Blogging Goals for 2019

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Another year has come to an end, and as always I like to review how I did on my blogging goals for 2018 and make some new ones for 2019.

As of October 2018, I’ve been blogging for two years. I know I often say this, but I am so proud of myself for sticking with it and I am still enjoying every aspect of the blogging experience, from having time to myself to write personal posts, to meeting new blogging friends, to making a bit of money on the side to supplement my income, and more importantly, my maternity pay. Blogging has brought so much joy to my life and I am so glad I started.

It’s been a great year in terms of the blog, I have managed to consistently post despite working full time and being pregnant for three quarters of the year. I’ve loved blogging about my pregnancy, my hopes and dreams for baby number two and I’ve loved working with lots of different brands to create sponsored posts both on the blog and on my social media pages.

The most viewed post I wrote in 2018 was How Soon Is Too Soon To Leave Your Baby?  which discussed my thoughts on how the press were being overly harsh to Kylie Jenner for leaving her newborn baby to go to Coachella. A lot of you agreed with my opinion while others agreed with the international media storm that said it was far too soon!

Now, onto my 2018 blogging goals: did I achieve them?

1. Grow Social Media

I wanted to grow my social media by 6000 and had specific targets for each platform. So how did I do?

Instagram 5000 (+1400) – I just about got here thanks to three giveaways I ran towards the end of the year. It’s been a long hard slog though!

Twitter 7000 (+2800) – I grew this platform by 1300 finishing on 5500. Not bad, as it’s probably the platform I use the least.

Facebook 2000  (+840) – Miles off, I only grew this platform by 160 followers this year. Boo!

Pinterest 1000 (+400) – The one platform where I overachieved. I finished the year on 1800 which is growth of 1200 followers!

YouTube 500  (+370) – I finished the year on 337- to be fair I only posted about three videos!

Total social media following: 15500  (+6000) – I finished the year on 14,000 followers across the above platforms which was a growth of 4500! I’m actually really happy with this despite me not quite reaching the target I set myself.

2. Hit 10,000 page views per month

On average, over the year, I achieved 9,000 page views per month, which although lower than my goal, is still an incredible achievement which I am proud of. The majority of my views come from Pinterest, followed by people who come direct to my site. The rest of my views come from Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and referrals from other blogs.

3. Increase DA to 30+

My DA finally climbed to 30 in the summer before dipping back down to 29 in the Autumn. Just in time for me to write this post it has gone back up to 30 which I attribute to making my site more secure, commenting on blogs more, sorting out my categories and revamping old posts regularly.

4. Double my blog earnings

This was a pretty big ask! In 2017 I made just under 3k from the blog which I was so happy with considering I only started making money from it in the May. I have indeed just managed to double my earnings this year, earning just shy of 6k (before tax!!) which has been incredible. This money has helped us reduce debts, save for maternity leave so I can take 12 months off, buy things for our new house and bought Neil god knows how many new bike bits!

Blogging Goals for 2019

1. Reach Top 100 in TOTS

Tots wasn’t one of my goals for 2018, but it’s back for 2019! I’ve been in the top 150 for the past six months and I’d love to get into the top 100. I am hoping that it would also bring more work. To do this there are several metrics which need to increase- DA, social media following, page views and YouTube views.

2. Achieve average 10,000 views per month

This goal is back for 2019. I was so close to 10k page views a month last year and if I’m going to achieve it, 2019 HAS to be the year, while I’m on maternity. I’ll be focusing on growing referrals from Pinterest, writing more personal posts and promoting on Twitter and Instagram and scheduling more.

3. Grow social media

Just like last year, I’m going to break it down by platform:-

Instagram 6000 (+1000)

Facebook 1500 (+280)

Pinterest 2500 (+700)

YouTube 500 (+170)

Twitter 7000 (+2000)

Total 17500 (+3500)

4. Earn on average £500 per month

This will definitely be an interesting goal for 2019 as I will certainly have the time to try and make it work! I can’t wait to come back this time next year to see how I have done!

5. Grow Pinterest (without using Tailwind)

In 2018, my average monthly viewers was 268k which I’d like to increase to 300k in 2019 and the average engaged was 4.5% of this number, which I’d like to increase to 5%. I did use Tailwind for about four months in 2018, but didn’t see enough of an increase in page views for me to warrant paying £11 a month for it so I cancelled it and have been trying to grow it organically ever since.

So that’s it for my 2019 blogging goals. I am really happy with how the blog has grown and progressed over the past year. I am loving my new theme which I installed in September and am so grateful to all my readers, old and new, who continue to support this little blog.

Happy New Year and here’s to a prosperous and eventful 2019!

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