You started a blog and were amazed with how suddenly you got some traffic for the first few months.
You loved it and enjoyed it and couldn’t believe it.
But, then it happened.
The traffic you gained this month isn’t nearly half of the traffic you had last month.
You haven’t changed anything in your promotion strategy or even your content editorial calendar.
What gives?
When I started Twins Mommy I had a dip in traffic and had to find ways to get me out of that and grow my blog traffic.
And over the years, I’ve found more ways to rehab a failing blog.
So, let’s first look at why your blog traffic is tanking and then dive into how to rehab your blog.
Why Your Blog Traffic is Decreasing
There are several concrete reasons why your blog traffic might take a dip.
1. Seasonal Fluctuations
The biggest contributor to many bloggers losing traffic is seasonal. It’s known in the blogging world that summer can be the worst month for growing blog traffic – the summer slump.
Your audience are just not online as much during the summer.
They are vacationing, gardening and just bbqing and having fun outside.
Do some blogs thrive in the summer? Yes. Those that focus on summer things like traveling/vacationing, weddings, home decor, camping/gardening etc.. do well.
As well, blogs that are more service-based do well over the summer. For me, as a freelance writer, I pick up a lot of new clients right before summer hits and that gives me recurring projects to fill my monthly income goals.
If you don’t blog about that, then your blog could lose traffic during this time.
2. Holidays
Acute dips in blog traffic could be associated with holidays. The long weekend or Independence Day are times in the year where most blog traffic will decline.
3. Pinterest Algorithm Updates
Have you ever tried to create a pin on Pinterest and it didn’t work?
Or, Pinterest marked you as spam?
These little glitches on the Pinterest platform usually indicate that Pinterest is going through an algorithm update.
During this time you might notice changes in their user platform like a new feature. But, the biggest thing you will see is a decrease in your Pinterest views and possibly your blog traffic.
4. Google Updates
Google frequently updates their search engine algorithm as a way to improve the user experience on their search results page.
Typically, these types of updates can turn a blog making 6 figures a month to making nothing in a matter of one day.
For example, the Medic Update wiped out a lot of health blogs that were ranking in Google and replaced them with much higher brand health sites from reputable sources like doctors and notable authors.
For many bloggers, this completely shut down their health blog.
How to Rehab a Declining Blog’s Traffic
Okay.
So, we looked at common reasons why your blog traffic suddenly isn’t generating the same amount of traffic as it did previously.
What do you do to fix this?
1. Wait it Out
One thing you should automatically do when you first discover your traffic is down is to do nothing.
That’s right.
Nothing.
You have to wait this out to see if it is a small blip or a long term decline. So, if there is a Google update and I noticed that my #1 posts aren’t ranking, I don’t do anything.
Over time, Google will re-asses the ranking posts and change it over time.
Similarly, if Pinterest is being glitchy, I would wait a few days to see what is going on. Are other bloggers having the same issues as you?
Can you rectify the problem easily?
Once those are fixed, and you still see a decline then you can try the tactics I will share in this post.
2. Do a Blog Challenge
One of the things that gets me fired up and motivated is to do a challenge. You can challenge yourself to write a blog post every day.
This is what I like to do and have done it on Twins Mommy several times.
By simply giving yourself a challenge, you incorporate more creativity and more ideas to your blog.
And lo’ and behold this can help you drive more traffic to your blog.
The best challenge is a content challenge. So this can be:
- Post a video with every blog post you write
- Write a blog post every day for a set time
- Create 5 pins for each blog post
- Select a blog theme and write several posts about that theme topic
- Write a resource post
3. Optimize Your Pinterest Board Titles
Go to your Pinterest profile and look at your board titles.
Are they optimized for your audience or are they more personal for your preference?
Having board titles like – me love coffee, ben’s nursery, i like – won’t help you reach a big audience on Pinterest.
Remember, Pinterest is similar to Google in that they are trying to serve up the BEST information – pins, boards, pinners – for when someone searches on their platform.
To help Pinterest know what your boards are about, pick keywords for your board titles.
For example some of my board titles are called:
- Blog tips
- Bullet Journal
- Financial planning
- Parenting
- Writing
They are simply named and easy to know what each board is about.
4. Try Using Tailwind Communities
Communities is a feature offered by Tailwind – a social media automation tool.
You don’t have to be a Tribe user to benefit from Tribes.
Communities is like a group board for Tailwind users. You share their pins and Tribe people share your pins.
5. Do Some Guest Posting
One of the things you can do during your traffic slump is to write blog posts for other blogs instead of yours.
Why?
Well, you can leverage another blog’s audience to help you boost your blog traffic.
For this to work, however, you will have to guest post on popular blogs with a large audience. You can find that information using Similar Web.
For example, guest posting site Elephant Journal gets 1.5 M visitors a month!
So, find popular guest posting blogs to write for and make sure you add these tips to your author bio:
- A link to your blog
- A link to a freebie related to the guest post idea
- Who you are
- What you do
Your author bio is THE optimized place for your information, so make it stand out and good!
6. Work on the Bigger Picture
Okay –
Let’s get real here.
The reason you started a blog was probably to start generating some income, right?
When looking at your big goal, during slow traffic months, you can go back and assess your goal.
Look at the tasks you are doing to accomplish that blog goal.
For me these are tasks that can help me generate more income, more subscribers and more traffic!!
These types of ROI tasks include:
- Create an eBook to sell
- Create video lessons for a new course
- Update old course lessons and add new course lessons (you can then raise the price for the new value you added to the course)
- Write gift guides for the holidays to help grow your affiliate income
Don’t Sweat the Small Things
Look –
Traffic is the heartbeat of your blog.
It is what will help you grow a tribe of loyal followers that will buy whatever you promote.
It is what can help you connect with influencers and gain some SEO ranking.
So, yes, traffic is a BIG thing, but it’s a part of an even larger thing – your business.
Focus on the big picture and how to move traffic along to fulfill your goals.
Over to you – is your blog traffic tanking? What tactics are working for you right now?
Share in the comments!
Please pin me!
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