Every serious blogger out there must have discipline and dedication. And when I say serious, that actually comprises many aspects of what it means to be good in blogging; in anything in life actually.
And while being persistent, dedicated, professional, passionate about something, may only represent words that we use in order to describe what we want to be like, there is one thing that encapsulates all this elements, and acts like a proof that we are in fact headed in that direction.
That is having a plan, a schedule, a routine. In blogging that will mean having a publishing schedule, a deadline, if you will. And this by itself screams professionalism, dedication, true passion for the things you write about.

Progress is impossible without discipline

You see, even in sports you have to be dedicated, to practice, to deliver. And this analogy only pushes forward what we already know – if you want progress you must not lack consistency.
And discipline is what makes consistency in the first place.
Forcing yourself at first may seem harsh, even exaggerating. But it will ensure improvement, progress.

What are the benefits of having a publishing schedule?

Without me being vague, and ranting without a concrete argument, I will try and familiarize you with all the benefits a publishing schedule may have in terms of building a brand, successful Internet Marketing approach, brand advocates, value in the eyes of the search engine, and higher position in the SERPs.

• You captivate visitors by offering them a promise that you are going to deliver new material on a given date. And they stick to that promise, likely to return. You see, no matter how good your writing is, you can never make a new visitor come back if he doesn’t know when. Not everybody uses RSS feeds.
• You are showing professionalism, dedication, passion. It’s nothing more amateurish than seeing someone posting once a month, and then two times per week. It’s just not good to your brand, your readers. You are now somewhat of a public figure, so get used to deliver when it’s expected by your readers. You are here for them, right?
• In terms of SEO it’s now a widely spread idea that constant updating means more Search Engine love. The spiders or the bots (whatever you chose to call them) crawl your site more often if you have a disciplined, packed schedule. In a way you are giving the Search Engines a sign that you are updated consistently, and by that inviting them to come and take a look.
• This behavior also gets noticed in the eyes of Google (and co.) and it gives the algorithm a sign that you are more professional dedicated site- something that immediately gives you some distinction from all the others, and respect in the eyes of Google.
• Your progress is better off when you have something to compare it to. If you give yourself a deadline, a schedule, not completing it will always mean a failure. However, opposed to that, following your schedule will always assure you that you are in fact progressing. Not moving back, not retaining status quo, but going forward. And since you are planning to do this for a longer time (you are, right?) then organizing things upfront always makes the most of sense.
• Having a schedule also means not draining yourself at first in terms of niche related ideas, and giving yourself an opportunity to produce quality content accordingly to your capabilities. Similar to that, being a novice you may want to stick to less packed schedule in order to start producing those quality articles, or you will choose more packed schedule and practice in the lines of smaller articles that are only pitches and ideas, rather than elaborated in-depth analysis and covered subjects. Have in mind that whatever that you choose, you will notice improvement, since following the given schedule you will develop your skills with practice. In start it’s all about how much you can invest, and what you have to invest already in terms of expertise.
• Having a schedule also means knowing your long term goals.

You see, having in mind growing your site you may want to start with more articles in the beginning. On a different slant though, you may want to build credibility and authority at first by providing your best work in the form of longer more elaborated articles. Your schedule will take care of this, and reflect your intents in the very start. However, don’t forget to take a closer look upon your present capabilities.

The intent behind my schedule, and how you can learn from it

In order to give you a better example, and cut through analogies and theories, I will familiarize you with the phase I laid for my blog and the schedule I followed at first and now.
At the very start I took in consideration my knowledge in the niche that was not that impressive at the very start, and realized that a 5 times per week publicizing is not even an option. However, giving the fact that I knew some stuff in the frame of the niche, and giving the rate in which I was reading and learning new and new closely connected subjects, made me consider a schedule that will still be a lot for beginners. This fact combined with the need to rapidly grow my site both in terms of SEO and in terms of building an archive of posts fast, as well as acquiring more readers even at the very start, I made a compromise.
I started with posting 3 times per week, and this was showing the results as soon as in two months from launching the site.
The epilog was a huge archive even after five months, subscribers in a greater number than I anticipated, and SEO benefits more than I hoped for.
But this made something even more important than any of this. It forced me to write even on days when I didn’t felt like it, made me keep the blog professional right on the line where it could have turned into more of a hobby.
Another thing that is important and that I tried to hint earlier is your strategy for growth. If you are even a little bit into SEO you probably know by now that this also includes the link building strategy. And the most promising and most popular asset of the link building strategy nowadays is guest posting.
Having my schedule forcing me to stay true to the 3 times per week posting, I was almost unable to produce other more high quality articles in the beginning. Things then slightly changed as my expertise and writing skills started to grow, but the appetites of the link building strategy also developed more, so I decided another compromise should be made.
Here is what it included – I was going to produce more and better articles that were going to be published on other sites, something that will strengthen the brand awareness, grant me more readers, allow me to make invaluable connections. On the other hand I was going to reduce my posting schedule and go to 2 times per week. This on the other hand will still keep the readers interested, while giving me a chance to improve myself in writing those articles, and make them better, more in-depth, more appealing.
So I wrote a post explaining the change and what it will bring to the readers in terms of information and better quality posts. Then I switched.
Now I’m writing better posts, and stacking piles of articles ready to be published on other sites. This in a way lifts of the pressure and the deadline, but it is only possible because I planned such a thing even from the beginning, and made my archive as well as my site very nicely connected and cross-referenced inside. In some time as my writing skills and knowledge inside the niche develop even more, and link building strategy is put almost on autopilot, I will be able to return to the 3 times per week schedule, or even add even more to that. The thing is that then, the articles will be even better, and the blog, I hope, will going to see the biggest progress so far.

My advice for beginners as well as more advanced bloggers

That’s why my advice for beginners is to push yourself more on the very start, but still have a firm perception on what are you capable off. Take everything in consideration – the rate in which you learn new things, your passion, your dedication at the start, your sources of information, your SEO aspirations, is there anyone to help you with all of that. You are the one making the decision, so you are the one who must be comfortable with it. However, having a consistent schedule only assures that all of this is checked and allows you to move forward building your blog and your brand, while making a great connection and establishing trust with your readers.