marbles I wasn't exactly sure whether I wanted to write "quality versus quantity", "quality over quantity" or "quality not quantity" as the title of this article, but I had to pick one. All three phrases mean almost the same thing, but there are subtle differences. If I want to compare products, then "quality versus quantity" would be the appropriate choice. If I want to emphasize the better product, then "quality over quantity" would be the better choice. If I want to choose only quality, then "quality not quantity" would be the only choice.

Let's examine quality and quantity in the context of blog writing.


Quality Versus Quantity

When I make a choice as to how long an article is going to be, I'm concentrating on quality and quantity at the same time. How many words does an article have to contain until the amount of words causes the article to be more about quantity than quality?

When I decide how often I want to publish articles, I'm also concentrating on quality and quantity at the same time. How often is too often and how often is not enough?

Quality Over Quantity

I've read advice from many sources concerning the quality of an individual article. Some say it should be no longer than two pages if printed out on paper. Others say it should be only long enough to explain the main points to the reader, regardless of length. How long does an article have to be before the quantity outweighs the quality?

Some people recommend publishing one article a day while others recommend 3 to 5 articles per week. Does adherence to a schedule force quantity over quality?

Quality Not Quantity

There are writers who write short and concise articles that get the main points across quickly and then there are writers that write long and rambling articles that take forever to get to any points at all. Which one is more effective? Which article would contain more quality?

There are writers who publish frequently in an attempt to use quantity to replace quality. There are also writers who produce very few articles per week or month which are high in quality, but the quantity is lacking. Which way works the best?

The Target Audience

Who are you writing for? Are you writing for your regular readers, including your feed subscribers, or are you writing for people who'll find your articles through the search engines? Different methods work better for each segment.

When you're writing for your regular readers, you're required to produce quality or they won't be regular readers for long. On the other hand, if your target audience finds your articles through the search engines, you're all but required to produce quantity or your work won't appear in the search engines very often and certainly not at the top of the results pages.

My Choices

I don't have any answers to the questions I asked, except for my own particular situation. In my case, there have been periods where I published frequently, up to six articles per day. There have also been periods where I didn't even publish one article per day. My website traffic numbers do not increase when I write more than once per day and they decline if I write less than once per day.

The length of each article doesn't seem to have any bearing on my numbers; therefore I shouldn't be worried about length. I am, however, going to reduce my publication schedule to once per day. I believe it will cause more quality than quantity to appear on this blog. It's a tough decision I've made because I really like to write.

If you read and think about the questions I asked, do you find that you have one or more tough decisions to make?