How I got 20K Views in My 2nd Month of Blogging

Are you a new blogger like me? If so, read below on how I got 20K views on this blog in my second month of blogging!

I started this blog on April 16, and published two posts on the first day. The two posts have been read by all of two people, me and my husband. Yea, I am definitely new to the blogging world.

Since then, I’ve googled a bit for info on new blogger blog traffic and income, but, there isn’t much out there. Most of the blog traffic or income reports are by seasoned, well-established bloggers who have considerable traffic and money coming in from their blog.

This is a hobby/personal-time gig for me, so I’m all about maximizing the time spent on the right avenues. I’m still learning EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. I want to be smart about how I promote my content out there for all of the interwebs to read, judge, or gloss over; (or any combo of the above, haha!).

[bctt tweet=”Click here to read about how I got 20K views on this blog in my second month of blogging!” username=”simplyeveryblog”]

Don’t call me out or anything, I’m still figuring it all out and feel like I barely have my head above the blogging waters most days. But, I wanted to write this post for new bloggers to know that it is possible to at least start somewhere, get decent traffic to your blog and even monetize in the early months!

Post Consistently on a Schedule that Works for You 

I think the biggest and most challenging part of starting a blog is creating content. Obviously, content is king and without it, you wouldn’t even have a blog! But, taking it a step further, I was mindful of not burning myself out quickly. My goal from the beginning and even now, 3 months in, is to post twice a week. If I do more than that, great, but I’m happy if I get two new posts up on a weekly basis. Quality over quantity is always my motto!

Focus on Your Niche, but Don’t be Afraid to Cast a Wider Net

I definitely stick to two main topics: mom style and parenting. I typically don’t stray away from it, especially since that’s what I enjoy writing about. But, in the same vein, I do think that my blog crosses other people’s views, and not just moms. Even though the topics on my blog are pretty niche-specific, I try to write with a universal tone, something that can be connected to by more than mom readers. Whether it’s 20-somethings that actually find a cute accessory off one of my style posts or someone who hopes to be a parent someday, I really try to be mindful of how I convey my clearly niche-specific topics and posts.

 

Use ALL THE SOCIAL MEDIA

Like I said earlier, I realize that content is King. But come on, PROMOTION is Queen, and she wears the pants. I have an active social media outlet across most of the major platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and StumbleUpon. Any time I post something, I promote it across all of my SM platforms. You can stare and read your post by yourself, or your can put your words out there! It’s the only way you’ll get traffic to your site! My biggest traffic referrals are Facebook, StumbleUpon, and Instagram. I really need to work on my Pinterest game. I know that is a HUGE factor (especially for mom bloggers) in boosting blog traffic.

Join Facebook Groups for Promotion

The number one factor in boosting traffic to my blog has been joining Facebook Groups for bloggers. I’m an active member in 3 of them and a part of some others that I use if I have the time. Promotion between bloggers is obviously a big traffic source. I also love the knowledge, relationships and camaraderie I’ve cultivated from these groups. I highly recommend you join them:

• Naptime Nation
• Growing Social Media for Bloggers
• Grow Your Blog

Don’t be Afraid to Submit your Posts to Bigger Publishers

On a whim, I decided to write Arianna Huffington after reading this helpful post, from my blog goddess friend Chrystie V. I was accepted later that day and given access to the blog platform. I haven’t published anything since my first post. But, I’m doing that deliberately to post something that I feel is HuffPo worthy and something I can promote and get featured on their main page. Regardless, being published on the HuffPo blog and featured on one of their sections was so cool! (And good for blog traffic too!)

Participate in Link-Ups & Guest Post

I’ve participated in a couple of link-ups for style posts and guest posted on other mom blogs. It’s been a great experience both to network and also gain organic traffic to my green blog! It’s been a great way to connect with other bloggers, which is my favorite part of it all!

And the very best for last, here’s an actual snapshot of my Google Analytics:

 

I was just under 20K views at 19,547 in June, but that doesn’t fit well into a blog post title or graphic. So there you have it! Haha, but seriously though, here’s the snapshot to backup my claims of page views and such on such a green, new blog!

As far as monetizing in the early months, I’m still trying to organize my thoughts into a helpful post for new bloggers. But, please know that monetization IS possible. In the last three months I have made money from sponsored posts, a (big) opportunity from a PR firm, affiliate links, ad revenue, and free products. Be sure to subscribe to the blog (to the right in the sidebar!), there will be a future post to come on my monetization thus far!

Are you a new blogger? What is your biggest conundrum? (I have many!)