Summer is in full swing, in case you haven’t walked outside lately. While we’re in the low 90’s/high 80’s which is very mild for Florida, it’s been very busy for me. I spent June pushing myself beyond belief so hopefully this July is a lot easier. One thing that hasn’t changed during this summer is that bloggers are pretty quiet. If you were blogging in the fall and winter, you may have noticed how active everyone was. Now it seems that readers are too busy enjoy vacations to read your blog, which might be difficult for you. How hard is it to blog when you know your audience isn’t as active? I’m going to share some tips on finding your summer voice to help you get through these traffic lows and keep your passion for your blog.
Stop Studying Numbers
If your blog hasn’t been around for a couple of years, you might be feeling really depressed at your summer traffic numbers. Summer, for me, has always been a little slow. It’s not a huge difference in traffic but statistically speaking, the summer months are my lowest. The numbers don’t matter! It doesn’t matter if you have 500 visitors or 50, keep blogging. Your audience may be smaller but you still have one. Allowing the numbers to affect the way you publish content is a huge mistake. Keep your blog true to your intentions and do what works for you.
Decrease Quantity, Increase Quality
If you’re posting five to seven times a week, you might do better by decreasing your posting schedule a bit. Spend more time focusing on the quality of your content instead of quantity of weekly posts. Having concise, premium content will always attract more visitors than several posts that aren’t offering much of anything. Figure out what works best for your blog audience. If you see more interaction with less posts, perhaps you can think of permanently changing your posting schedule. Summer is the best time to experience with new things!
Guest Posts
Connect with other bloggers and offer guest posts for their blogs. You can always connect with a new audience through some one else’s blog. It’s a great way to get new readers interested in your blog while offering your blogger friends a break from dealing with the summer slump. If you’re willing, accept guest posts on your space as well. Again, it offers you a break from developing content when you want to spend the day at the beach. Automating as much as possible with your blog can help you tremendously.
Experiment
As I stated before, now is the best time to experiment with new things. Start a new blog series. Offer a new freebie such as an e-book or an e-course. If you want to get an idea of how things will work out but you don’t want to overwhelm your audience, start to roll them out in phases. Do you have a redesign or rebrand you want to try but you’re not sure? Test it out on your blog one week and get feedback from your readers. Experimenting is a great way to offer something new to keep your audiences interested without throwing things off too much.
Most importantly, it’s important to just stay true to yourself. Don’t become overwhelmed or stressed about your summer traffic. Numbers are just numbers and you should enjoy your blog! Also, take this time to get out and take a vacation of your own. Seeing a new place may inspire you with new ideas!
How are you managing your blog this summer?
I think this is really great advice! I looooove blogs and probably read more than the average blog reader, but even I have felt reluctant to read blogs this summer… even my favorites! And when I do, it’s not as consistently! But I figure it’s just the summer and things will get back to “normal” in the fall. Still, this is great advice — especially for people who may be beating themselves up on their declining stats! 🙂
Hah same! I just don’t have the time to keep up. Once the fall comes, we’ll be back to reading!
I loved this post! For me, I have more time to blog in the summer, so it’s interesting to see how that works with the fact that there seems to be less readers and less activity. But I’ve loved blogging in the summer and this season gives way to a bunch of fun posts. I love your ideas about guest posting and experimenting. I hope to do so this summer!
xo, gina
I always loved blogging in the summer as well but now that I’m older, my mind is all over the place so it’s hard for me to focus on this space. I’m glad you’re doing well Gina!
Love this post. I’m thinking of experimenting with some stuff this summer myself. I never really noticed the slump until I realized a lot of my favorite bloggers have scaled back. I don’t blame them!
These are great tips! I’ve definitely been struggling to keep up with my blog this summer, but I’ve decided that stressing out over it doesn’t do anyone any good. For me, summer is a time to relax and enjoy life (especially because we get so few warm months in Central New York) and be with family and friends. Once the cooler weather hits, I’ll be back at it!
I definitely agree with the not worrying about your numbers thing, though!
This is a great reminder, and something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. Launching the new blog and brand at the start of summer was definitely an interesting experience. I’ve definitely noticed the peaks and wanes in numbers, not that they matter much, like you said! If anything, I value the readers still stopping by and leaving thoughtful comments more.
I’ve been taking the quiet time to great more (quality over quantity, right). I’ll be launching some columns while it’s quiet, which will give me time to perfect them by the time everyone returns from the beach.
I hope July is a lot easier on you than June, and that you get to enjoy the summer months 🙂
Your new blog is amazing so I’m glad you launched in the summer, also it’s easier not to get lost in the sea of redesigns/rebrands. (That happened to me when I launched last October). Hope you are well!
Love this post! I’m trying to stay relaxed about posting over the summer while working on a few project ideas “behind the scenes” to launch in the fall. This is such a great time of year to get away from my computer and outside for some inspiration.
Can’t wait to see what you’ve been working on. I’m sure it’ll be amazing!
Great post! I actually never thought about bloggers scaling back during the Summer. I went to look at a few of my favorite blogs and you are absolutely right! They are all doing guest post or big sponsored content posts. A lot of interviews as well. Step #2 is the step that really stood out to me. Sometimes I feel guilty about not posting alot but quality is way more important than quantity.
Yes, we’re all trying to get through this heatwave I think! 😛 Hope you’re doing well dear!
These are great tips, Angel! Especially the quality over quantity. Since I’ve been so busy this summer (as most are!), I’ve been trying to focus more on having quality posts. I think I need to experiment more with posts though – I have a lot of ideas, but experimenting first would definitely be helpful!
Would love to see more of your ideas on your blog! Hope you’re doing well dear.
amazing advice, thanks so much! you are right, we needn’t worry too much about numbers, although sometimes i just cant help feeling a bit disappointed when i lack some exposure on my blog.
i have been focusing on creating better posts and hoping to improve even more this year – lets see! 🙂
Katrina Sophia Blog
Yes, the numbers will come and go. Your blog is consistent and that’s a huge plus for you! 🙂
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