How often should a small business post on Facebook and Instagram?

The short answer

Two or three posts a week on Facebook and Instagram. One or two short videos a week on TikTok if it suits your trade. Two updates a week on Google Business Profile. That's it.

If you're starting from nothing, begin with one post a week and do it for a month before adding more. A rhythm you keep at one post a week is worth more than an ambitious plan you abandon in week three.

Why consistency beats frequency

Customers don't count your posts. They notice whether you look current. A page with something from this week reads as an active business; a page with a burst of posts from March and then silence reads as one that tried and gave up.

Algorithms behave in a similar spirit. Platforms favour accounts that show up regularly and get responses. But you don't need to chase that. You only need to avoid the pattern of three posts in one day and then six weeks of nothing.

A useful way to think about it: if a customer looks at your page on a Tuesday in November, can they tell whether you were open last week? That question is answered by rhythm, not volume. Two posts every week, forever, will always beat one heroic month followed by silence.

A weekly rhythm that works

Notice that the Facebook and Instagram posts are the same content, adapted. That's not laziness; it's the only realistic way a small business keeps up. Anyone posting completely different content on every channel either has a team or is about to burn out.

What counts as a post

This is where "twelve posts a month" quotes get slippery. A post, in any useful sense, has:

• a photo or clip of something real: your work, your team, your products;
• a sentence that says something, in your voice;
• a reason for someone to care: information, a smile, a nudge to book.

Reposting a supplier's graphic with "Available now!" is not a post, in the same way a leaflet through a door isn't a conversation. It's fine occasionally. It shouldn't be the plan.

Here's the difference in practice. "New arrivals in store now, come and have a look" above a supplier photo is a leaflet. "The navy coat from the window, back in stock in a size 12: two left" above a photo taken on your phone is a post. Same product, different amount of care.

Why posting every day often backfires

For a local business, daily posting creates three problems. First, you run out of real material and start padding it. Second, followers who see you six times a week start tuning out, the opposite of what you wanted. Third, and most importantly, a daily schedule is the first thing to break on a busy day, and the break is what people notice.

There are exceptions. Cafés with daily specials, gyms with class timetables and venues with events genuinely have something new each day. If you're one of those, daily is reasonable. If you fit a boiler once a day, it isn't.

Busy weeks, quiet weeks and forgetting

You will have weeks where the photos don't happen. That's normal and it's fine, as long as the page doesn't go silent. Three workable tactics:

• Batch your photos. When you finish a job you're proud of, take four photos instead of one. You've just banked a week.
• Keep a backup list. Opening hours, seasonal reminders, a tip from your trade, a review you're allowed to share. Post from that list when the real material runs dry.
• Post less, not never. One good photo with an honest caption beats a week of placeholder graphics.

This is exactly what we do for our clients: if the week's photos don't arrive, the page still gets posted to, and nothing looks neglected.

What to measure, without obsessing

Ignore follower counts for the first three months. They move slowly and tell you very little. Look instead at:

• messages and calls that start with "I saw your post";
• saves and shares, which are the clearest sign something was useful;
• profile visits: people checking you out;
• direction requests and website clicks on Google.

Check once a month, not once a day. If you'd like a plain-English monthly summary instead of a dashboard, that's part of the plan.

In short

Three posts a week on Facebook and Instagram, one or two TikToks, two Google updates. Adjust for your trade, your season and your honesty about the time you have. Then keep it up, because the keeping-up is the whole point.