The Good Life: How I Tripled My Blog Views In One Day

it is safe to say that i've got my blogging mojo back, having dusted it off the shelf after months of neglect, i'm finally back into the flow of writing and publishing posts regularly. what really inspired me and spurred me on was meeting other local bloggers all doing it for themselves, i'm really lucky to have found a good group of blogging gals and although we don't meet as often as i'd like they're enough motivation for me to keep going. that's the beauty of surrounding yourself with like minded people! i realised that i love my blog, i want to share my passions and didn't want to miss out on the amazing opportunities my blog can bring.

it has really taken off since the moment i decided to treat it more than a hobby and in the last few months i've worked with brands i really like, including Oxfam Fashion (take a look at my guest post all about thrifted fashion and charity shop finds). as well as working on sponsored posts, which i'm sure is every bloggers dream to be able to earn an income from their little slice of the internet. SO here's what happened and i'll also be sharing IN DETAIL how i did it so you can start reaping the rewards of your blog too.

now i'm no big time blogger and am nowhere near where i'd like to be, but that goes to show you don't need to have thousands of followers to be able to get more out of your blog. when i was not writing anything at all and not updating my blog regularly i was still averaging between 50-80 blog views a day, which isn't bad considering i wasn't actually doing anything?! i went from that to plodding along at about 100 daily views to gaining 400 blog views literally OVERNIGHT with what i call the compound effect; little touches each day that lead to something BIG. i know these these aren't huge figures for some, but every blogger starts somewhere and for me tripling those views overnight is a step in the right direction. and following are some really simple steps every blogger can do to increase their views, followers and engagement.

Twitter Chats: i adore twitter chats, there's at least 1 every night of the week for bloggers, entrepreneurs, foodie lovers, you name it there's a chat for you. the ones i enjoy most and tend to get the most interaction from are; #lbloggers #fblchat and #bdib if you don't know what times or days these are DON'T WORRY i've shared the ULTIMATE list of twitter chats on the blog. in the week leading up to tripling my views i participated in just two chats with a bit of self promotion at the end. i always gain a handful of followers on twitter by doing so and because my blog link is in my bio, hey presto there's another view. my main tip with the chats is to ENGAGE, like, comment, share, follow and chuck in a load of gifs for good measure. be PRESENT and you'll get people noticing you

Facebook Groups: now, there are an overwhelming amount of groups out there for bloggers and you'll probably spend an afternoon adding yourself to a lot of them but what i find works best is a balance of the larger groups with 1,000 or more members for you to share a post every few days as well as smaller groups that have daily interaction threads, i tend to find these work best on a smaller scale because it's easier to keep up with and you soon build relationships with the same handful of members. i joined a couple that were recommended to me and started sharing my links straight away, this was something i'd never done before so pretty convinced that had an impact

Scheduling Tweets: this can be REALLY tedious, i don't LIKE doing at all but i really notice a difference when i stop. scheduling links back to blog posts makes sure they're constantly being seen, twitter moves so fast that only a small percentage of your following will actually see the first time you tweet your link. what i do is schedule them in for times i know a twitter chat is starting or just after, also during peak times which are early morning and any time after 6pm.

Promote Old Posts: remember to be sharing your old posts too! you spent so much time and effort for them to be forgotten about?! no no, dust them off, give them a bit of life add a few links change the wording if necessary and get that old post back out there. there are some posts that i'm so proud of such as Learning to love my postpartum body and Being an Ambitious Woman which will always be relevant and relatable so why shouldn't i be sharing them?

Link Ups: i had NO idea that linkups even existed but i soon realised the importance of taking part in ones that suited my blog, my personal favourites are #HomeEtc hosted by The Twinkle Diaries, #brilliantblogposts hosted by Honest Mummy & #bloggerclubUK hosted by The Cuddle Fairy & Mudpie Fridays. i love discovering new blogs and most importantly showing support my commenting on their posts too.

Share the love: with all this self-promotion i think it's really important to show others how much you love their blog too. like anything in life, you get out what you put in and if you're not sharing other people's work on your social media, commenting on their posts and engaging with them you may build a little following but nothing that's going to last, nobody likes being ignored and unappreciated so go out there and share the love. i really like supporting others and know that giving them a little shout out or saying 'hey you vlog was amazing' will make their day.

*phew* okay so there's a lot going on there which may be a little overwhelming for some and it does take a lot if time, work and commitment but if you really want to start getting somewhere with your blog all the above AND MORE is necessary. be organised, create a schedule, be realistic and most of all ENJOY it. love what you're doing and don't let your passion fizzle out.

go above and beyond, be the blogger that's seen everywhere and the world can truly be your oyster, i believe there's opportunities out there for every one, not just in terms of collaborations and working with brands but also your blog is a portfolio if your talent it will lead you to amazing places if you let it. so on that note, i really REALLY hope you found this post useful, i've been completely honest and transparent and just want to share what i've done because i was once clueless and am gradually finding my feet.