New month, new week, new goals!
Every month I set a few mini blogging goals for myself, including a few tasks I can do that won’t take up a lot of time, but can make a big impact over time. Blogging with intention can be a lot of work, but being strategic with the content you put out and keeping your social media channels and blog’s aesthetic looking fresh and current will help you build community while also attracting brands.
If you have 1-2 hours this week to focus strictly on your blog, here are 5 quick updates you can do that’ll help you in the long run.
Update Your About Me Page + Picture
Have you worked with any brands lately? Relocated to a new city? Picked up a new, fun hobby? Whatever you’ve done, do a quick refresh of your About Me page so that when people look at it, they can get a real feel for who you are and what your blog is about. If you photo is outdated and you’ve done some recent shoots, swap out the old photo for one that you love.
Review/Refresh Your Content Categories
Most blogs fall under fashion, beauty, lifestyle, decor, etc., with recurring “series” under each one. For example:
- Fashion: Style/Outfit Posts, Brand Lookbooks
- Beauty: Product Reviews, Makeup Tutorials
- Lifestyle: Cooking/Recipes, Restaurant Reviews, Interviews
- Blogging: Tips, Tricks, + Tutorials, Downloads
- Decor: Interior Design inspiration, Decorating Tips, Home DIYs
No matter what you write about, take a good, hard look at what you’re creating (and how your audience is responding) and update your categories + navigation/ sidebar to reflect that. People will still read your overall content, but it also allows them to zoom in on their favorite topics.
Set Up a Newsletter
Depending on how tech savvy you are, this one may take a little time to flesh out, BUT, actually getting it set up is a start. Blogs have a RS feed that people can follow, but if you’re planning to offer services or products on your site at some point, having an official newsletter is a must. Yes, people can find you on the internet, but readers that are willing to give you their email addy so that they can keep up with you and what you’re doing are invested in what you’re offering and more than likely to support you whenever you launch. There are different services to choose from, but MailChimp + Convert Kit are probably the most popular right now. Do your research to find the one that fits you best but get it set up.
Create a Monthly Editorial Calendar
Having an editorial calendar is a major way to help you grow your blog. It helps you with keeping things interesting, and by making it monthly, you can be much more strategic with what you post about. Consistency is key with building your audience, so whether you’re posting 5 days a week or only once a month, you can use your editorial calendar to develop content based around seasons, holidays, trips, your work schedule, etc. An easy way to start is to list out your blog’s main categories, then list the subcategories, and finally potential blog post titles under each one. After you do that, plug in the titles into an actual calendar and voila! Now you have a content plan for the month and you know what you need to work on next. You can download my editorial calendar here
Audit Your Social Media Channels
So here’s the thing about social media and blogging: there are a ton of platforms for you to be on, but keeping up with it can be a LOT, so only spend time on platforms that make sense for YOUR blog. I consider myself an OG blogger because I’ve been doing it for so long; I’m on a ton of platforms, but my real deal focus is on Instagram + Pinterest, with updates here and there on Twitter + Facebook. Instagram has lead to so many opportunities with brands and Pinterest is a good referrer for my site, so I make sure that I update those regularly. Facebook + Twitter are moreso for sharing links + news, but I do check them regularly talk with readers + other people I’m following. Pay attention to those platforms where your audience is; this will give you the most return instead of being all over the place just for the sake of it.
*Bonus*
Create a Pinterest Board For Your Blog Posts
I’ve written before about organizing your Pinterest Boards (when I did this I saw a big difference in my repins and traffic referrals) but creating a Pin Board specifically for your blog posts is a good idea. You can still share images from your posts across your boards, but this will give you a dedicated board just for YOUR content. Pinterest is a source for inspiration but its actually shifted to be a search engine like Google, so when people are looking for something specific, if you’re written about it and pinned it, it may come up! Nothing is guaranteed, but it’s another way to get your content out there in front of more eyeballs.