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Friday 22 December 2017

2018 Blogging Resolutions

AD* | With barely a week left of 2017, I don't know about you, but I can't believe we're almost into the New Year already. Where has this year gone?

Now, I'm not usually one for making New Year's resolutions in any capacity. Hardly anyone ever sticks to them, people make grand sweeping goals that aren't realistically achievable, and within a few weeks, they've all gone to waste anyway. Personally, I prefer to spend my time actively trying to make myself and my life better rather than wasting precious time setting targets that I will never be able to reach - at least within the short term.

However, this year I've decided to give resolutions a chance and try setting myself a few blog-related goals I want to do my best to achieve in 2018.

There are a lot of things that I want to get from my blog, but working a full 40-hour week and doing freelance work, not to mention trying to live a life outside of work, means that the blog often falls to the back of the list of priorities. However, over the last few months, I have been making a conscious effort to get back into blogging with a regular schedule and new posts 6 days a week. It's hectic and exhausting, but it's been a great way to get me back into the swing of things and has allowed me to see which areas need the most work right now.

The Writing Greyhound has been up and running since 2013 so this year will be its fifth year. What better time to try and organise the blog and work towards getting it where I want it to be?

Quality Over Quantity

Back in the earliest days of The Writing Greyhound, posts were few and far between. A regular blog schedule was never settled upon, and the thought of finding enough time for daily posts was nothing short of a fantasy. However, over the last few months, I decided to give it a go and trial regular posting. I've been posting fresh content six days a week for several months now, and although it's done wonders in terms of blog traffic and engagement, it's just too much to fit around all my other commitments. In 2018, I'm cutting back down on content. Although no schedule is set in stone, I'm aiming to halve my weekly original posts from six to three, plus hosting interviews and other less-intensive content in addition to these three posts. It may not work long-term, but for now, what better time than the New Year to give a new blogging strategy a go?

Grow Social Media Following

Although I've always been active on my social media channels, I've not really done much in the way of engagement. I share my own posts, do my regular #ThrowbackBlogPost feature and occasionally mention or like other bloggers and authors' posts. I've seen steady growth, but there's always room for improvement and I'd love to grow and develop my social media following next year. Across my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram profiles, I'm currently sitting at about 3500 combined social followers. By this time next year, I'd love to be at 5000. Let's see if we can make it!

SEO

In my day job, I work in digital marketing. So, really, I have no excuse for my blog's utter lack of SEO and search-friendliness. Before starting my current job, the worlds of digital marketing and web design were completely alien to me. While web design is still lost on me, I've learned masses about online marketing, search engine optimisation and the importance of being search engine friendly as well as providing a good user experience. Put simply, I know what to do to improve The Writing Greyhound's SEO - I just lack the time to implement it. One of my main goals for 2018 is to go back through the blog and all my old posts and refresh them to boost my search visibility and maintain a consistent approach across the board.

Set Up an Email Newsletter

I've seen many bloggers dabble with sending out email newsletters over the years and it's something that has been brewing in the back of my mind for a while now. I will admit that I still have to do a lot of research into this before I actually set something up, but I would love to create a regular blog newsletter to send out to The Writing Greyhound's email subscribers and loyal followers. Would you be interested in reading a blog newsletter if I were to set one up next year?

Define Clearer Goals for the Future

notebooks-csheehanart

While the organisation has never been an issue for me, one thing I would like to do is to set out some clearer goals and targets to aim towards in the future. I think it's important to have something tangible to aim towards - it helps with motivation and productivity and helps you keep on track to work towards the place that you want to be.

To help me get a headstart, the lovely Claire at C. Sheehan Art was kind enough to send me these beautiful notebooks. Compact and practical yet bright and bursting with positivity, I can't wait to start using them for my blogging notes, goals, hopes, and dreams in 2018!

Of course, these resolutions aren't set in stone. The Writing Greyhound is constantly changing and adapting, shifting around my life, my interests, and ultimately, the amount of time I have to put into it.

It may not be a big blog and we may not get hundreds of thousands of readers, but I'm proud of The Writing Greyhound and how far we've come over the last five years. With a proper plan put in place and my commitment to following these New Year's blogging resolutions, there's only one thing left to say - here's to the next five years!

* I received a pair of notebooks in exchange for inclusion in this post 

What do you think of my 2018 blogging resolutions? Let me know in the comments below!

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