to my Swelter t-shirt designs and just shamelessly promote my tees. I write professionally and am involved in the advertising industry so putting together a blog that involves writing much more personally and marketing myself this time is proving to be a surprising but wonderful challenge. I’m still finding my way and owe a great deal to your site for helping me do that. Many, many thanks!
I try to post at weekends, but don’t stress myself out too much if I’m unable to. I think most people are not expecting you to post at weekends.
I think the problems start when people visit a blog several days in a row and it has not been updated. I subscribe to a few like that, and I’m about to delete them off my list.
I generally try to post once in a week. As my week days are usually busy,I post mostly on weekends or if not, at least try to get the post ready.
For my travel blog, it is definitely weekend as it takes more time.
Nothing changes for me from one day to another. I try to blog daily and have at least one post regardless of the traffic dip. Sometimes I will write up a couple posts throughout the week and put them in queue for the weekend. At any rate, I try to make it a habit.
Happy birthday to the little ProBlogger!
I don’t post on the weekend to have two days away from the computer. Walking away from the internet for a bit gives my brain an opportunity to refresh, and gets me outside more where I can find inspiration for blog posts for the next week.
I’m never really sure what day of the week it is…
Happy B-Day!
I generally don’t actively post on the weekend, but instead will try to generate some of my longer posts during this time. If I have a surplus during the week I’ll schedule some to go off during this time.
~fatBoy
http://trifatboy.com
I post less on weekends but try do at least one post every day. Now regular visitor should be disappointed because there is nothing new.
I’m participanting in Saturday photo hunters, therefore, I will spend 1-2 hours every saturday morning to prepare the phote & post, as well as visit other Photo Hunters posts.
On weekend usually I blog more and find more topic about next week post.
anyway Happy birthday to litle problogger :D