How Many Blog Posts Per Month for SEO?
HubSpot data shows companies publishing 16+ posts per month get 3.5x more traffic. But frequency alone is not enough. Here is what actually moves the needle, backed by data and a real case study.
Blog Frequency vs. Traffic Growth
More content means more keywords, more pages indexed, and faster topical authority. Here is how frequency maps to results.
| Frequency | Traffic Multiplier | Authority Building | Time to Results | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-4 posts/month | 1x (baseline) | Slow to build | 12-18 months | Hobby blogs, personal sites |
| 8-12 posts/month | 2-3x | Moderate growth | 6-9 months | Small businesses, startups |
| 16-20 posts/month | 3.5x | Fast growth | 3-6 months | Growth-stage companies |
| 30 posts/month | 4-5x | Rapid authority | 2-4 months | Businesses serious about SEO |
Traffic multipliers based on HubSpot marketing benchmark data and observed results from FirstSearch customers.
Recommendations by Business Size
The right number depends on your goals, competition, and resources.
Solo/Freelancer
8-12 posts/monthYou need enough content to establish topical authority in your niche, but budget is limited. Focus on long-tail keywords with low competition.
Suggested approach: $99/month with FirstSearch
Small Business (2-20 employees)
16-30 posts/monthYou need to compete with established players. Higher volume helps you catch up faster. Target a mix of long-tail and medium-competition keywords.
Suggested approach: $99/month with FirstSearch
Mid-Market (20-200 employees)
30+ posts/monthYou should be dominating your niche with comprehensive content coverage. Supplement AI content with expert thought leadership pieces from your team.
Suggested approach: $99/month for volume + freelancer for premium pieces
The Real SEO Formula (It's Not Just Frequency)
Publishing 30 mediocre articles won't work. Here is what actually determines SEO success, weighted by importance.
Consistency
40%Publishing at a steady cadence signals to Google that your site is active and maintained. A site that publishes daily builds trust faster than one that publishes in bursts.
Keyword Targeting
30%Every article should target a specific search query. Random topics without keyword research waste publishing capacity. The right keywords match searcher intent with low enough competition to rank.
Content Quality
20%Comprehensive, well-structured content (3,000+ words with proper headings, FAQs, and internal links) outranks thin content. Quality is table stakes, not a differentiator.
Topical Authority
10%The more articles you have on related topics, the more Google trusts your site as an authority. This is why volume in a focused niche compounds over time.
Proof: HPspelet.se Case Study
HPspelet.se connected to FirstSearch and published 30 articles per month for 6 months. Starting from zero organic traffic and a Domain Rating of 3, the site grew to 172 ranking keywords and 301 monthly visitors.
The total investment was $594 ($99/month for 6 months). A content agency delivering similar volume would have cost $18,000-36,000. The key was not just the volume, but that every article targeted a specific keyword identified through automated competitive analysis.
Read the full HPspelet case study or see our detailed AI content performance analysis for the month-by-month breakdown.
30 SEO Articles Per Month. Automatically.
Hit the optimal publishing frequency without hiring writers or managing a content calendar. FirstSearch handles keyword research, writing, optimization, and publishing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many blog posts per month do I need for SEO?
Research from HubSpot shows that companies publishing 16+ posts per month get 3.5x more traffic than those publishing 0-4. For most businesses, 8-16 posts per month is a strong starting point. If you can publish 30/month (as FirstSearch delivers), you build topical authority significantly faster.
Is 4 blog posts a month enough?
Four posts per month is better than nothing, but it is a slow path to SEO results. At 4 posts/month, it takes 12+ months to build meaningful topical authority. You will start seeing some results around month 6-9. If you can increase to 8-16 posts, you will cut that timeline significantly.
Can I publish too many blog posts per month?
Not if quality remains high. Google does not penalize sites for publishing frequently. The risk is only if volume comes at the expense of quality (thin, repetitive, or off-topic content). FirstSearch articles are 3,000-5,000 words each with full SEO optimization, so quality stays consistent even at 30/month.
Does blog frequency affect Google rankings?
Yes, indirectly. Publishing frequency itself is not a direct ranking factor, but its effects are: more content means more keywords targeted, more internal linking opportunities, faster topical authority building, and signals of an active site. All of these contribute to better rankings.
How long until blog posts start ranking?
Individual posts typically take 3-6 months to reach their stable ranking position. However, a site publishing 30 posts/month creates a compounding effect. By month 3, your earliest posts are maturing while new posts continue to be indexed. HPspelet.se saw 172 keywords ranking within 6 months of starting.
Is it better to publish 4 great articles or 30 good articles per month?
For SEO, 30 good articles outperform 4 great articles. The data is clear: HubSpot found that 16+ posts/month generates 3.5x more traffic than 4 or fewer. More articles mean more keyword coverage, more pages indexed, and faster authority building. Quality matters, but so does volume. The ideal is both, which is what automated content services deliver.