It’s that time of the month again – the seventh month of having a blog! I’m posting this a little late (meant to be the 19th June), but it’s far past that now. Now June is gone I could see how well my website has done this month and to my great shock, I had the most views and visitors than I’ve ever had since I started the website, despite really not doing much on it. It only seems to be getting better too. Thank you SO much for reading!

I can imagine once I start getting back into it that the viewing numbers are going to be great (watch this space). Anyway, what have I learnt in my 7th month?

Having a blog: what have I learnt…

1. The Facebook Algorithm Is Weird

When it comes to promoting your articles, you’ll learn about the weird world of the Facebook algorithm. Sometimes you can post and share your stuff to a ton of groups and it does really well and other times pretty much no one sees it. In fact, you can say the same about Instagram – that’s so up and down that you can’t even keep up. You can write and post the most kick-ass article or write a quick 30-minute one and the quick one does better.

There are many factors that come into play – what time you post it, how quickly you like/share, how attractive/clickbaity the title is. We’ve trialled lots of different things where I work and there is just so much that comes into play. It’s an art in itself.

2. The Blogging World Is MASSIVE

I honestly had no idea just how many people blog until I started blogging myself. So many people start a blog every day. Some people only do it for themselves and aren’t bothered about viewing it to anyone and others monetize it. Some people quit after a month and other people make a lot of money a month. Weirdly, I had never really read a blog before I started my own and I didn’t actually realise that people read certain blogs religiously.

I’m amazed every single day just how many people decide to take to the internet and create their very own website. Until I started working with websites I had no idea that it would even be within my capabilities. I remember building websites in my ICT lessons thinking ‘what is the point in all of this?’ – sorry, I was wrong (opps).

3. Going Back over Your Old Blog Posts Is a Must

The more you write the better you write. Also the more you understand how this whole blogging process works, the more you’re able for it to be found on a search engine (better SEO). In short: you’ve probably done most of the hard work and it’s just sitting there and staring you in the face and waiting for you to go over it and make it perfect and searchable. My next task is certainly to go through my articles and make them the best they can be and keep on adding to them.

Some articles don’t always age well either and need a bit of editing every now and then to make the information valid.

4. Keeping All Your Social Media Regularly Active Makes Such a Difference

This may seem obvious (and it is), but you really don’t realise just how much difference it makes until you stop posting. In this point, I’m not talking about people finding you on social media because of what you’ve posted, but finding you on social media because they read your article and liked it. I always get notifications that my Facebook page has had views, but nobody is liking it. Why? Because there’s nothing to see! It’s pretty cool that people are actually looking for more, so when I have time to kickstart my website and social media again then it really should pull in more people.

5. If You Write Something Informative, Lengthy and Important, Google Will Love You

I wrote an article about Anne Frank house back in the spring and that’s what pulls in most of my traffic. Not only that, but Google even ranks my article higher than the official Anne Frank website for many of the popular keyword terms (1st place). I was like HOW!? Google saw me as more helpful than the damn place itself. I was seriously chuffed – if you provide something that will help people or that Google thinks will be popular, you will be rewarded. Always think that when you’re writing your next post. It doesn’t always work, but when it does, it really pays off.

I’ll be back next month for my 8th edition!

Like what you read? Here are my previous articles on what I’ve learnt on my blogging journey:

• Starting a Blog for the First Time: 5 Things I’ve Learnt in My First Month of Blogging
• Blogging for the First Time: 5 Things I’ve Learnt in My Second Month of Blogging
• Beginner Blogger: 5 Things I’ve Learnt in My Third Month of Blogging
• Blogging Journey: 5 Things I’ve Learnt in My Forth Month of Blogging
• Blogging Experience: 5 Things I’ve Learnt in My Fifth Month of Blogging
• The First Year of Blogging: 5 Things I’ve Learnt in My Sixth Month of Blogging