How Many Blog Posts Before Launching

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If you’re considering starting a blog, you may wonder how many blog posts you need before launching.

You might be surprised at my take on this.

The answer is zero.

Why?

Because the most important thing when starting a blog is to take that first step.

You can always add posts later.

I started my first travel blog with one post. After six months of publishing about four weekly posts, I had over 10K monthly pageviews. That success came from not stopping after one; I kept going.

You can, too.

So, don’t let a lack of content hold you back. You can actually start a blog today with zero posts written.

We will examine this more thoroughly regarding how many blog posts before launching

How Many Blog Posts Do You Need Before Launching Your Blog?

If you came to me and told me you had 100 blog posts ready to go and asked me when you should publish them, I would respond by saying, “Publish all of them today.”

The more content you have, the better your blog will fare in Google’s eyes.

But if you only have one blog post written, publish it and move on to writing the next post.

It doesn’t matter.

No one will see your content right away; it needs to “cook,” so to speak, on Google, and that can take a while.

Whether you have one or 100, your content needs a chance to be indexed by Google and rank.

Remember the Lazy Girl mantra:

Perfect is the enemy of the good.

—Voltaire

Perfect doesn’t exist. Just be good.

And start.

Understanding the Google Sandbox Effect

Despite Google’s public denials of the “sandbox effect,” the recent leaked documents and how Google’s systems evaluate new websites indicate that such a mechanism is in place.

The Google sandbox effect is the temporary period when new websites might not rank well on Google search results.

This phase helps maintain the quality and reliability of search results by preventing newly launched sites from quickly overtaking established ones without proving their value and credibility​.

One of the key strategies to mitigate the Google sandbox effect is to focus on producing high-quality, keyword-optimized content right from the start.

This approach empowers you to take control of your website’s ranking potential.

Ensure regular updates and have a solid link-building strategy to build your site’s authority.

Patience is critical; it can take several months (ususally between three to six) for your efforts to manifest in higher rankings.

By understanding this effect and continuing to optimize, you can improve your chances of emerging from the sandbox with a solid ranking.

More Content is Always Better

To get a lot of traffic, you need a lot of content.

Some posts will rank. Some won’t.

Now, there is always the chance you could hit pay dirt if one of your new posts goes viral or is picked up by Google Discover.

That does happen, but that traffic is short-term, meaning it spikes and then quickly drops, and fickle, meaning it’s unpredictable and may not lead to sustained growth.

When I start a new blog (this is my fifth one), I aim to get 100,000 words on my site. At about 100,000 words, you begin to see movement and traffic.

That may sound like a lot, but I’ve done it in one month.

With SEO and AI tools, getting a lot of content on your blog quickly is possible, even without hiring writers.

Make sure you do your due diligence.

Do proper keyword research, target low-volume keywords, write high-quality content, and have a solid interlinking strategy.

How to Launch a Blog the Right Way

1. Find a niche

How do you find a niche?

Answers to this question usually involve the word “passion.”

But the truth is, if you want to be successful in blogging and writing, write what you know; it takes passion, yes, but more importantly, it takes strategy and planning. 

Identify what aligns with your expertise. 

Instead of thinking of it as a passion — I have a passion for chocolate and Wordle; I don’t want to write about those things — think about it in terms of what topics you could write a book on. 

Instead, ask yourself these questions:

• What topic do I consistently want to discuss with friends and family, even when they don’t want to?
• What do people in my circle come to me for advice?
• What could I read and research endlessly?
• Which topic do I have endless reserves of ideas?
• What topic would I research even if I weren’t paid to do so?

Conduct market research to determine if there’s an audience for your chosen niche.

One blogger does really well blogging about bike locks. Huh?

Yes, every topic under the sun about locks for a bike! And he is successful at it.

One of my blogs is in the travel niche. 

I wish the course I bought about travel blogging didn’t start with the first step being,

“Where do you want to write about?”

That is not productive because it’s not strategic. 

If you want a successful travel blog, your niche is largely determined by where you’ve been and have a ton of images from.

Like any niche, travel blogging requires a lot of sitting in front of the computer and not traveling.

If you’re getting into blogging for an income, pick a niche with profit potential. 

Travel blogging can be very profitable because of affiliate potential from hotel and tour reviews. So can beauty, home decor, and food.

2. Start Small

One of the strategies for ranking quickly and gaining traffic is to start small and be specific and methodical.

You can’t write about everything under the sun. You won’t find an audience that way, either.

Once you’ve determined your niche, it’s time to come up with content pillars.

SEOs refer to pillars as silos as well. Whatever you call them, they are a place to organize content around one topic.

For example, my travel site is all about California. Since California is a big state, I have three silos, NoCal, SoCal, and Central California.

This helps my audience and Google find my content more easily.

Try to stay small here. Each silo should have at least 20 posts for best practices.

Start with two silos.

If you are in the budget travel niche, your two silos could be camping and travel rewards.

You get the idea; be as specific and well-defined as possible.

This is a crucial step for a newbie blogger. Not only will it help you rank faster, but it will also help you focus.

3. Keyword Research

What is a keyword?

A keyword is a word or a phrase people search for on Google, like, “What is the weather like in June on Catalina Island?”

That would be a long-tail keyword (hint: it’s long).

Start by generating a diverse list of keywords that align with your blog’s niche.

Consider using keyword research tools, like Keysearch, to identify search queries with low keyword difficulty.

Finding keywords is the foundation of good SEO practices.

Once you have your two pillars, as suggested in #2 on this list, aim to fill them out with content (finding keywords first) and interlinking strategies.

Keep a running document or spreadsheet where you can jot down new ideas as they come to you and when you find them using tools like Keysearch.

4. Keep a Content Spreadsheet

This is crucial. This is kind of like a content calendar or a content schedule. It’s a list or spreadsheet of all the blog posts you’ve written.

I wish someone had told me this when I first started blogging.

Start a second spreadsheet (after your keyword idea spreadsheet) where you can track the posts you’ve already written, including the publish date, number of words in the post, what socials you shared it on, update date, rankings, etc.

5. Create an About Me Page

An about page is one of the first pages you will create. While there are several must-have pages every blog needs, start with the about page.

The about page is the most fun to write because you have more room to be creative and let your personality shine. 

Describe the reason you started blogging, what you’ve done up to this point, and what inspires you to write content. 

Get niche-specific, tell a story that relates to your niche, and show your audience why they should listen to you.

For example, on my California specific travel blog, I talk about how I rode my bike (not a motorcycle or e-bike, but a bike you have to pedal) from San Francisco to Los Angeles, getting up close and personal with the state of California. 

I’ve also lived in California most of my life. 

These stories speak to my authority in the California travel niche.

An about page introduces you or your brand to visitors. 

Readers interested in your content will eventually navigate to your about page to learn more about you. 

This page should cover your blog’s mission, the author’s background, and reasons for starting the blog.

Using bullet points can make key details easy to read:

• Mission Statement: Clearly state your blog’s purpose.
• Author Information: Brief bio with professional background.
• History: A summary of how and why you started your blog.

6. Legal Disclaimers

Legal disclaimers on a blog are important, especially if you use Google services or plan to monetize your blog through ads or affiliates. 

Here are the main pages:

1. Compliance with Google Policies: Google has strict policies for content, advertising, and user privacy. Legal disclaimers ensure you meet these requirements, reducing the risk of your blog being penalized or banned.
2. Disclosure of Affiliate Links: If you use affiliate marketing, you must disclose this to your readers. Google requires transparency about monetization methods, and disclaimers help comply with these guidelines.
3. Limiting Liability: Disclaimers can limit your legal liability by clarifying that the information on your blog is for general informational purposes and not professional advice. This can protect you from lawsuits if someone relies on your content and suffers harm.
4. Privacy and Data Protection: If you collect user data (e.g., through cookies for AdSense), you must inform visitors about data collection practices and obtain their consent. Privacy disclaimers help ensure compliance with laws like GDPR and CCPA.
5. Intellectual Property: Disclaimers can help protect your intellectual property by specifying the terms under which your content can be used and shared.
6. Accuracy and Completeness: A disclaimer can state that while you strive for accuracy, you cannot guarantee all information is current or correct, protecting you from claims related to outdated or incorrect content.

Including legal disclaimers helps build trust with your audience and ensures compliance with relevant laws and regulations, creating a safer and more professional online presence.

7. Install a WordPress Theme

A good theme is fast, easy, and light. Meaning it won’t bog down your site’s load time.

Technical SEO has to do with speed.

Your site should load in under 3 seconds, or people will bounce. I do when something online isn’t fast enough.

We all have the attention span of toddlers, so think about speed first.

I use the Kadence theme for all my blogs; it’s fast. And FREE!

Plus, I found Kadence really easy to figure out and I’m not technical at all!

8. Write Your First Blog Post

Yay! Time to write.

That is why you started this whole blog thing-y in the first place. You want a place to share your ideas, thoughts, passions, and amazing writing talents.

I suggest writing an outline first. This generates ideas and gets you in the writing mindset.

Writing an outline also organizes your thoughts and sharpens your focus.

Then write it. Plunk it into Grammarly. And then read it aloud.

When we read our writing out loud, the ear catches what the eye can’t because the eye has seen it too many times and skips over errors, spelling mistakes, and awkward sentences.

The ear catches these things much quicker.

So, even though it feels strange, sit in a room, close the door, and read what you wrote aloud.

Your writing will thank you and be better for it.

Here is a more in-depth article about how to write a blog post that gets read.

9. Share Your Content

I don’t like social media, but I share my content on Flipboard.

I like curating content, and Flipboard allows you to do this and avoid all the trollish content on social media sites like Twitter.

I rely primarily on SEO to rank on Google for growth.

This is harder for new sites. It’s also best not to rely on only one platform for traffic, so start building at least one following on a social platform other than Google. Also, build your email list now so you can start sharing your new content with them.

Before You Launch Your Blog Checklist

1. Purchase a domain name and web hosting (check out my Lyrical Review)
2. Install WordPress
3. Pick your niche and which content pillar to put your focus
4. Learn SEO and conduct proper keyword research
5. Install Kadence or another free WordPress theme
6. Write your first blog post
7. Focus on one social media platform to share your work

Wrap Up: How Many Blog Posts Before Launching Your Blog?

You can start with zero or 100. It’s really up to you.

The point is to start.

If you had 200 unpublished blog posts in the can, hit publish on all of them right now. Unless they are completely AI-generated, Googs (my new nickname for them) doesn’t like that and may even ding you. 

But you can be just as successful starting from ground zero.

I’ve done it.

I started by writing what I could and producing my first 100,00 words, starting with just one blog post. I had over 10K pageviews in 6 months of consistent writing.

If I can do that, you can do it. And more!

Just get writing, even if it’s not perfect. Perfect doesn’t exist; it’s the enemy of the good. The good, in this case, is starting.

Frequently Asked Questions

This section addresses common questions about preparing and launching a blog to help you ensure a successful start.

What should be the length of a blog post to ensure good quality?

A high-quality blog post should typically be between 1,000 to 2,000 words. 

This length allows you to cover your topic comprehensively without overwhelming readers.

What is an ideal frequency for publishing blog posts when starting out?

When launching your blog, aim to post every day for the first week (I’ve done a month, but realize this isn’t realistic for everyone) and then shift to every other day in the second week. 

After this, settle into your regular schedule, such as 1-2 weekly posts.

How much traffic is considered good for a new blog?

Good traffic for a new blog varies, but achieving 100-200 unique visitors daily within the first few months is a reasonable goal. 

To attract visitors, focus on creating engaging and shareable content.

What content should a first blog post cover?

This depends more on your niche and good keyword research. When starting a blog, start writing posts that target low-volume keywords to eliminate stiff competition so you can rank faster.

How can the number of initial blog posts affect site ranking?

Launching with many blog posts can positively impact your site’s ranking. 

Search engines favor sites with more content and older age, as it indicates value and relevance to users. However, you can succeed by publishing one blog post, and another one after that, and another one after that, and so on.

What is the recommended number of posts to have prepared before a blog launch?

The most important thing about starting a blog is starting. The number of posts doesn’t matter all that much. You’ll be in the Google Sandbox for a few months anyway. Start with one or 100, but start. The important part is not to stop. Keep going, even when you don’t see traffic right away. It will come. 

Read More of My SEO Tips:

• Lyrical Host Review & Coupon Code
• How Do Bloggers Actually Make Money
• 7+ Ways to Monetize a Blog Without Ads
• 31 Exciting Reasons to Start a Blog
• The Ideal blog Post Title Length for SEO
• The Advantages and Disadvantages of Blogging
• What is a Travel Blog and How to Start One
• Blogging Essentials to Streamline the Process

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