Blogging from A-Z – A-Z of Blogging – S

In todays A-Z of Blogging, which I am doing as part of the Blogging from A-Z April Challenge, we have the letter S.  S stands for Schedule, Social Media and Stats.

Schedule.  If you want to grow your audience and attract new followers and readers then having a schedule in place is a must for any blogger.  Having a schedule in place, whether you post once a day, 3 times a week or once a fortnight it is worth keeping to a schedule so your readers know when to expect a new post.  One way of keeping to a schedule is to use a function available on most blogging platforms (and one I am really into using) is the “Schedule” function button which allows you to write a post and then publish it to your blog at a future point.  This function means that you can write a series of posts in advance and then not have to worry about writing for a while.

Social Media.  There are lots of different views on social media as a blogger with regard of how to use it, which platforms to use and when you should post to them but my advice is to find a social media platform that you love and invest time and effort into making that the platform your blog is showcased on.  It is better to focus on one platform and know the ins and outs of it and really give it a go than to have a half-assed attempt at all of them.  That being said, if you don’t want to use social media to support or promote your blog then that is fine too, blogging is about being comfortable with what and how you share it, not when and where.

Stats.  Stats are those, sometimes pesky, little numbers that tell you how many people have visited your site and how many views certain posts have been seen in a day/week/month/year and can tell you all sorts of things.  It is worth checking your stats occasionally so you can see how certain posts perform so you can look at writing further, similar posts or creating a series of posts that link to the original post.  They also tell you things about the demographic that your posts appeal to, such as where the main percentage of your audience is from, and how well your blog is performing in certain places which you can use to adjust your posts towards.  One thing that I’d like to say is, try not to become to obsessed with stats, they are only numbers and should act as a guide for your blog and are not something to worry about, there are peaks and troughs in all bloggers stats through the year and that is normal, but obsessing over them will not get you anywhere.

What are your thoughts on schedules, social media and stats?  Let me know in the comments as I’d love to hear about them!