How often should you publish on your website?
A realistic cadence for a small business, and why updating old content often pays more than writing something new.
In short
- One good article a month beats four empty ones.
- Updating an old article often returns more than writing a new one.
- Content older than three months drops out of AI citations fast.
- Build around the questions you get most often on the phone.
- A system you can sustain beats a plan you abandon.
The short answer: once a month, if the article is genuinely good. The longer answer is that frequency matters less than two other things: whether the content answers a real question, and whether you keep the old content alive.
Why volume stopped working
There was a time when publishing three articles a week about anything at all paid off. That time is gone. Both Google and the AI systems judge whether the content actually answers something, and empty content does not rank, however much of it there is.
Worse than that: a large pile of weak content can drag down how the whole site is judged.
Updates are the most underrated move you have
An article that already ranks and gets visitors is far more valuable than a new one nobody has found. Going through it every three months, refreshing the numbers, adding a new example and fixing what has gone stale, is often more effective than writing something new.
This counts double in AI search, where freshness is a direct factor. Content more than about three months old falls out of citations quickly.
A system that holds
- Collect the questions you get on the phone, by email and in chat. That is your content plan and it writes itself.
- Pick one question a month and answer it properly.
- Go through one older article every month and update it.
- Put a date on everything so the reader and the machine can both see when it was last touched.
- Measure once a quarter which articles bring in actual enquiries.
A realistic cadence by size
| Business | New content | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| Sole trader | One article every two months | One a month |
| Small business | One a month | One or two a month |
| Mid sized | Two a month | Four a month |
When to publish more often
If you are building out a new area where you have no content at all, it pays to move fast for a few months and then ease off. The first ten articles build the foundation. After that it is about maintenance.
When to stop
If you have been writing for six months and not one article has produced an enquiry, the problem is not the frequency, it is what you chose to write about. Go and talk to three customers and ask what they were looking for when they found you.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to post on social media as well?
It helps, but it is not a substitute. A social post lives for two days. An article on your own website can bring in enquiries for years.
What if I do not have the time?
Then write less and write better. One article a quarter that answers a real question is better than nothing, and far better than ten that nobody reads.
Can you write for us?
Yes. We interview you to get the facts and the voice, and then we write. You read it back and approve it, because your name is on it.
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ReadAbout the author
Kristján Gilbert is co-founder of galdrasmiðjan. He builds websites and online stores for Icelandic companies and writes here about what actually works: speed, search, visibility in AI answers and automation.
Questions about this article go to hallo@galdrasmidjan.is.
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