With 2 years of experience participating in National Blog Post Month, I believe I have enough experience/evidence to give advice on how to double pageviews in 30 days.

I’m a huge believer in blogs and blogging and bloggers.

People are blogging for many reasons. For some it’s simply a creative outlet, for others it’s a business, and sometimes the two collide. But whatever the reason a person is blogging, I think they really do want to be heard. I know I do.

In the past I used to judge my readership by the number of comments I received. Well, that seems to be the past … not many people are commenting and I wrote about that in my post Blog Comment Pressures which ironically got a lot of comments!

I still enjoy blogging and my blog is my baby. Last February I confessed to a failed attempt at keeping up my blogging schedule in Have You Hugged Your Blog Today?

My main message in that post was that it’s OK to fail. Just get up, hug yourself, and keep on keepin’ on.

So what is the secret on how to double pageviews in 30 days?

It’s kind of simple … Post every day. Simple, but not easy. And the effect only lasts as long as you keep on posting.

Both Novembers where I posted every single day, my pageviews doubled. How do I know that? Google Analytics. I have solid evidence that when I posted every day my pageviews doubled over the month before, as well as the previous Novembers (when I didn’t post every day as in 2014 and earlier.) I even had the hubs corroborate the evidence.

Was it easy? NO. Some days it was painful.

But has it been satisfying? Tremendously so. Perhaps I can only say that now that I’ve reached my goal of posting every single day in November for #NaBloPoMo. Some days were downright awful, but when I look back I can see that I shared some pretty kick-a** posts (yes this Grandmother of 5 swears ;)

I wrote posts that I most likely would not have shared otherwise, and will probably bring in traffic for years to come … how do I know that? Past experience and Google Analytics.

So there you have it. The secret on how to double your pageviews in 30 days is to post every day for 30 days.

OK. So I posted every day for 30 days … what else did I do? There is always more to the story, right? I’ll share that in an upcoming post. But let me just say, that for the most part it was about posting every.single.day.

Thank you to anyone who followed me on this journey; leaving comments and clicking “like”. I appreciate you more than you could know.

xo

Day 30 of Posting Every Day in November! High Fives all around.

#NaBloPoMo

You might also like:

Blogging Bits and Bytes, an Intro
Blogging Bits and Bytes: Tips for Blogging Regularly
Blogging Bits and Bytes: On Writing a Blog Post Part I
Blogging Bits and Bytes:15 Tips on How I Survived National Blog Posting Month
Blogging Bits and Bytes: Setting Goals
Blogging Bits and Bytes: Gentle Encouragement

(Edit)

Setting goals is an amazing way to keep on track no matter what it is you want to accomplish.

Have you found it hard to get back on your feet after the busyness of December and the slump of January? I know I have.

I was going over my archives and it seems I posted 9 times in December, and it’s been about the same for January. Not bad … hmmm … but I want to post more frequently.

So, with a new month around the corner, I’ve decided that I’m going to start setting goals:

My first goal is to post every single day in February.

This is what I did in November for National Blog Posting Month. In a weird way I find it gives me permission … permission to post the everyday “stuff” along with the more meatier content.

And I want to let you in on a little secret. During the month of November when I posted every day, my traffic increased by a whopping 27% from previous month(s) as well as from the month of December, which is when I typically see my highest traffic. I must admit I was pretty surprised when I saw those numbers in Google Analytics … so I guess you have to post something if you want readers ;) and it doesn’t have to be earth-shattering.

My second goal is to use my editorial calendar.

Every September I purchase a planner and by February it’s buried beneath a pile of magazines and well, you know: outta sight, outta mind … . It’s too bad because it could be a real life-saver for me. Not only for scheduling blog posts, but if I wrote all those cryptic notes-to-self in one place, at least I’d be able to find them (reading them is another thing … so today I vow to write more clearly and concisely as well.)

My favourite planner type is an 8 1/2 x 11 Flexi Planner from Orange Circle Studio. I like the large size, but they come in smaller sizes as well. My favourite thing about it is the coil binder—having it lay flat is essential. I also like the double format for each month: large squares of the month view with another section for writing more extensive notes (by month.) I can’t quite remember where I found this one … perhaps Walmart, or Chapters Indigo … however, now that I’ve found their site, I may start ordering right from them.

Do you use a planner? Do you have a favourite? and if you do, why is it your favourite? Do you use it for setting goals?

Also, starting this month I’ll also be sending out little emails with what I call “Gentle Encouragement“.

The simple definition of encouragement is:

♥ the act of making something more appealing or more likely to happen
♥ something that makes someone more determined, hopeful, or confident
♥ something that makes someone more likely to do something

… but please don’t worry, I won’t inundate you with email :)

Gentle Encouragement: Setting Goals

• Set a few blogging goals this month and write them down.
• Commit to writing a certain number of posts. Maybe it’s every day in February, maybe it’s twice a week. It’s up to you of course.
• Find a planner you love, and use it. Write down ideas, thoughts, and musings. Use it as a journal, an address book, an appointment book. If a friend calls, make note of what they’re talking about so you remember. If nothing else, simply write down their dog’s name … the idea is to use it so often that you can’t be without it. Keep everything in it … like receipts, clothing tags, photos (something like a Smash Book) and I guarantee that by the end of the year you’ll have a treasure that you never saw coming … and you may also be blogging more regularly. I’ll keep you up-to-date on how it’s going for me. If you decide to do this, and would like to share your posts, please feel free to add them to the link-up here as we’d all love to see them!

Have a wonderful day!

PS:

I included the above word art as a free printable in my Blogging Bits and Bytes newsletter. If you’d like to receive future newsletters and access to the occasional freebie, you can sign up here.

Looking forward to February …

I believe I can do it ;)

Today I’m celebrating and sharing 15 tips on how I not only survived, but thrived, during National Blog Posting Month!

Woo Hoo! Happy Happy Dance over here … I did it! I posted every single day in November.

High Fives all around. Time to party!

I wish I could say I had been organized and prepared, with tons of content squirrelled away, ready to go … but I cannot.

I did not even know I was going to participate until November 1st when I saw Xanthe Berkeley’s post on Instagram … in fact, I’d never even heard of National Blog Posting Month. Then I saw that Kim Klassen was also participating, and it sounded like a great challenge, so I jumped right in with my first post NaBloPoMo Otherwise Known as Madness. It seems like ages ago … .

So how did I do it? First of all I was determined … then …

15 Tips on Surviving National Blog Posting Month

1. Commit. Set your intention. Be positive … see it as an exercise that will strengthen your blogging muscle.
2. Give yourself permission on really hard days to simply post a photo and say “Hi … how are you? I’m so happy you’re here reading my blog, thank you!”
3. Use prompts. I used one prompt from the BlogHer prompt pool. My post What I Did This Morning (and most mornings) and What Does Goatsbeard Have to Do With It (take that Google) was a result … a bit silly and goofy, but I got it done (and had a little fun.)
4. Rely on your strengths. My strength is photography. I have no problem taking a photo a day. Once I have a photo, the rest will follow.
5. Dig into the photo archives and bring content out of the dark that may never have made it otherwise. Don’t worry that it may be old content. I shared a mushroom and wild rice soup recipe I’d been meaning to post for months and months.
6. Start first thing in the morning (or when you feel the most productive).  You may not finish it, but by the time you go back to it later in the day it won’t be so daunting.
7. Write at the same time every day.
8. Set a time limit. This eliminates agonizing – get it done already. Ignore SEO. SEO drove me crazy this month. I’ll explain later … hey! another post idea!
9. Write about what you love. Write down everything you can think of – throw it on the page – editing comes later.
10. Get that title figured out.
11. Edit photos in down time.
12. Try to work ahead by at least one day (I’ve already admitted I did not do this).
13. Write a heartfelt post, reveal some inner thoughts, share your vulnerabilities.
14. Just start. Follow leads. Search online. Join memes. Instagram is endless inspiration.
15. On an extremely busy or hectic day, put in a “place holder” … a paragraph with just enough info, explain your dilemma, then go back later (maybe even a day later) and elaborate. At least you have a blog post holder for that day. I would not recommend doing this too often … once maybe when you are desperate (which I was one Sunday … we were visiting family and I didn’t want to lose one precious moment).

So there you have it! How I survived and thrived whilst posting every day for 30 days. Will I do it again? I am not sure :)

DAY 30 #NABLOPOMO WOOT!