Frustration amongst blogger trying to grow their blog and social platforms is very real right now.
I personally know of numerous bloggers hitting continuous brick walls when it comes to growth and they're getting sick of it. Basically, blogger deflation is at an all time high!
I've definitely been there... and I get it. But, I'm also so over it and happier than ever! Because my blog is finally growing and gaining new readers, daily, after literally 6 months of pretty much staying the same. But possibly the most important thing - I've stopped aiming to improve my vanity metrics! In fact my impending milestone of 100k followers on Bloglovin' (you can follow me here - cheeky plug!) I feel may pass me by in the next 6 months, when it was one of my main motivations/aims for the entirety of last year. I'm now not only focused on authentic growth, over vanity metrics, but I'm happier and more motivated than ever before when it comes to blogging!
What are 'Vanity Metrics'? Vanity metrics are all those data points that make us feel good if they go up but don’t help us make decisions - Kissmetrics (full post)
They are things like page views, number of follewers and likes. They may make you instantly feel good about your blog, but they don’t actually add anything. Engagement metrics, on the other hand, help you understand how much of an impact your blog and social media presence is having on your ability to attract and retain long-lasting readers and supporters.
Engagement and solid yet interesting content both on your blog and social accounts should be your focus if you want to succeed and grow your blog. Because frankly keeping up with ever-changing algorithm is virtually impossible these days and let's be honest, beyond frustrating!
How to break-free from caring about vanity metrics
(a step-by-step guide)
1. Stop giving a sh*t about them.
2. Realise that engagement is where it's at if you truly want to grow your blog/brand/social platforms
3. Stop checking follower counts daily. Instead focus on building on content shares, repeat visitors and conversion rates
4. Set none follower/stat based 6-12 month goals
5. Ditch using the social platforms that just aren't for you - this can even be Instagram!
6. Focus efforts on writing solid blog content and maintaining good levels of SEO within each post
7. Figure out Pinterest (it's a HUGE daily traffic refer for a lot of bloggers!)
8. Check you're still not giving a sh*t about stats that don't matter. If you've checked your Instagram follower count more than your bounce rate then you aren't there just yet!
9. Start writing evergreen content - blog posts that never date & you can share year upon year. Read my post on the subject of content creation here.
10. Make genuine connections with your readers... let them know you appreciate them!
With your mind is clear of frustration that isn't negativity focused on questions such as why you aren't at 30k Instagram followers like Jessica over there with her luscious hair and 6 pug puppies (I made that up but I'm sure a version of 'Jessica' does exist within the realms of Instagram). Meaning you are finally able to see that engagement ultimately leads to growth and the by product of that organic growth is followers that say around!
If you still aren't convinced let me tell you why I decided to stop caring about the numbers. With my love of blogging I often spend my Saturday mornings blog-ucating myself... that's blog- educating if you didn't know (I predict it will be in the dictionary by 2020... okay, maybe not) and this is where I noticed a trend. Endless professional bloggers making pretty huge amounts of money per month but with pretty stagnant Instagram accounts and generally low followers counts across all social media platforms. When I realised this I'd like to say it was an A-HA moment... but it was mainly one of confusion. It wasn't until I delved deeper that I realised that these bloggers know where it's at. Pinterest, good SEO and strong content that gets shared - a lot! If you have all of those things on point then the pageviews will come. It won't be challenged by any algorithm update or leave you feeling blue and you will be on top of the world when you see that blog growth is very achievable for your blog.
I'm more than excited to share with you my own blogging journey with you soon and how I converted my increasing page views into revenue and how you can too! It may all seem too good to be true but all it takes is consistency and true passion, which if you are reading this then I'm sure you already have!
Here's to blogging without numbers and finally reaching success!
Fee xo.
