Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Increasing Hits on a Single Blog Post

Welcome to my little blog, Giftie Etcetera

Back when I started (as a lifestyle/parenting blog) in 2007, I had posts that got as few as 3 views and averaged about 20 views for a couple of years.

As you stumble around my blog today, you'll notice that I focus more on planners, organizing, and being productive. I also have a few more readers these days.


blog, Giftie, Etcetera, blog views



But I still have an obstacle that I have not conquered.

I haven't had a post go viral yet.

Oh, I hear stories of individual posts getting 40,000, 75,000, or even 100,000+ views, but that's not me.

I suppose it is partially because I am a niche blogger. But surely over 100,000 people use a day planner?

Maybe it's just a question of luck. 


For a post to go viral, people have to share and share and share again. 

I don't spend a lot of time sharing my posts or begging my friends and Loyal Readers to share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter, so the chances of a post going viral are lower for me.

I also rarely post anything very controversial or use undeserved sensationalist headlines.

But I do have a few posts that are really close to 10,000 views. My post about Five Essential Sections Every Planner Needs is really close. Honestly, this post linking to that one might put me over the top!

I examined that post closely (and invite you to do so here) to see what contributes to the higher number of views on that single post.

I discovered things that help to increase the view count:

*Easy-to-read, visually simple, titled Pinterest pin, with great keywords and a number in the title.


Check it out here (and repin if you would like). A great pin makes a post more likely to go viral.

*Links back from newer blog posts to the more popular one.

I compiled a list of ways to revive an old post

I often refer back to my most popular posts for two reasons: 

1. I've monetized them, so I can earn a bit of money without working for it and without overwhelming my readers with sponsored content every day, instead earning money off of tried-and-true posts.

2. If posts were popular, they tend to be posts that have a ton of helpful information. People still want to read it. 


I've updated the SEO on the older posts, too, if they were really popular.

*Clear, easy-to-read look of the blog itself.

My most popular posts tend to be my more recent posts, mostly because I've changed my blog to make it more reader-friendly, with larger fonts and a cleaner look.

Understand, my blog is still busier than most bloggers recommend. For me, that's a style choice. I like to give my readers as much access to my blog as possible. That is more important to me than a clean look.


But changing from this post's default font to the newer font found in this post certainly makes my blog more readable.

Though I blog on Blogger instead of Wordpress, I've removed all Blogger messaging to make my blog feel more professional. (I am a hobby blogger at heart, though, so I am okay with imperfection!) My blog doesn't have the navbar, icons, or "powered by Blogger" attribute that so many Blogger blogs have.

(Thank you, Dr. Harkrider, for teaching me Pascal in high school so that I could understand coding and fix little issues with my blog. And thank you, Google, for being my new best friend when I don't understand the coding.)

*Strong Facebook presence.

I have a presence in several Facebook groups that are niche-specific and often share my stuff, without me ever spamming the groups.


The funny thing is that my favorite posts tell stories (like this one), but my most popular posts are simple, how-to guides.

But don't discount those stories.

Stories filled with honesty and feeling drive readers back to Giftie Etcetera, as they build a relationship with me. 


It's those Loyal Readers who share and repin in the how-to-guides in the first place, giving a post a chance to go viral.

I'll let you know when a post exceeds 100,000!


(Shout out to my fellow LSMSA Class of 1992 gifties who might be reading this today. I know you ALL loved Pascal, too, right?!?)

Etcetera.


If you enjoy what you read at Giftie Etcetera, please share on social media. Click here to join the Giftie Etcetera Facebook group.

Partied at: Tutorial Tuesday, Tuesday Talk, Homework, Work It Wednesday, Way Back Wednesday, What's Hap-pin-ing Wednesday, Showcase Your Talent Thursday, It's a Party, Thursday Favorite Things, Small Victories Sunday, Happiness is Homemade, Making Your Home Sing Monday, Share the Wealth, The Mommy Monday Blog Hop, Motivation Monday, Manic Mondays, Mix It Up Monday, Inspiration Monday, Marvelous Monday, Something to Talk About, Over the Moon, Good Morning Mondays, The Dedicated House, What'd You Do This Weekend, Meandering Monday, Meetup Monday

Featured at: Small Victories Sunday, Over the Moon, Good Morning Mondays, Meandering Monday, Happiness Is Homemade

18 comments:

  1. This post of ours http://philofaxy.blogspot.com/2009/11/filofax-templates.html has had about 84,000 views in 6 years. Not exactly viral, but it is nearly always in our top ten posts any month.

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  2. The most awesome part? I read Philofaxy regularly and never even saw that page. (I send people there for templates, but don't do printables myself.)

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  3. Love reading your blog. Lots of interesting things ❤

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  4. I am currently going through old blog posts and fixing the SEO. It's a huge project but so worth it! I had no idea what I was doing back then. Thanks for sharing on the Small Victories Sunday Linkup!

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  5. I haven't had a viral post either .

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  6. Thanks for sharing! I'm still getting more comfortable with blogging and trying to increase views, so this is helpful! Visiting from Manic Mondays Blog Hop.

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  7. I'm trying to go back and optimize old posts too, I updated a gift guide with affiliate links and it actually made me a little money this past week. My first Amazon earnings so I was pretty excited. My planner based on the 7 habits of highly effective people is responsible for half of my blog traffic since I posted it a couple years ago. I really need to capitalize on that one more.

    Thanks for sharing with Small Victories Sunday Linkup. Pinning to our linkup board and hope you found some great posts to visit this week!

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  8. I loved this post. I am a blogger newbie so reading all I can. I would love for you to share some tips. http://faithfilledparenting.com/2015/12/faith-filled-parenting-link-up-party-3/

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  9. Thank you for a post full of solid advice. I like your blog layout and fonts, so easy to read. I have visited too many blogs that seemed interesting but were just too hard to read.

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  10. I've loved finding your blog and I pinned this post + your almost-viral one to help you get over the 10,000! Thanks so much for sharing on our #OverTheMoon #2 linky :) ~ Leanne

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  11. I haven't had a viral post either, but it is interesting to read tips to help increase the eyes and shares on posts :)

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  12. Great tips. I'm a new blogger and always find it helpful to read advice from those who have done this for a while. Hope your next post goes viral!

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  13. Thanks for the tips! I actually really appreciate reading blogging tips from bloggers who aren't huge! I hope you go viral soon :)

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  14. Hi Giftie - just to let you know that I loved this post and it will be one of our featured posts on next weeks #OTM #3 link up. cheers Leanne

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  15. Great tips! I definitely need to go through and add more links to other posts (along with some of your other suggestions). Thanks so much for linking up at Share The Wealth Sunday! I hope you'll join us again tonight!
    xoxo
    Lisa

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  16. These are some great tips, I need to go through my old posts and make them more Pinterest friendly with Alt tags that really describe the content, and maybe make a few images more pinterest friendly. Clicking over to read your other post, good luck at going over your goal!!!!

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  17. Hi,

    Well you have shared really great tips for increasing blog traffic and I guess its time to implement on same on my blogs.

    Thanks..!!

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  18. Thanks this is one of the best post i ever read for blogger vs real website. Actually i want to know that i have website on blogger which is searchli8 for seo services. Can u guide me how tk make it professional look and url??

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