We've always believed in eating our own cooking, but it was hard for us to grasp the fact that we might be POSTING TOO MUCH, mainly because we really like posting. But, over the years, as our editorial coverage has grown and we've added more cities, we had grown our daily posting to over 110 posts per day on this site. Finally, we had to admit that it was probably excessive as we could find no other sites that posted this much.
The place we really noticed it, however, was in the growth of our direct traffic. Compared to our other four sites, which post under 20 times a day, this site's direct traffic (ie. regular daily readers) hadn't grown in over a year, while referral traffic and search traffic were off the hook. While we new were still meeting new readers and turning them into regular readers, we figured that many of those were also dropping off after awhile. The reason? The only thing we could pin it on was the large number of posts we were writing and the reports of reader exhaustion and RSS feed overload that we were getting.
So, staring last August, we began going on a diet. A big one.
We began to slowly cut the number of daily posts at the start of each month, and today we are making our last big cut, which brings our daily content rate down to around 40 posts per day. This is a reduction of over 50%! We feel a little dizzy and our pants barely fit.
Some of you may have noticed this.
It means that posts are going go be fewer but BETTER (they have to be) and that each one will have a lot more air time. It means that if you come back to the site on a daily basis you won't always see stuff that you've never seen before and you should be able to cover the whole day each day if you wish. You're not going to be tired. You're going to be inspired.
No more information overload and no clutter.
This month we WILL be running our contest, so you will see more posts in the form of submissions on those days, but that will only last during contests.
So, that's the scoop. We hope that you like it and will please let us know how you notice these changes (do you like our new shape?).
Best, Maxwell
ps. you can turn on your RSS feeds again. :-)
100 DIY Ideas for the 3-Day Weekend
Danielle's Charming, Classic Walk-Up
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
White Enamel Flatwa...
How to Make Kombucha Tea at Home
Perfect Summer Cocktail Recipe: Honey Bourbon Lemonade
No more "how to clean your bathroom" posts? ;-)
Less *can* be more - but I have to say that I always looked forward to something new each time I logged on. But I will trust that this new diet will continue to provide ample reading/interesting material for me. Looking forward to it - bring it on!
Posting too much??? Nah! I kinda always loved that about AT. There's always lots of neat new things to look at when you visit. BUT! I suppose it never hurts to edit. Keep up the good work!
You're like potato chips to me. I can NEVER get enough!!
Always a huge AT fan. I loved the volume but will happily read whatever you decide to post. Keep it up.
...and as you trim, consider a sharper eye on editing and proofing. For example, the third sentence in the second paragraph of this post reads:
"While we new were still meeting new readers..."
Don't you mean, "while we knew we were"?
I think this is a great idea. I used to read AT all the time, but i found I couldn't keep up and stuck to the kitchn instead. Thanks for being aware of your readers and what they need/want!
Thank-you!!!
yay!
quality over quantity
I hadn't even noticed that the number of posts had been cut - not at all! It's true, I don't put AT on my RSS feed, partly because of the quantity, but mostly because going directly to the site is a much more refreshing experience. And if I missed a certain amount, so what, I'm getting the AT hit. I for one don't mind that you're cutting down on posts even more, since I never noticed and still probably won't. As others have alluded to, some posts should be cut anyway--quality-wise. It seems like some writers were really reaching for subject matter.
What contest? Smallest, coolest?
I love it! 40 is still a lot, though. I started reading in Feb, I think, and have been dropping off because it's still so overwhelming. But, "down to 40" is still a *great* thing! Less if more. :)
As someone who has over 1000 blogs on their reader, I thank you!
Quality over quantity is always better!
Thank you! I love AT, but I had to cancel my RSS feed because it was getting ridiculous! If you could bring it down to under 20 posts a day that would be awesome. It would make keeping up with my google reader so much easier!
Sounds good! Now, if only full RSS feeds could be offered again.
I think this will be good for the site. I would also reiterate the point I have made before that I think AT has been trying to be all things to all people (posting generic McMansion house tours, for instance, which seems to go against the site's mission). Maybe you need a "dream homes" site so that AT can be true to its apartment and small-space-living roots.
Also, most of the "Look!" posts have been pretty dumb. Those would be an easy cut.
Thanks Maxwell -
I've noticed that the quality of post content has gone up quite a bit recently - now hopefully the spelling/editing can be improved to match.
I'm a new reader as of last week and I will admit that I enjoy the large number of posts. However, I understand that can be a bit daunting in a reader. As long as you keep the ideas coming, I'll be happy :)
Sounds good. I'd rather read one more in depth article than a bunch of little ones that don't go anywhere.
Boo; I refresh every hour to see what's new; seriously...
I like my blogs big! Having said that, I will still love you AT, whether you're XL or S. Maybe not so much XS.
Forever yours,
E.
i think the crossover posts from kitchn, ohdeedoh, unpluggd an renest are a little redundant. if you're going to pare down then please avoid reposting from these places onto the main AT site. similarly, reposting articles from one city onto another is unnecessary.
Great news! I often stopped reading AT for days at a time after the number of new posts in my RSS feed climbed to an unmanageable number.
Whatever happened to open threads? Why did you eliminate them? Was it the troll factor?
Maybe my work productivity will increase?
I'm hoping for more posts of the "how to get rid of the mess" and fewer of the posts that make me want to go spend big $$.
That said, I'm a new reader (only since January), and I now go to your site more than anything!
So don't change too much.
I've been a bit irritated by too many posts and too many that I'm not interested in so I look forward to hopefully reading some interesting articles that appeal to me in little old England. :-)
Thanks!
Awesome! I've been a reader for quite a while, but haven't been around much lately for this very reason. Too much quantity over quality!
I like the new leaner AT.
AT has been better lately and thanks for all of your efforts to making this a great site.
I could not keep up either: I went from reading every post to just glancing at the titles.
Yay!! I started reading Apartment Therapy in 2005, bought and loved the book but unsubscribed last year. The posts were overwhelming and it felt like content was regurgitated.
I'm glad to give the site a second chance!
noooooooooooo! I love that when I check in every 2 hours or so there's a whole bunch of new posts! That's what I liked about AT! :(
this is great news! I had removed AT from my Reader for just this reason, I'll happily add it back now :)
I hope this is true! While on a slow work day I enjoy all the new stuff, most of the time I end up choosing "mark all as read" in my Google reader because after just a day or two of absence there are over a hundred posts, and it isn't worth wading through all the reposts and generic roundups to find the increasingly rare gems.
If you're reducing posts, please reduce posts on Bathrooms. Enough already! And please give more info on where to buy things you showcase--furnishings, etc. Otherwise, love your site!
How about reducing the royal "we"?
I agree get rid of the reposts and best of posts. If I want to find something I will just search. When the content gets too repetitive I just stop reading for a few months hoping there will be something new when I finally come back.
There used to be twice as many posts? That's crazy. I think there are a lot now. Anyway, I agree, we could probably use fewer posts about how to clean our bathrooms. vinegar and water, we get it already!
Maxwell,
I can't say enough how much I appreciate this... I was one of the folks that was there way way back in the early days while living in Chicago (I think it was 2002 or 2003?), and then watched as AT grew and grew... Sadly I found myself visiting less and less often. There was just too much to take in, and I felt overwhelmed by all of the content. I tried sticking to New York and Chicago, but then felt like I was missing stuff from other cities... By 2008 I just didn't have time to sort through all of the posts and I all but gave up. I even removed the rss feed from my reader.
Well, I glad to say that with this more edited content, I am back... I have been pleased that if I miss a day due to having a busy life, I can "catch up" within a relatively short period of time because there isn't two hours worth of posts to review.
Keep the content quality up... Keep representin' the folks that truly live in small spaces (ie under 500 sq ft)... and I will keep coming back.
This is great news, the volume of posts is the reason I dont have AT in my rss reader. I check back the site a couple of times a day and have to keep going back and back to get to where I left off. Some of the posts were even getting duplicated on here...i hope that will be no more.
saer
http://cravenmaven.wordpress.com
April Fools! Right?
Honestly, with fewer posts, I'll get more personal stuff done. I spend quite a lot of time looking through AT. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but it's spring and I should be outside, not looking at slide shows of MCM homes.
I'm glad to hear you guys are cutting back. It was a bit out of control, and as many have mentioned, quality is FAR superior to quantity (especially when said posts are trivial and repetitive). Speaking of increased quality, perhaps it is a good time to really turn a more critical eye toward the grammar and language of the posts. This one is a great example of how poor grammar undermines the professionalism that is attempted by using the editorial 'we'.
P.S. I'm really going to miss Grace's posts.
Definitely agree with quality over quantity. Also PLEASE BRING BACK THE OPEN THREADS!!!
Open threads are invaluable for the strength of the local AT communities. And try to make them sticky posts so that people can join in the conversation through the day.
Thank you. I will have to tell all of my friends who have already removed it from their readers due to the volume. If it truly is pared down to quality posts rather than sheer volume, then I should be able to convince them all to come back.
i am going to miss posts like the one that told me to put tools in a shoe box and write the word "tools" on the outside of the box.
I agree completely with Sally305's post. It's Apartment Therapy, not House Therapy. 3000sq ft. of lovely home is still hard for me to relate to in my space.
Ah, what would a day be without Sally305 complaining about McMansions??
I'd imagine that decorating in a house can give you good ideas for decorating in your apartment as well.. size doesn't *always* matter, you know..
I'm all for presenting a range of spaces, in all shapes and sizes.
YES!!!!! This is great - I too, was not visiting AT as much because of the excessive quantity of low-quality posts.
I also second jick's comment:
"i think the crossover posts from kitchn, ohdeedoh, unpluggd an renest are a little redundant. if you're going to pare down then please avoid reposting from these places onto the main AT site. similarly, reposting articles from one city onto another is unnecessary."
So true!!
Excellent! Ditto on the getting rid of the re-posts and best of posts... I can search for the content if I want it... And it would be MUCH better for a full RSS feed! That would be the best!
thank you! I also hate the redundant and best-of posts. I could really care less what posts have become "popular".
It is the only blog I read daily BECAUSE it has enough content to make it worth my while.
May I suggest a readers digest of sorts for those that prefer a "best of" RSS. What ever amount you can dish out, I can take.
Perhaps you could add new content on the weekend and leave out all the best of posts you fill the space with on the weekends.
And WHEN are you adding a Seattle tab-we do not live anywhere near SF.
Love U
I'm quite new to AT(Nov 2009). I do like to read every day but to I think there are too many posts. I can't believe that you actually posted more than you already do. I try and keep up as I don't like to miss out on some really cool advice.
To be honest I think you still need to cut down your posts. Less is more.
I appreciate that you're trying to accommodate the needs of your readers, but agree with the many others who have already commented: cutting down on your number of posts is only beneficial to your audience if the remaining content increases in quality.
If you want to be taken seriously as a design resource, something must be done about the lack of editing on this site. I can forgive poor grammar and spelling in a hobby blog, but I hold AT to a higher standard- this is your business! There is no shame in hiring an editor (heck, I'd volunteer for the job).
If effort is apparent on each and every post, I think your readers will reciprocate: you'll see the snark and sap in the comments section give way to rich and supportive discussion.
Also: twelveindustries, I am right with you.
I agree that the number of posts did feel overwhelming. I questioned why so many of them were even posted. It seemed as if people were just trying to fill a quota. One more thing I think AT should take another look at is the "Good Questions" posts. Some are just silly and I often find myself thinking is that really a GOOD question or just another reader trying to get attention.
Also, please continue to keep people from posting links to their own sites or blogs.
THANK YOU for reducing the scavenger posts! There's nothing more annoying than seeing pictures of awesome things that are impossible for you to buy (either because your city isn't covered by AT or because it's on craigslist and therefore already gone).
d4kk1tt3n, I imagine it would be more feasible for people decorating houses to get ideas from posts about decorating apartments. I live in fewer than 300 square feet- I don't really get much out of posts about three bedroom houses that just have no idea what to do with all that space.
I'm another person who checks AT 20 times every day and have just started skipping posts about places over 1000 square feet. Content focused on smaller spaces should definitely be kept, especially since their are fewer resources for these homes than for actual houses.
re: "As someone who has over 1000 blogs on their reader, I thank you!
Quality over quantity is always better!"
I love irony.
I like this idea. Everyday when I log on after work, I see articles that were posted the prior night at 11:45 p.m. I see a lot that I missed when articles are re-posted. Then I think..."when did/or how I miss this." I think simply not posting after 8:00 pm est, would give us all a rest in trying to read and keep up with every little thing. I too, skip post of house tours of 1500 or larger, unless I'm extremely bored and don't want to log off.
well, maybe this will help curb my addiction...
I also hope the Current Comments section will remain the same.
That's actually all I read anymore... and if something's getting a lot of play, or a comment intrigues me, I go check out the post. Partially, cuz the comments page loads SUPER fast relative to the main site...
No more
Keep
Calm
Carry
On
posts- Oh no!
Thanks. I thought about suggesting separate RSS feeds for different "types" of post, but less and better is great. Turning the RSS feed back on.
Apartment Therapy, how I love thee.
Fat. Thin. You complete me.
I suppose, Speedo® season is nearly upon us, so trimming up isn't such a bad idea.
Thanks for all your inspirational work!
I think this is great, it will cut down on the double posting of the same wallpaper, chair, etc.
I do like the crossover posts from the kitchn, ohdeedoh, unpluggd and renest. I don't read those and appreciate the reposting of the interesting stories.
I look at this site a lot at work, but unfortunately, I can't comment on any of the posts until I get home...company has a lot of restrictions on the computers. When I got home, it was hard to find the topic I wanted to comment...so this will make it easier for me to search...less to have to go through. So, thank you! Good idea on cutting out unnecessary and repetitive topics! Definitely, quality over quantity....now, if you could do a better job on removing the annoying spams that pop up. :) Good job, overall, on a fun and informative site.
That sounds great!
One of my main complaints would be about all the "repeat" posts- with multiple cities posting the same story, so it would show up repeatedly on the main page. And the end-of-week summaries seem pretty unnecessary; are they going to go too??
Wow, I didn't know this started in August. I only began noticing in the past month or so that there seemed to be less new posts.
I absolutely love AT. I'm quite addicted; however, I WAS getting overwhelmed with the number of daily post updates in my reader. I don't like to miss a post and I felt I couldn't keep up some days. So, I welcome this change. Quality over quantity is always best :)
Seems like people are in two camps. Those that have 100 blogs and websites to keep up with and those that don't. I love the surprise of finding new things on AT. I like the check in the 5 min between meetings. Sometimes I'm late because of it. It is my delightful, guilty pleasure. Since AT is getting losing weight, I guess that means I should find additional home porn?
Patrick...you promised!
Someone tell sally305 I was talking about her, not to her.
Promise intact!
indeed, bringing back full rss feeds would be great. it's so frustrating to just be able to sort through at work what i'd like to actually click on and read in full later.
really glad you guys are going to scale it back. i've been reading since 2005 and it was just getting to be too much. looking forward to the new edits!
If I have time to read just one blog in my day, it's AT! I'm surprised the direct readership hasn't grown more - I tell lots of friends about this site, and they love it like I do! I assume other readers do the same.
How about a 'rate this post' to help with the 'quality not quantity' thing?
I just wish you'd post on weekends!!
Thank you all so much for all your work - this site has provided endless inspiration to me!
I like the idea of a 'rate this post' feature. As played out as it is to 'like' (or 'unlike', 'thumbs up', 'thumbs down', etc) social media, it at least provides some accountability which would hopefully increase the quality of the posts (from concept to execution).
I have been a daily AT reader for a few years, and also frequent Ohdeedoh and The Kitchn. Before the "diet" it was overwhelming to catch up on a missed day of reading! Now I can breeze through any missed time in an hour, or less...
Thanks for helping to make my Apartment Therapy addiction manageable. My husband is thankful!
AT has introduced me to a lot of other blogs like Chez Larsson and Young House Love and even though I love those, they're small with only 1-2 posts per day. They're not meaty enough to live on so to speak! I think it's nice to have a big chunk of home decor stuff on one site. It is easier to have less to look through every evening but I've been missing the Renest and Unpluggd posts as I had to prioritize my precious relax hours in the evening so it will be good to rediscover those sites.
Fantastic! Sometimes I like to follow the comment threads, so the change should make it easier for me to track down posts.
Maxwell, I never felt like there was too much posting. In fact, that's part of what I love about AT is the constant content. But I also understand the need to take a breath for a while. I still visit daily, if I spend less time on AT, it's simply because there are so many wonderful blogs out there. But yours is the first blog I discovered. I discovered AT before I even knew what a blog was, and it opened up a whole new world to me and for that I am grateful. Maybe we don't say it enough because we are too busy critiquing people's homes, but I am very grateful to you and your staff for all of your hard work!
I recently unsubscribed to AT, because of too many postings. 40 a day is still a little to much to digest, in my opinion. I still love the site, and would love to resubscribe, without clogging my GReader up.
:( i'm so sad.
AT is my crack. The more posts the merrier. what will i do with all that extra time?
I love any post to which Patrick (the other one) has commented. He should be a regular contributor. No joke.
He reminds me of the urban legend in which the kid gets into Harvard with his "tell us about yourself" essay requiring no more than 1000 words. He writes:
I am concise.
I really hope this is a serious post. I was busy with schoolwork for about a month, and didn't check my reader often. I now have 1000 AT posts to catch up on. It's just WAY TOO MUCH!
Speaking of the need for better proofing:
So, staring last August
I imagine that should be .
And while I guess you can begin to go on a diet, seems like it's more apt to say you began a diet? Unless you're from the South when you could be fixin' to go on that diet for awhile.
Irony of all ironies. Hitting submit instead of preview.
I imagine that should be starting</I>.
i think it'd be nice if you refocused on the APARTMENT part of your site.
you can go anywhere & see great design, people knocking down walls, & furnishing million dollar lofts. the thing that made me love you was the attitude in your book. more of that please! ^_^
I don't mind the number of posts at all, but then I only read what interests me. I don't live in any of the AT cities so the sales and roundups get skipped (unless there is a picture for my inspiration folder!). I agree that the crossover posts are unnecessary. I check AT every day and catch up with the other sites (even ohdeedoh -- and I don't have kids!) every week or two. I also think, while we're at it, that featuring a lawn set where each chair is $175 and calling it "affordable" is ridiculous. But then I'm the kind of person who is more impressed by how little someone spent on something. "You mean that chair cost you FIVE DOLLARS! OMG! That's incredible!!!!" gasp, squee, etc, etc.
I've curbed my reading of AT not because of quantity of posts, but purely because the quality over the years has diminished GREATLY. As someone else above noted, it often seemed that the AT bloggers had a quota to meet and were writing about anything, virtually ANYTHING, just to meet theirs.
Thank you! If I miss a few days of blog reading, I'll log in and read all my other blogs but just "mark as read" for everything on AT b/c it's just overwhelming sometimes. It's a shame b/c I know I'm probably missing good things but I just don't feel like digging through everything to find it. Love AT but I think this is a good idea.
@DailyNuance: yes, yes, a thousand times yes, particularly this: "it often seemed that the AT bloggers had a quota to meet and were writing about anything, virtually ANYTHING, just to meet theirs." I don't check for a day and come back in what is objectively a short period of time to find dozens and dozens of filler posts, nothings, "duh" posts, roundups, hot posts, reposts of this/that/the other, the cross-posting by city, the "look what people in [insert city] can get on Craigslist as of this second" (I have REALLY never understood the point of those -- it's no use to anyone outside that city, people there can check Craigslist on their own, and oh, look, the stuff's already gone so this is moot anyway), Re-Nest/Kitchen/Ohdeedoh. I still think 40 posts a day is high (who has that much time, unless you only visit/sub to a couple of sites or are using AT to get through a really boring job/slow day at work?), and am in favor of further reduction IF quality improves, because the fluff/filler/poor proofing has definitely been a turnoff. Cutting further and keeping the same proportion of filler would be bad.
Which is not to say that I don't enjoy AT -- just that I think it could be even better.
It's nice to see some paring down. It's inspired me to do some editing and some re-evaluation of what's important in my own apartment.
Also, I agree with thatsoliveit - it would be great to see a Seattle or PNW tab! You could travel between New York and Boston 3.5 times before you'd get close to the distance that's between Seatown and San Fran. More importantly, the two regions have their own unique home design styles that are both worth celebrating.
Thanks for all of the ideas and inspiration, AT and AT commenters!
hey i'm a blind fan. i'll take any amount of posts you give me. but i think i hear my husband cheering!
I agree with aemorgan. The scavenger posts are pretty uninteresting and unhelpful.
GREAT!
I haven't been active with this site for the past few months because I felt overloaded with the number of posts - and more importantly, the number of BAD posts. I'm really glad to hear that AT is going to start focusing on quality. This site could be so much better with some editing and and a clear mission.
I would love to see the following gone in the "diet" of posts:
- Craigslist finds
- Reposts from the other sites
- Reposts from THIS site
- Weekly summaries
- "This blogger was just wondering..." posts
- Anything where the blogger calls herself "we"
@RQinGeorgia: yes. The editorial "we." To our ears, it is nails on a chalkboard every single time. (It bothers our husband, too.) We wish we could ignore it, but we've so far been spectacularly unsuccessful. We didn't bring it up in our post, since we were focusing on content, not style, but we're glad you did.
@shanalulu and RQinGeorgia: WE are tired of the editorial we as well. Though we didnt' mention it above, it is also one of the reasons we've curbed our reading of AT. Though we are occasionally humored by the apparent multiple partners or spouses of most of the editors.
have to agree with mjs7640, Patrick (the other one)'s comments make my whole day!
Yes, yes, yes - reduce the posts that have already been sent. It's nice to have less but newer posts each one or two days. I'd like it if you would include Miami but maybe that's asking for too much. To see the same old photos of redone rooms or headboards gets a bit boring.
Georgia in NY and Florida.