6 Ways I Significantly Grew My Blog

This past year [2020] has been pretty tough on travel bloggers for lack of a better word. When the world shut down, I panicked. This was the year I got an LLC for my website and decided it would be my job full-time!

With that being said, I did not give up, and by the end of 2020, I had reached over 20k monthly sessions and begun really monetizing my blog! In February 2021, I reached my goal of over 50k sessions and got added to Mediavine!

So, I wanted to share the 6 ways I significantly grew my blog and hopefully, this will help you too!

Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. 

1. Started Treating My Blog As A Business

If there is anything I have learned from my 3+ years of blogging, is that treating blogging as a hobby vs. your business makes such a difference. Look, I get it, and I have been there.

I never wanted to call blogging my “business” because it is a very untraditional way to make income. When people ask me what I do, I wanted to say I am not working rather than tell people I am a blogger and influencer.

On top of that, If I only claim blogging as a hobby, if I fail, I can say, “well I do this just for fun”.

Look, life is short and we only get one shot at it. If your dream is to be a blogger, you can make it happen! It might not be easy, actually, I can promise it won’t be easy, however, if you love it, you can do it!

So, when you start treating your blog as your business and you start investing in yourself, your whole mindset changes. You become more dedicated and I promise you will see a difference!

2. Investing in Yourself and Your Blog

The next most important way I significantly grew my blog was by investing in myself and my blog.

I have always been one of those “I will teach myself with countless hours on Youtube kinda girl”. I figured I have a degree in Marketing Communications and I worked at Canon USA as a social media and digital marketer for over 3 years.

So, for my first year and a half, I tried to figure it all out on my own. I would get some people organically on my website a month, but when I say some, I mean maybe 30.

I had listened to this podcast that originally inspired me to quit my job and travel aboard doing dropship (whole other story), but they had a couple on there with an extremely successful blog called Adventure and You.

I took their free webinar about building your blog and making income and I was really impressed. I had looked at some other courses in the past and I decided it was finally time to invest, and honestly, I truly wish I had done it sooner!

Even now in 2021, I am still fixing old articles and optimizing them with SEO…(crying inside). Now, had I just started off with investing and learning from people who have been there, done that, and found what worked, I would have been monetizing so long ago!

Once I started implementing the blogging fast lanes tips, my traffic started going up. They start from the very beginning of setting up, to making a plan, affiliates, and income, Pinterest strategy, the whole works.

I can personally vouch for Anna and Tom at the Blogging Fastlane and I am linking their free Blogging Fastlane webinar here! I’ve even done a testimonial for the Blogging Fastlane site.

I’d really recommend for you to check it out because it is FREE. And even if you don’t buy their course, I just truly believe that if you are not growing traffic organically or you want to monetize with affiliates, invest in a course that can help you. If you sign-up, make sure to connect with me in the private Facebook group!

3. Getting Serious About SEO

There is a lot that goes into SEO and I was scared of this word for so long. Even when I was in my corporate job, I didn’t fully understand what I was. But, what I learned is…Google is king. So, pleasing Google is most definitely the goal.

That means making sure your website is indexed properly, you are using the right keywords, and using keyword research tools.

4. Using Pinterest

If you are new to blogging, Pinterest should be your best friend! It takes Google a while to start indexing new websites, so while that is happening Pinterest can drive a lot of traffic.

Actually, until more recently Pinterest used to be my majority of traffic until I started ranking on Google. Some tips I can tell you right here, right now, is to connect your blog as a verified website and business account, use Canva to create your pins by 1000×1500, and post fresh pins often.

Additionally, I have some more Pinterest resources here!

5. Connecting in Facebook Groups

Facebook groups have been another way I have significantly grown my blog and honestly, one of my secrets so shhh! The sheer amount of free information in there is insane! On top of that, there are tons of super successful bloggers in these groups!

Some of my favorite Facebook groups as a travel blogger include:

• The Travel Bloggers Club (my Facebook group)
• Make Traffic Happen – SEO + Social Media Support
• Pinterest Travel Bloggers Club
• Wandering Women Travel Bloggers
• Your Blog, Your Business (formerly Female Travel Bloggers)
• Link Building + Guest Posts + Collabs (Travel Bloggers)

If travel is not your niche, I can promise you will find Facebook groups that are there to help you! I couldn’t recommend using these groups enough!

6. Writing Valuable Blog Posts

I know this sounds obvious, but think about the topic you are writing about and ask yourself if it answers a question. People are searching the web to find answers to their questions and that is where we come in!

You want to create value for your readers and provide detailed answers. Longer blog posts that go into detail tend to rank better on Google and rightfully so!

Additionally the more I write these blog posts, the more opportunities I have for someone to come to my blog giving me more traffic!

How I Significantly Grew My Blog Wrap-up

These are the main ways I grew my blog. If you implement these, I know you can too! If you found any of this helpful, I’d love it if you can share and pin it to help others grow too! Remember, we are community over competition! When one of us grows, we all grow!