Restarting Your Blog After a Break

I used to get caught up on posting everyday due to some unspoken proverb that consistency is the key to attract more readers to your blog.  This is for the most part true by default as readers do have expectations that you will deliver consistent (good) material.  Now a days I am not as concerned as being consistent as I used to be in fact I feel free to take breaks here and there without fearing the loss of readers.  This could be due to the fact that I know I have at least a couple of faithful readers that will eventually check back (i.e. mom, dad 🙂 )  What I consider a break is 2 weeks to a month.  If I do take a break I usually devote a short post to make readers aware and when I am back I do make it a point to follow a normal schedule.  As a side note I should say that the fear of losing readers shouldn’t be your whole motivation anyways for blogging as readers will come and go although I will admit that a consistent schedule of posting at least five times a week for the new blogger will help you get more readers.

Bill Seaver over at MicroExplosion Media has given Three Keys To Restarting Your Blog After a Break.  He states that good content is the key!

MicroExplosion:

There are three things to remember when you restart your blog. This is where I’m starting today as well.

1. Start with something easy for you. Whatever is really easy for you to talk about (and fits in with your blog content) is the best topic for your restart. Just pick a topic that fits your blog topic(s) but is really easy for you to talk about. You just want to get back in the flow of blogging right now and the biggest barrier to getting restarted can be finding something to talk about again. Start with something you know really well and is easy to write about.

2. Start with a short post. My wife ran a half-marathon a few weeks ago. That’s 13.1 miles. She took a week off and then ran only a few miles her first time back out. That’s how you should restart your blog. Don’t feel like you have to restart with a long post. A short one is just enough to get you going again. In fact, all the posts you’ll do for the first week or two may need to be short just to get you back. If that’t the case for you don’t worry about it. It’s more important that you post something good and short than something long and meaningless because you feel like you need to make up for lost time.

3. Start with consistency. The worst thing that can happen is that your restart your blog and post a time or two and then take another break. Readers will accept a break. They understand everyone needs a break from time to time. When you’re ready to return, however, be ready to return to your previous blog schedule. If you’re not quite sure you’re ready to restart, it would be better to delay the restart another week or two rather than post once and let it sit again for several weeks. Readers have a sense of a blogger’s post frequency so don’t toy with them. The break isn’t what will hurt you, a bad restart will.