How often should a small business publish? Less than you fear, more than you do.

Every owner has been told to "post more". Nobody says how much, or what, or why. So most do nothing, and the one site in town that publishes twice a month quietly climbs past everyone. Here's the straight answer.

What publishing actually does

Three things. It gives Google a reason to re-crawl you, so changes get noticed sooner. It creates new pages that can rank for new searches ("hot water system replacement cost Perth" is a page you don't have yet). And it gives ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini something specific to cite when they explain why they picked you.

None of those need volume. They need specific, useful, regular. A 900-word answer to a real customer question beats five "we're proud to announce" posts.

The cadence that works

• Website: two to four articles a month. Each answers one question customers ask you on the phone. Titles are the question. Pricing questions are gold because nobody else answers them.
• Google Business Profile: one post a fortnight. A finished job with a photo and the suburb. Thirty seconds of work.
• Social: three to five posts a week, if you're there at all. Social doesn't move rankings much, but it's where reviews and referrals get shared. Reuse the website articles; don't write new things.

Two good articles every month for a year beats twenty in January and silence until Christmas. Search engines reward the pulse, not the burst.

What to write about

Keep a note on your phone. Every time a customer asks a question, write it down. In a month you'll have fifteen titles. Costs, timeframes, "do I need a permit for", "what's the difference between", "how do I know if". Answer them plainly with a local example and a sentence on what you'd do. That's the whole content strategy, and it's the one we run for every client.

If you can't keep it up

Then don't start and stop. Either block ninety minutes a fortnight and protect it, or hand it to someone who publishes on a date regardless of how busy you are. That's what the Content Pack is: four articles, twenty posts and a profile pack, on the first of every month, written in your voice from the questions your customers ask.