How many blog posts before launch of your blog?

New bloggers often get stuck on the number of blog posts needed when they are “ready” to launch their blog. And I will give you the answer right here.

One post or article can be enough to launch your blog.

And then the real fun starts. 

Here today I will explain why it is more about the process and less about “how many blog posts you need”. 

I will also explain why you need to launch early and then promote later when you are ready.

How to successfully launch a blog – the process

There is too much focus on how many posts that are needed to launch a blog.

It is not about any particular number. And more is not always better.

Instead of searching for a number, find the answer to your question in the 5 step process described below.

1. Validate your idea and concept
2. Research 50 ideas for future posts or articles
3. Write your first 5-10 posts or articles 
4. Launch your blog with 1 (or more) posts
5. Publish Content at least once per week (& start promoting)

1. Validate your idea and concept

Before you launch your blog you must validate your concept and your purpose.

Launching a blog often goes something like this.

This is not an ideal approach and will often lead to months and maybe years of hard work and disappointment.

To be successful you need to start with an idea where you:

1. know there is a demand for your content
2. can compete with existing websites

2. Research 50 ideas for future posts or articles

You should research and prepare at least 50 post or article ideas.

That many? Yes. And you will thank me later.

Trust me, if you cannot find 50 ideas for articles or posts before you launch you need to take a hard look at your chosen niche.

You do not have to write the articles. There is not even a need to write the headlines. But you must have 50 ideas for problems that you can solve where you can compete.

3. Write your first 5-10 posts or articles

You should always focus on quality over quantity. But you also need to balance your desire for quality with time to market. 

Your posts and articles serve no purpose sitting as drafts on your Google Drive or WordPress.

The concept of Minimum Viable Product helps illustrate the importance of time to market. There is  value in releasing a product with basic functionality with the intent to add extras over time. 

This is also true for the content you produce. Your articles and posts do not have to be epic from day 1. You can always add value over time.

You will evolve as a writer and no matter how much time you spend today you will look at your articles and shudder in a years time.

Be hard on yourself. Produce quality content. But you also need to get the job done. Do not procrastinate. 

4. Launch your blog with 1 (or more) posts

There is no definite answer to how many articles you need to start a blog. It is not that simple. 

There is not one number that is correct. 

So how many posts do you need to launch your blog? 

One blog post or article is enough to launch your blog. As long as that article clearly defines the purpose of your blog or website.

The difference between launch and promotion

As a blogger you have two different audiences.

You have a primary and a secondary audience.

The primary and most important audience is and should always be your potential visitors. All your content should be written to educate and help your visitors solve problems. 

They have questions. You provide answers and solutions.

But visitors will not find you automatically when you launch your blog. Your launch is your “Hello World” moment addressed to the search engines.

You guessed it, your secondary audience is the search engines. 

But you never write for the search engines. After all, the search engines  only concern is how well you serve your main audience, the visitors. 

And here is the interesting part. 

When you launch a new website or blog the search engines have no input from users of your website. After all, you have a brand new blog – how could you have visitors?

And this is why the number of blog posts you have before the launch of your blog is not important in itself.. 

It is more about how well the posts you do publish describe your “Why” or the purpose of your blog.

Can you communicate the purpose of your blog with one single post? If you can, then it’s perfectly fine to launch your blog with that one single post.

Do not write your Keyword over and over – communicate contextually

It is not enough to summarize your “Why” or purpose in a sentence. 

You have to demonstrate your purpose contextually through the content of your post. 

Stay with me even if it sounds vague.

Try reading your post without the headlines. Is it clear what your blog is about? 

If not, you may need to write additional posts to illustrate what you are all about.

The search engines use what is called “spiders” to read and index your blog. These “spiders ” read your content and look for context and relevance.

Let me give you an example:

Let’s say I want to publish a page about Italian pizza. Which of the two pages below would you say is more relevant for the search phrase “Italian pizza”?

Both pages mention the word “Italian pizza” the same number of times (1). 

But whereas page 1 lists four different Italian dishes, page 2 lists the ingredients for making an Italian pizza.

So whereas both pages are relevant for Italian cuisine, page 2 seems to be more relevant for the search phrase Italian pizza.

Page 2 communicated its relevance for the search word “Italian pizza” contextually.

Not by writing “Italian pizza” four times. But by being contextually relevant.

Focus less on the number of posts you will need to launch your blog. 

Instead, focus on the intent you communicate contextually with the posts you decide to publish when you launch your blog.

5. Publish Content at least once per week (& start promoting)

After launch you need to publish at least one post or article every week.

There will be times when writing comes easy. And when writing is more difficult you have the 50 post and article ideas you completed in step 2 to fall back on.

Slowly but surely your new blog will start to become a resource for visitors. Publishing relevant, useful and up to date information will start building your website’s or blog’s authority.

And it is now, when you feel you have enough depth and content that it is time to start promoting your website to your primary audience, potential visitors.

The search engines have known about you for weeks, maybe even months. Now it is time to meet your potential audience.

When you reach this step it is really all about rinse and repeat. Keep publishing more useful content. 

Need more content ideas? Go back to step 2 and perform additional keyword research.

what about social media & promoting from day 1?

We have already covered that it is important to understand the difference between the launch and promotion of a blog.

And it does not really change anything if you already have a large following on social media.

You can still benefit from launching your website early and get indexed by the search engines.

The launch of your website is the start of your relationship with the search engines. Your only job is this partnership is to be clear about how you can serve your visitors. 

You should however delay promoting your website to visitors until you have a more complete presence. You want your blog or website to be a useful resource when that first visitor arrives.

Regardless of how you intend to promote your blog you will benefit from an early launch.

Building a website, operating a blog, attracting visitors and monetizing your traffic is a marathon, not a sprint.

The earlier you start the better.

Why?

I like to keep things simple. Because when things are kept simple they make sense. And then there are no longer fancy buzzwords or vague concepts to understand. It all boils down to common sense.

Time is a factor when it comes to ranking in the search engines. But only if the time is used to build authority.

What should Google or any other search engine trust you when you start a new website or blog?

I would say they don’t. And frankly they shouldn’t. You need to prove you worth over time to build authority.

See. I said “over time”. And this is why it is better to start earlier.

As long as you are prepared to be patient and be useful to visitors.

You should be prepared to wait for at least 6-9 months for any sign of appreciation from the search engines. 

And this is a good thing for you and me. Because we are here to stay. 

So get that blog or website up and running.