Laura’s Books and Blogs turns five years old this month, and this year, I’ve seen tremendous growth thanks to my supporters, fellow indie authors, and higher search rankings on Google. number of supporters, author giveaways, and higher search rankings on Google. My fourth quarter in particular was record breaking. They say it can take five years to see some real progress on a blog, and I’m glad that I was patient enough to find that out. Below is a recap of 2023 on Laura’s Books and Blogs.
Traffic
There’s a tendency in the blogging world to guard your numbers so that you don’t feel like you’re comparing yourself to anyone. The truth is, blogging numbers are going to vary according to the topic, quality, and longevity. I’ve come to find that the only person I’m in competition with is myself. So, I’m going to just put it all out there.
In 2019, my blog received a little over 8,100 views from 5,200 visitors. In the Covid years, this number more than doubled and then dipped in 2022. I attributed the decline to people returning to work and not having as much time as they had before.
I had 5,000 fewer views in 2022 than in 2021 which was discouraging, and I questioned if I should even keep going. After all, it’s very time consuming running a blog. I too had a new day job that demanded my full attention, and I couldn’t keep up with all of the promotional tasks that I used to help boost my views.
This year, my numbers are on track to triple from year one. It’s not viral numbers by any means, but I look at it this way: even with the distractions of social media reels and other easily digestible images and videos to scroll through online, tens of thousands of people managed to pull themselves away from the trendy forms of media and take the time to read my content.
Even as I was getting into blogging, I was reading that it’s becoming an obsolete medium. But it gives me the platform to publish what I want and when I want without having to stand in front of a camera, become a video editor, or engage in other trendy ways to attract attention that just aren’t me.
Promotions
This year, I really cut back on the social media promotions. Looking at my traffic sources, Google is, and always has been, my most popular source for views. So, it didn’t make sense to spend so much time promoting posts on sites where the goal is to keep traffic on those sites, not redirect them to new ones.
Pinterest is my second most popular traffic source. I’ve done so much research over the years on how to gain Pinterest views. These include re-pinning every day and trying to keep up with changing algorithms. This year, I stopped re-pinning and saw no drop in Pinterest traffic. Instead, it freed me up to write and not feel chained to social media everyday.
With Twitter turning to X, I lost a bunch of followers, and it was never a large source of traffic for me anyway. Even my newsletter platform, MailChimp, stopped automatically posting links to my monthly newsletters on X. So, it too is a site I rarely post on and won’t even open every day now.
Instagram is the most fun app to scroll through, but it too is not a large source of traffic. Still, I’ve had fun playing around with reels and stories. I create them for every book giveaway that I host, even if it doesn’t reach many followers.
But I appear to be in algorithm jail, only receiving a fraction of the likes and comments that I received when I first started on Instagram. So, again, I don’t worry about the numbers. I just post to keep the content flowing and don’t worry about wasting my time trying to figure them out only for them to change course again.
Facebook is my second most popular source of traffic, and it’s the site where I see the most engagement. So, even though people like to make fun of it as the geriatric social media site, it’s the most kind to bloggers because it lets you post big, colorful images, reach more people, and include hyperlinks to allow for easy access to your site.
My supporters
I want to give a special shout out to my regular social media supporters. They include:
@nin_chronicles
@booksblogsandpoetry
@thesharonkay
@drkaren
@meagan_lambert
@foodinbooks
@cjhall03
@therayjourney
@alymariefox
And of course, my family, who add a few crucial likes to every post.
Book reviews
This year, I put out requests for indie authors to submit strictly picture books, middle grade novels, and YA novels. I knew that I had a few personal projects and trips scheduled for this year, and I wanted to limit the size and content of the books that I read. As a result, you’ll see a lot of picture books featured on my blog this year.
The problem with reading books for kids is that your target audience are likely not going to be searching for book reviews. Luckily, I didn’t see this affect my readership, but I can’t say that my book reviews are ever a large source of traffic for my traffic.
Still, it’s the reason why I started my blog, and my book reviews take priority over all other posts. And I’m happy to support fellow authors in any way I can.
Still, I had good luck with my giveaways this year. Indie authors were generous with giving away copies of their books and even some additional prizes from time to time. I’ve never had an author flake on me, and I always leave it up to them to contact the winners, just in case.
The two-week time frame seems to be working well, and I try to get authors to limit the amount of copies to one or two in order to keep the competition high and the necessity for a ton of entries low. And hopefully, it leads to potentially more sales for the author, or at least more exposure.
My top posts
Last year, there were a bunch of posts that I wrote that I was excited to publish, thinking that they would be super popular, and they just fell flat. This year, they found their footing, especially at certain times of the year. This taught me that blog post views are a marathon, not a sprint, and many of my most viewed posts are from past years.
Here are three of my top posts this year that were published in past years:
What It Was Like to Be a Teenager in the 2000’s Part 2 – Why is part 2 more popular than part 1? I don’t know. But I’m glad that they read any of it at all, and I’m always brainstorming for similar posts to publish that readers will love.
10 Ways We Celebrated Halloween in the 90’s – This post wasn’t just popular in the fall. It was popular year-round. So, it’s getting me thinking about similar nostalgic posts to write next year.
The Good Lie by A. R. Torre Book Review by The Book Lit – This book review/guest post from another writer is my most popular book review on my site.
And here are my top 5 post published in 2023:
Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult Book Review – A bestseller review of a book that I picked up by chance at a book fair late in 2022 and ended up deciding to share with my readers. I feel like including a book review of a popular book every once in a while is a good way to draw traffic to my blog and hopefully encourage readers to check out the indie titles that I recommend as well.
Ranking the Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder – A list post where I go through the entire series in order from most favorite to least favorite.
Watercolor with Me in the Forest Book Review – A review of a watercolor book that I picked up at Barnes & Noble earlier in the year. I’m still only about halfway through it but plan to pick it back up over the winter and sharpen my watercolor techniques.
Creative Inspirations – Jim Henson – I had planned for this to be a monthly series, but I find it hard to share my inspirations because I guard my interests so closely. However, I always love writing about the Muppets and Jim Henson. So, this was fun to write, and I’m hoping that all four of the posts that I published this year gain in popularity next year.
A Guide to Writing Paranormal Romance by Martha Woods – This is the type of guest post that I’m always hoping writers will suggest submitting to my blog. I want posts that will help educate writers of all skill levels and draw them to the site seeking knowledge from others. I was upset when the author of this piece ghosted me and refused to promote it in any way, but it just goes to show that the topic alone can do all of the work.
Monetizing
This year, I gained a new affiliate, The Whistling Kettle. They have been good about sending me free samples to try, and it has been fun to create posts around these flavors. They are also offering a discount to my readers. So, be sure to check them out. You can find links on the side bar on my website and embedded in some of my posts. You can find specific posts featuring The Whistling Kettle here!
By far, my most lucrative source of income to my blog is with A Self Guru’s legal bundle. I see the most sales at the beginning and end of the year when new blogs are started. So, to protect your blog, be sure to purchase your legal pages here.
At the bottom of my book reviews, you’ll also see links to buy the books at Bookshop.org. Their prices are on par with Amazon, and part of each sale goes toward supporting local bookstores. Check out my shop here for my book recommendations, and if you see anything you like, consider a purchase to help support Laura’s Books and Blogs as well!
2024 Goals
Every year, I like to create new goals and guidelines to keep my blog fresh and better acclimate to my current schedule.
In 2024, I’m going to open book reviews back up to all of my preferred genres, including nonfiction and adult titles. I also want to start reviewing ARCs from new authors. However, there will still be a large section devoted to indie authors, as always.
Next year, I’m going to limit the number of posts that I write to two or three per month, posting every Monday morning as usual. And instead of posting interviews and guest posts on Fridays, they will fill in the remaining Mondays. I have a large enough catalog that it shouldn’t affect my traffic, and I want to clear more time to get back to writing and publishing my middle grade series.
I’m still trying to get better at taking photos. I’m not quite there, but at least I’m better able to recognize it now. I know how important images are in this day and age, and I’m working on it. Send me your photo tips if you have any!
I’ll be changing up my Author Book Tag questions just to freshen up this series. If you’re looking to build a portfolio or promote a book outside of my favorite genres, consider submitting an interview or guest post. Guidelines for both are on my contact me page.
Thanks again to everyone who has visited my site in 2023, whether they read one post or hundreds. I’ll see you in 2024!
What blogging goals have you met this year? Thinking of starting a blog? What are your plans? Do you have a new blog? Share your links! Leave your answers in the comments below?
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