Let me ask you a question.

Imagine you’re a newish blogger. You don’t yet have many followers and the number of visits to your site is disappointingly low. To change that, do you think the best way would be:

• to increase the number of posts you write OR
• to improve the quality of posts?

Both are important. But the debate about what matters most – quality of content or quantity of content – has raged within the digital marketing and blogging world for at least a decade.

Once upon a time the mantra was “content was king.” That phrase was uttered in every digital marketing meeting I sat through. It came to be viewed as the magic wand solution for every ailing campaign, blog and website.

According to this concept, all you needed to do to get your viewer figures to soar, was to write and publish more. Problem solved. Everyone happy.

But things don’t always work out the way they do in theories.

The trouble with this particular theory is that it doesn’t take into account other factors like:

• how often you already publish new material;
• how much time you have available;
• how much you have to say on your topic and
• the appetite of your readers.

Don’t Be A Slave To Content

Your first hurdle is going to be time.

Let’s say you currently blog 2 or 3 times a week. Adding one more post per week maybe doable (depending on your work, family commitments etc). But if you are already blogging 5 times a week is it feasible for you to post almost every day of the week? It takes a lot of energy and time to keep up that kind of schedule.

Second hurdle: the more frequently you post, the more content ideas you have to generate.

Right there is the biggest issue. Because in order to post often, you may end up sacrificing quality. You don’t have time to research and write for your usual thoughtful reviews and discussion posts. So you fill the gaps with short insubstantial pieces which are much quicker to generate.

Some maybe little more than bullet point list or an extended photo caption. You don’t feel very invested in the topic but you’re doing because it’s a Tuesday and your plan says you post on Tuesdays. You need something to post that day and anything is better than nothing.

But that’s content isn’t necessarily why your readers have been following you. They don’t object to the occasional short piece or meme-related post but when it happens week after week, their patience gets stretched. They’ll stick around out of loyalty but they won’t be as engaged. You’re not providing them enough meat upon which to comment.

Going for quantity unless you can also maintain quality is a move that could hurt you. And not just because of reader reaction.

Google Favours Quality

Google pays very close attention to the quality of content on blogs and websites. Quality is one of the factors included in the algorithm that determines in what order you see sites listed when you do a Google search. Web and blog sites with the highest quality scores get to be shown on the first page and will be among the first sites you see. .

One element of quality assessed by the Google robots is the length of content. Google wants to send searchers to substantial content because it’s more likely to have answers to the searcher’s question. It doesn’t like very short articles. The more of these you have on your blog site, the lower you are ranked – and the less chance there is a Google searcher will ever see your material.

Google currently favours content 2,000-3,000 words long. Don’t panic! That doesn’t mean every article you write has to be 2,000 words long. Or that you can’t periodically do a 400-word piece. But if the number of short posts starts outweighing the longer ones, you could find the number of visits coming from Google to your site will go down.

Which is better: Quality or Quantity?

Content is critical. You need to have a substantial amount of it so that readers find plenty to interest them when they visit your site .

Quality is critical. Blog sites with articles that lack depth or are poorly written will seldom be very successful.

Quantity and quality are not opposing armies fighting for territory. They are allies. Used together they are a powerful tool to keep existing readers loyal AND bring you new readers.

In a world where coverage of new books is on a markedly downward trend, book bloggers have become an increasingly important element of a publisher’s marketing strategy.

From a book blogger’s perspective, a strong relationship with publishers and publicists can result in opportunities to read books before they hit the street. Not all bloggers look for advance (and free) copies of books but for those who want to go down that path, it’s essential to know how to have a healthy and mutually beneficial relationship.

Jen Lucas and Cathy Johnson enjoy good connections with publishing companies. What do they see as the dos and the don’ts.

Here are their key tips.

Jen Lucas @ jenmedsbookreviews

I am by no means the most prolific of Twitter users or Instagram posters but they are the place to be if you want to connect with publicists and enhance your profile. Here are a few rules of thumb from my perspective.

1.Follow publicists and publishers on twitter and Instagram.

Interact with them and for more than just requesting arcs. Share their posts, help to publicise books and give more than you expect to receive back.

2. Make sure that you are producing good quality reviews and tagging the author/publisher in your tweet some how.

I know that may seem simple but many don’t do it at all. And a review should be more than just “I liked it – buy it.” It doesn’t need to be War And Peace length (like mine) but your review should make readers want to read the book.

3. In the early days you may need to review books you bought yourself, or got from the library.

Publishers like to see consistency as well as quality and writing about the books you love, even older titles, is a good way to show you are serious about books.

4. Keep an eye out for publicists offering ARCS via Twitter.

They regularly ask for readers and if you are quick and savvy you may be one of the lucky ones. Just make sure you do a quick “thank you” tag when it arrives (another good ad for the book) and REVIEW THE BOOK . Again should be obvious but too many people take the books and run. Even that first bookpost picture or a simple promo post if you don’t get on with the book is better than nothing.

5. Sign up to publisher’s newsletters and read them.

They often have the book giveaways in them and are sometimes the only way to get the ARCS.

6. Use but don’t abuse Netgalley.

It’s easy to get caught like the kid in the candy store and become overwhelmed with books. Never ask for more than you can feasibly review or when you spot a book you really do want, you may find the pr guru says no!

7. Just keep sharing the book love.

That’s why we do this and really is the best way to get yourself noticed. for example – If you love a book drop onto Amazon and share a link to the book on Twitter so others can buy it. Tag the publisher and author and they will see it and they will remember.

There are no guarantees to getting books and I get/accept far fewer books than many other bloggers (I’m rarely sent them on spec) but this is how I’ve managed to ensure that at least I keep being asked.

Cathy Johnson @ WhatCathyReadNext

Here are my tips on working with publishers and attracting their attention. I’ve confined my advice to getting physical copies rather than digital copies via NetGalley, as that seems like a whole separate subject. 

1. Identify publishers who publish books in the genres you enjoy.

2. Follow them on social media and share and comment on their posts.

If you can, identify the members of their publicity team and follow them too

3. Tag publishers on Twitter when you share reviews of books they publish.

These could be books you already own but you can also use this technique when you have borrowed a copy from the library.

4. Ensure your Twitter profile includes your blog URL

Also make sure that your “About Page on your blog has details of the genres you read and how to contact you.

5. Try to build followers by being active on social media.

This is an important step because publishers are more likely to work with book bloggers who have a good reach. They are not going to be interested in a blog that few people read no matter how well written the content.

6. Establish a reputation as a responsible book blogger.

Don’t accept offers of books or invitations to join blog tours unless you’re absolutely sure you’ll be able to meet review commitments. If an unexpected event occurs that makes it impossible to post your review on the agreed date, do tell the publisher as quickly as possible. They may be able to jiggle their schedule.

7. If you are sent books by a publisher, post a picture and a thank you on social media before you do your review.

Let Me Ask You A Question

What has been your experience of working with publishers and publicists? Do you agree with Cathy and Jen’s advice or is there something else you’d like to add?

Type “how to be organised” into the Google search book, and you’ll get millions of results about how to bring order to your life.

They all pretty much say the same thing:

1. Set your goals
2. Make a to-do list
3. Prioritise.
4. Touch things once.
5. Delegate where possible.
6. Have a system to track progress.

If you’re the type of person who operates to those principles, I salute you. I would rate “good effort” on number 1, merit a gold star for number 2 but only a “must do better” on numbers 3 and 6. Since Booker Talk is largely a one woman band, I’d get to skip number 5.

It’s a topic I’ve been asked to include in this A2Z book blogging series. But clearly I am not the best person to be writing about how to be an efficient and organised book blogger.

Friends, I have come up with a cunning plan.

There are some bloggers whose organisation skills are far superior to my own. Why not get them to write this post I thought! Cheeky eh??

The three bloggers featured here have developed good mechanisms to make sure they are posting reviews and other contents regularly. You may not read as many books as they do, nor have as many commitments for blog tours and review copies. But following even a scaled down version of their systems, could be of help.

Karen @ Kaggsy’sBookishRamblings

I avoid the pressures of blogging by scheduling posts ahead. I keep a monthly paper calendar where I plan reviews to be scheduled and dates, usually with a gap of a couple of days in between, then set aside time when I have a few hours spare and a few books to review, and write them all in one go.

WordPress allows you to schedule posts for a specific date and by having a couple of weeks of reviews ready to be published, I don’t feel so pressured to write about a book immediately if real life is busy. 

Linda@ Linda’s Book Bag

My technique for keeping track of reviews for blog tours is a belt and braces approach.

I have a dated spreadsheet with reviews needed highlighted in red, draft reviews in yellow and completed ones in green. I also have a blogging A5 diary with post it notes sticking out of the pages when I need to review as well as a Moleskin diary that I use for personal things as well as blogging.

On top of that, I stack books for immediate review in date order next to the bed! The spreadsheet has date, title, author, author Twitter handle, publisher, publisher Twitter handle and who contacted me about the book.

I did try keeping a publication date spreadsheet too, but so many publication dates have moved this year I’ve abandoned it!

Oh, and as soon as I’ve read a book, I draft a review before I begin reading the next.

Shelleyrae@ Book’dOut

Over my ten years of book blogging I’ve developed a review scheduling system that works for me.

My first step is to add the book to my Goodreads account, placing in the appropriate shelves eg. ARC, Netgalley, Edelweiss, Publisher etc. As a Goodreads librarian it’s also convenient to be able to enter ARCs into the database.

The second step is to add the book to a calendar app (iCalendar) on my iPad. I choose a date I’m planning to have the review appear on Book’d Out and use a colour code system so it’s easy to ‘read’ at a glance, for example the initial entry is blue, I change it to pink once I’ve read it, and then green once it’s reviewed and scheduled for publication.

My third step is to add it to the Review Schedule page on my blog which is just a list sorted by year and month of publication. After the review has been published, I add a link to the post on my blog.

The next step is to add the cover to my scheduled monthly book haul post, which I call Bookshelf Bounty.

The final step is to add the book to the cataloguing software I use, BookCollectorz. This software, among other things, lets me specify where I can find the book eg on a specific shelf if it’s a paperback, on my Kindle or Bluefire App etc

Writing it all out like this makes it seem like scheduling is a lot of work, but it’s simply a habit after so long and helps to keep me organised and on track.

Let Me Ask You A Question

How do you keep organised in your blogging life? Are there any tools you use or do you rely on your memory? Leave a comment below to let me know what you think.