Memorial Day has now come and gone, the Summer months are upon us. With Summer comes vacations, some laxity in work hours, and a general overall relaxed vibe. For bloggers, it generally also means a decline in your traffic. It’s impossible not to feel a little bit panicked like you are doing something wrong but I want to assure you, everyone goes through it. Instead of stressing, here are five things you can do for your blog right now during the Summer slowdown months.
Build Your Other Channels
I have made a personal goal of mine to really focus on building my instagram over the Summer. Especially when it comes to Liketoknowit. I am now getting just as many clicks from my Instagram, as I am from the blog. It’s a really easy to use framework and concept. If you like what I am wearing in my Instagram and you’ve signed up for Liketoknow.it, whenever you “like” or double tap my picture, the exact looks and where to buy will be sent to your email. You will never get spam in there, only the links to the outfit you have liked on Instagram. When people are vacationing over the Summer, they are still heavily using Instagram. You are waiting for your flight, out by the pool, or road tripping in the car. Instagram is going to continue to see growth and that is where I will be focusing on this Summer. I am also going to continue to grow my Snapchat (@meetatthebarre) and Facebook page. The two other platforms people use on a daily basis.
Clean Up & Repurpose Old Posts
Some of my older posts when I was still on blogger bring a ton of traffic to my site. Two of my most popular posts from google searching is this one comparing Bare Minerals foundation to Tarte foundation. When it comes to SEO, it helps to put specific product names into your titles and headers but that is another post in the making. Anyways, so the foundation post and my Target bathing suit guide are two of my biggest referrals in. When I switched to WordPress some of my older posts, the format did not come over as pretty. Make a point to search through your highest traffic posts and take the time to freshen them up. Never delete a photo because that may be already pinned content but you can update the product links and spruce up the formatting. You could also make new lead images that are easily pinnable (like this tutorial here). I have also made sure since the Target shopping guide is older, at the very beginning to link to the most updated post. Just like I did to my Santorini travel guide which is one of my most pinned posts to date.
Also, go back to your old content. If it was a gem that has been forgotten about and is still current information, push that out to your social media and stumble it. Get fresh eyeballs on it. I also go back and see if any posts can be repurposed and recycled for another go round. Posts take a long time to write and I guarantee you, you can recycle one or two posts a month and nobody will know. I’ve done it and even my mother didn’t recognize the old one. My last piece of advice on this topic, if you haven’t started a editorial calendar, now is the time. I have ideas and drafts for the next two weeks and an overview for a month. You have the time, use it to organize your posts and content!
Work on Your Photography
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You’ve saved all those photography tutorial posts, well now is the time to really get out there and start practicing. Stop using those iPhone pictures if you have made the investment in a professional camera. I made a pledge a little over a year ago to stop using any iPhone snaps on the blog and I feel like it has made such a difference in the overall professional look of my space. Seriously click on this post and write down the settings of each scenario, now get outside and start snapping away. If you have any questions about my tutorials or which settings you should be using in manual mode, definitely feel free to ask me. I also find when I get outside and just shoot with my camera, that is when I am the most creative and ideas for posts just start flowing.
Take the Time to Find New Collaborations
Every single time I get a blog email from a company or PR person, I save them in a folder. I then at the beginning of every month, I take the time to make contact with them again. “Just checking in, remember we worked on this campaign?” Or, “you said you weren’t looking for bloggers last month but to check back in next, do you have any campaigns starting that you may think I’m a good fit for?” I also like to ask “I see that you work for X company, do you have any other brands that you think I’d be a good fit for?“. If you are strapped for new contacts, start coming up with new ones. Do you remember this post? I talked about how I make the majority of my connections through Instagram (see how this all flows together? Working on that social channel, stepping up the photography and now the collaborations?). I’ve also been now taking the time to try and make new connections with hotel brands for my travel component of the blog. All these connections take time and guess what? This Summer you will definitely have the opportunity to reach out to new brands.
Spruce Up Your Site
I have been updating my site during this time. I added a new tab on the top where you can sign up for my Liketoknowit and see my latest instagram posts that are ready to shop. I have also added under that tab a “Shop My Current Favorites” where I update weekly my favorite shopping guides and sales. I have plans of updating my About Me page and Contact/Sponsor page. If you have been thinking of switching to WordPress now is the time. I wrote a post here about why I switched. I have a great contact that can help you with that, email me. Install a new plugin, like the click to tweet. If you want a new theme, I would tell you to check out Etsy or Creative Markets. I actually use Creative Markets for a lot of fonts and headers. Take this time to revamp your site, I guarantee that it will inspire and drive you for new content and ideas.
5 Easy things to do for your blog to help with the Summer traffic decline. Must read!
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Well there you have it. 5 things that are completely manageable to do for your blog during the Summer decline in traffic. I challenge you to complete these during the Summer months. What are some of the things you do during the slump in traffic to stay inspired? What are your goals and focus for the next few months. If you like this post, I would appreciate you pinning, sharing on social media and “Liking” on Bloglovin!
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