It's the end of the year (how, exactly?) and I've been thinking about where I want my blog to go in the next 12 months. In March 2019 I will have had this blog for four years, and for most of that time have just treated it as a hobby. However, in 2019 I'm planning to get a little more serious about blogging and hopefully take it to the next level.
In this post I'm going to let you in on five of my blogging goals for the next year and how I'm planning to achieve them - it'll be something to look back on next December and see how many I've achieved. And I'm even going to give you a few tips on how to improve your own blog.
This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase anything through one of my links I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you (and you'll be my new bff).
1. Post consistently.
I'll be honest, I'm not the most consistent when it comes to publishing blog posts. I can go for weeks without writing anything, then churn out a load of posts in one go. My plan is to commit to a schedule in 2019 - ideally I'd like to start posting three times a week.
Tip: If you're wondering why your blog's not growing, it could be because you're not posting consistently. If you're serious about blogging, creating a schedule where you upload on certain days could be really beneficial. It will help to increase your page views, make you look more professional (which is important if you want to work with brands) and your readers will know when to look out for a new post from you.
2. Get my DA score to 30.
Even though I've had this blog for four years, it wasn't always called Nic's Healthy Life and used to have a different domain name. I bought the URL nicshealthylife.co.uk at the beginning of 2018 and had to start building my DA (domain authority) up again. In the last 12 months I've managed to increase it to 22 and by the end of 2019 I want it to reach at least 30.
Tip: If you also want to increase your DA, you'll need to put a little time and effort into learning SEO, writing guest posts for other sites (especially ones with a higher DA than yours) and leaving meaningful comments on other people's blogs. Also make sure to have plenty of internal links on your site - when creating a blog post, link to other relevant posts you've written. This will have the added benefit of keeping your bounce rate lower as your readers will be more likely to stay on your site longer and read more of your content.
3. Achieve one million monthly views on Pinterest.
This is probably my most ambitious goal. It's the one I really want to achieve, but a million unique monthly views seems so far off at the moment. I only started taking my Pinterest account seriously about halfway through 2018 and as I write this post I'm currently receiving around 57,000 unique monthly views. I have a lot of work to do if I want to reach a million but I know that with dedication, hard work and the right strategy I can make my Pinterest take off.
Tip: Pinterest can be an amazing source of traffic for your site, and so many bloggers swear by it. I purchased this affordable Pinterest e-course a few weeks ago - it's so detailed and in my opinion is one of the best out there. By following the tips I'm already noticing such a difference with the amount of traffic my blog is receiving from Pinterest - it's just climbing and climbing. [Update: I've reviewed the course in more detail over in this post if you'd like more information about it.]
4. Grow my socials.
I'm currently sitting at 4,200 Twitter followers and 878 Instagram followers (I've only had Insta for about two years and don't pay nearly enough attention to it). My goal for the end of 2019 is to reach the big 10K on Twitter and 2K on Instagram. I really need to start putting more effort into my Insta - I love scrolling through and liking other people's photos but rarely upload any of my own. I also want to figure out how to use Instagram stories more effectively.
Tip: The main tip for growing your social media accounts is to be active...and interactive. Don't just scroll through your feed - actually take the time to engage with people. Wanna be besties? You can follow me on Twitter here and Instagram here - I follow back all bloggers and will regularly engage with your posts.
5. Make £1000.
This blog isn't my job so I haven't really been putting much effort into monetising it so far. I take on a sponsored post now and then, and have just started using affiliate links in some posts. But in 2019 I'm going to see if I can push it a little bit further and start making a little more money from it. My ballpark goal is £1000 - I might make more and I might make less, but I just wanted to give myself a figure to aim for, to stay focused.
Tip: There are many ways to monetise your blog, including having ads displayed on your site, writing sponsored posts and reviews, using affiliate links, selling your own products or offering a service. If you're looking to work with brands in 2019, have a read of my post A Blogger's Guide to Finding Brand Work for some helpful tips.
I'd love to know what your blogging goals are for 2019. Leave me a comment with what you hope to achieve and we can cheer each other on throughout the year!
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