How I Went from 5,000 to 100,000 Pageviews in Two Months

I have never written about blogging tips before on Endless May but recently, I have been putting more time than ever into my blog and have seen some awesome results that I wanted to share to help other bloggers who are trying to increase their reach and readership. I have only been blogging for about two years and by no means consider myself an expert but I have learned quite a lot along the way and in the last two months I have grown my pageviews from 5,000 to 100,000! With a little bit of luck and a whole lot of dedication, I have seen more blog growth than I ever thought possible for Endless May and I hope some of these tips will help you grow your blog.

My favorite blogging snack: a toasted peanut butter and honey sandwich!

Come up with a plan & set goals.

This summer, outside of my job, I had a lot of time on my hands. I decided that I wanted to really focus my time and effort on Endless May. I would come home every day from work and immediately put work into Endless May into the late hours of the night. Before even realizing it, I was putting at least forty hours per week into my blog during the months of June, July and August which helped a ton with my growth. Most of that time was spent taking photos, brainstorming, promoting on social media, connecting with other bloggers and writing. However, I also set aside a large chunk of time to set realistic and helpful goals for myself as well as create a blogging plan.

I bought a cheap planner at Target and used it to track my growth, goals and deadlines. It really helped me stay on track and focus on the big picture.

• Some of my goals over the summer included improving my knowledge of SEO and growing my Pinterest following to 1,000. I set monthly and weekly goals and I am happy to say that I met all but one of them!

Find a blogging buddy.

Sara from Sara Laughed was an incredible support for me this summer. Having her to motivate and inspire me was so helpful. We talked every single day and had so much fun working on all of our projects together. Unfortunately, now that we are in very different time zones, we are unable to talk as much. However, we are still staying in touch as much as possible with our new Love & Liefs series.

I highly recommend finding a blogging buddy because they will help and support you along the way. Plus, it is fun to chat with someone who can relate to you with all things blogging.

Get your name out there.

Before this summer, I didn’t have a Facebook Page or a Twitter for my blog. Now I have both (Facebook here, Twitter here)! Not only have I been able to increase my social presence but I have also been able to connect with so many readers and fellow bloggers this way. I also started using Buffer, a social media scheduling tool, that has been super helpful because I am able to schedule all of my tweets for two days at once (and it is free!). This was especially nice this summer when I was at work and wasn’t able to use social media throughout the day. I also had the chance to guest post over at Chase the Write Dream which was another great chance to get my name out there and branch out as a blogger.

Be smart with Pinterest.

Every blogger says it, but Pinterest is seriously the best thing ever when promoting your blog posts. Most of my traffic comes from Pinterest and I was lucky enough to have a few pins go small-scale viral this summer which brought a lot of traffic to my site. If you are not already signed up with Board Booster, I definitely recommend it (PS: If you sign up through my link, I get credits, so thank you!).

How do you become a smart Pinterest user and use it to grow your blog?

• Schedule everything at once using Board Booster. It will save you time if you do it this way.
• Join group boards that are relevant to your niche.
• Follow other relevant accounts.
• Post content other than your own.
• Narrow down your profile (don’t have boards that have nothing to do with your target audience)

PS: A little Board Booster tip, remember to not overpin on your plan. During my first month, without even realizing it, I went WAY over my 500 pins. Luckily, they are super understanding and won’t charge you but make sure that you are keeping track of how much you are pinning.

Be proud of your work.

For a long time, I didn’t really want people to find my blog because I was, in a way, somewhat secret about it. Once I decided to ignore what people thought, I was able to be much more open on my blog and share more personal things such as my struggles with anxiety. I received such great feedback once I was more open on my blog and also found a new sense of pride in what I was doing which was really motivating for me!

Stop focusing on the numbers.

I know this may seem counter-intuitive but the more you focus on the numbers, the more stressed you will be about growing them. It is good to check your stats once in a while but also know that if you are creating high-quality content at least once a week, you will get noticed!

Post a lot, but post high quality content.

It is easy to whip out a lot 200-300 word posts but those posts probably won’t be the ones that will attract and keep readers. Take time to write quality posts.

Know when enough is enough.

There were some points this summer when I knew I needed to just step away. If you are feeling frustrated with blogging, take a break. It is always better to leave and then come back to it when you are feeling refreshed than try to push through a negative period.

Don’t Discount Luck & Timing

I was lucky in the sense that I started to put a lot of time into my blog during back to school season without even realizing it. If you are a college-blogger you know that back to school season is always prime time for your blog because students everywhere have time to read and prepare for the school year! If you know that there is a certain time of year that works well for your blog, use that and run with it!

I hope these tips helped! Please feel free to comment below any questions you may have and I will get back to you!