I'll be sharing my February goals, but first let's take a moment to recap January.
Perhaps it was the excitement of the new year, but I was maybe a little too ambitious with my January goals. I set TEN of them.
I was very consistent with blogging and the Yoga with Adriene TRUE 30-day yoga challenge. Other than that, I really fell short on my goals.
What did I learn? My monthly goals need to be a bit more reasonable.
What am I gonna do? Not beat myself up and set some February goals.
I have two overall goals for 2018:
1 Transition to Forefoot Running
2 Improve my Blog
My monthly goals are designed to help me achieve these two goals.
Since one of my goals is to improve my blog, some blog stats:
Keep in mind my blog is pretty small, but I'm working toward seeing some real growth this year.
The past 30 days compared to the previous 30-day period, I increased:
- Users by 53.09% (496 vs 324)
- Pageviews by 50.64% (2,115 vs 1,404)
- Sessions by 62.45% (757 vs 466)
Most of my traffic is coming from Social channels ↣ Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter.
My most popular post of the month was How to Make the Best Creamy Artichoke Pasta Salad.
And finally... February Goals
1 Transition to Forefoot Running
- Research forefoot running techniques
- Practice and work up to 5 minutes running outside
- Massage and toe sitting 3x per week
- Rachel's Supermans, Squats, & Twists challenge
- Yoga 2x per week
- A Squats, Lunges, Push-ups challenge with some FB friends (maybe)
You'll notice that a few of these are repeats from January. Until they become habits (ahem, massage and toe sitting) they'll likely be recurring goals throughout the year.
2 Improve my Blog
- Write 10 new posts
- Revive 1 old post
- Schedule social shares of new and revived posts
- Address Google Analytics notifications
Some might argue that increasing traffic to your site is more important that posting frequently. I'm not sure which is more important, but I do know it's some combination. February is a short month, so I've decreased my new post goal to be one fewer than January. To increase traffic, I've added in the goal of scheduling social shares.
I really want to use Google Analytics to help me improve my blog. It always has tips and tutorials, and I want to be better about using this powerful tool.
While this still seems like a lot of sub-goals this month (another 10 this month?!), I think they are a bit more manageable - especially since there aren't any trips scheduled in February.
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This post is probably a little more for me, so if you made it through the whole thing, even if you didn't. 😉, THANK YOU!
I'm so glad you're joining for the Supermans challenge! It will be fun, I can already tell. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat job this month on all your goals! I think you'll find that google analytics gives you great insight - more details about where your traffic is coming from, particular posts, etc. I also recommend google search console since you can get deets on keywords & SEO stuff that way!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chrissy! I'll definitely look into Google Search Console as well.
DeleteI've heard that posting consistently (I post on M, T/W, F) helps a lot with page views. I don't know if that's true or not. I'm working on having more provocative titles--it seems like titles with numbers or lists do really well. The one thing I can't do much about is SEO. I have to figure that out. And of course, insert the click to tweet gadget. I have your instructions saved, I just haven't had time to play with it!
ReplyDeleteI've heard that about consistency as well. Also not sure if it's true or not. :) I'm working on more provocative titles as well. I use the headline analyzer by coschedule to get better with my post titles.
DeleteGreat goals for the year and February! Sounds like you put lots of thought into them!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anna!
DeleteI try when I have free time to write my posts and then schedule them. I usually post at 3 times aw eek but I do not have a big following. But that's ok. Quality not quantity, right?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! :) I try to write ahead of time, too, but have a hard time getting ahead of it. #workinprogress
DeleteGreat goals! I like that you are focused on many things - blogging, fitness, etc.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kim! I try to be well-rounded. :D
DeleteThose are some great, and completely do-able goals!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nicole! I'm hopeful. :)
DeleteI have never taken the time to look at Google Analytics. I need to make that a goal LOL I am really making an effort to read more new-to-me blogs, and leave thoughtful comments (because I appreciate when others do the same to me). I also try to end all of my posts with a few questions for the readers to (hopefully) answer/comment on. It's frustrating to see so many "readers" but much fewer "commentators."
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea to visit new-to-you blogs. I'm not very good about that. I have trouble keeping up with comments on my blogs.
DeleteComments vs Readers is a tough question to tackle. lol I wrote a post on it back in 2012 and while I do tend to pay more attention to stats now, my overall feelings are pretty much still the same.
I have google analytics and never look at....I should, but dont.. Looks like a lot of great goals for February.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Toni! I hope February is successful. :)
DeleteYou're off to a great start with your blog goals! Blogs can take a lot of work, so it's great to see it paying off.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Coco! It was very gratifying to see such growth in January!
DeleteI know I can revive some of my old posts as well thanks for the reminder. I wish I could make myself do yoga everyday I know it would be so good for me
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! I hope to see some old posts coming through my social channels from you. Depending on the post, it doesn't take too long to revive. I usually just check that the pictures still show and there are no broken links. And, then I reshare the posts on social. I don't tend to republish. If I have more to say on the topic, I may write a new post.
DeleteYoga is amazing! But you do a lot of other workouts, so I think you're good incorporating it a few times a week/month. :)
I never look at google analytics even though I have it. It's all I can do to keep up with writing!
ReplyDeleteI totally feel you on that! Sometimes I need a break from writing, though. LOL
DeleteI don’t look at my Google Analytics either! Blogging takes a lot of my time up so I’m glad I love it! Good luck on this months goals! You got this!
ReplyDeleteBlogging is definitely time consuming. After taking 16 months off, I came to realize that I do really like it, though, and am glad I returned.
DeleteI think that its very natural to be ambitious with our goals at the beginning of the year. So many people look at the new year as a fresh start and want to get things started off on the right foot. I like that you're revisiting some of your January goals in February in order to make them a more natural part of your routine. Just because you met the goal in January doesn't mean that it will automatically remain a part of your routine, so good for you in keeping those goals on the table again this month.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kathryn! I do hope that some of my goals transition to be habits that are a natural part of my everyday life.
DeleteWow. That's a lot of posts. I'm trying for 4 a month. It seems like analytics had become he harder to read for me. I like the console in webmaster tools. Scheduling posts would make things better and now instagram allows scheduling. I've been ramping up my traffic a lot from pinterest on my hair blog. I had no idea I get so much traffic from there. Good luck with your February goals.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Aisa! I need to optimize my Pinterest more often to bring more traffic to my site.
DeleteGood luck with your goals! I had some for January that ended up on my February list too. Last month threw me for a loop!
ReplyDeleteLet's have a great February! (sorry January threw you for a loop)
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