As the owner of a home care website, you likely wonder how often you should be posting new content. It’s wise to have this front-of-mind, because fresh content is the cornerstone of your website and determines how well it ranks with the major search engines. However, there’s a lot of confusion out there as to how often postings should occur. Is there such thing as too little or too much? How can you ensure the right balance? We’ll go into detail on home care SEO and how often you should publish content.
Blogs
Fresh content most often comes in the form of blogs. These informal writings reflect your subject matter expertise in your industry. As a home care professional, you’ll want to show your potential clients why you’re at the forefront of your industry by writing about topics like how to choose a home care provider, who pays for it, the latest health news affecting seniors, and so on. Being relevant in your field is critical if you’re going to make any kind of headway in your niche. Positioning yourself as the area expert on home health care starts with a blog. But frequency is key. How many times have you gone to a website, taken a look at the blog section, and noticed the latest update was over a year old? Old news is worse than no news.
In order to rank effectively according to Google’s freshness algorithm, you have to be on top of your game. After all, fresher results make for more relevant results, which is why Google is putting such an emphasis on the ability to index, crawl and return results faster, says Search Engine Land.
Google will rank you better if you stay on top of recent events or hot topics, recurring events or frequent updates, points out Moz.
Just how often you post will depend on many factors, such as the size of your company, target audience and your online marketing strategy. However, it’s a good rule of thumb to go with more rather than less. A recent study profiled on Forbes found that companies publishing 16-plus blog posts per month enjoy 3.5 times the amount of traffic than companies that only publish less than four times a month. Interestingly, companies that publish their 401st blog post see a significant surge in traffic that’s about twice that of companies who have only published just 301-400 posts on their sites. If you work out the numbers, you see that’s about four blogs a week — a lofty number for a home care business. Even if you can’t get there right now, it’s a goal to shoot for.
Social Media
Another common way to post fresh content is via your social media pages. Like blogs, the more, the better — IF you can strike a good balance between being invasive and annoying with being clever and relevant. Your social media posts, by their very nature, shouldn’t be too heavy. A link to an informative article about rising home care costs or the latest Alzheimer’s study can be great ways to connect with your audience and help them feel informed. Remember your target audience is made up of people who work with the elderly and their families. Drill down a bit more and you’ll notice one of your larger demographics is the sandwich generation — usually older adult females who are still raising their own families while taking care of their aging parent at the same time.
Appealing to the pain points and concerns of your demographic is key. A fresh blend of information (video and text links) with whimsical and inspiring quotes (such as memes) makes up a solid approach to your social media posting itinerary. According to Social Media Week, here’s a good rule of thumb for posting frequency on various platforms:
- Facebook: Between five and 10 posts per week is ideal, with Thursdays and Fridays receiving the best post engagement. Mid-afternoon seems to be the best time to post (between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.). Posts at 1 get the most shares, while posts at 3 get the most likes. Go for early morning posts if you want to target those people who are just waking up and checking their Facebook feed.
- Twitter: Try for three to five tweets every day; if you can’t swing that, go with Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. Just remember that tweets only have a life cycle of about 18 minutes, so time it well. Weekdays have the highest activity levels, with most re-tweets happening around 1 p.m.
- Instagram: The end of the workday is the peak posting time. Again, post once per day, being sure to tag industry influencers.
Contact A Servant’s Heart Web Design and Marketing
Coming up with fresh content on such a high frequency can seem downright impossible if you don’t have a dedicated writer to do this for you. We can help. Call us today to learn more at (760) 227-2720.
