10 Things I’ve Learned After Three Years of Blogging

Each year in December, my blog’s anniversary month, I like to reflect back on the things I have learned and the things I have accomplished. Blogging is an ever-evolving platform, and I tend to stick with things that aren’t working way longer than I should. However, these anniversaries are great ways to look back on what I have accomplished, what I can abolish, and how my blog can evolve without changing its basic functions or my desire to keep it going. Here are my reflections after three years of blogging.

A day job change caused major shifts in my blogging process

When I started my blog, I was working in a job that was low intensity to say the least. My work schedule and small workload afforded me the time to start a blog, undertake a trial-and-error process to running the blog, and allowed me to devote several hours each week to the blog. As a result, I was able to stay on top of my blogging tasks and help it to grow to what it has become.

This summer, though, I started a new job, my first full time writing job. And I no longer had a ton of hours to devote to my blog. Luckily, my site is a well-oiled machine at this point. I made no major changes to it, and I had enough posts scheduled that I was able to acclimate to a new blogging routine.

You’ll probably notice that my blog posts publish earlier now so that I have time before work to promote them on social media. I’ve also drastically cut down on the number of book reviews I take on. I refuse to overwhelm myself with tasks, and, luckily, I’ve been able to keep everything going with my new schedule.

On the downside, my monthly views have plateaued. While I’ve been able to keep the site running, I’ve been unable to keep the site growing. However, my affiliate links have still been bringing in enough to keep the site running, and I’ve cut costs that weren’t paying off, such as a paid Rafflecopter membership for my book giveaways.

My DA score increased without even realizing it

Blogging is such a juggle between maintaining a decent flow of incoming and outgoing content, design, promoting, and keeping up with collaborators that a few things go on the backburner. One of those is DA scores. I’ve done a little guest posting this year, but I haven’t paid close attention to it.

Then, when I saw calls for bloggers with DA scores of 10 or more, I decided to check on mine. The last time I had checked, likely in 2020, my DA score was at a 9. So, I was shocked to see myself at a 14. I then increased to a 20, and I’m currently sitting at 25.

One thing that has helped is, as a book blogger, when I post my reviews on Goodreads and LibraryThing, I also add a link to my full review. These sites seem to allow this, and as a result, my DA score has jumped up.

I also still try to comment on other bloggers’ posts. Many times, you’re able to drop your links in the comments section as well. And if I leave a good enough response, other bloggers and commenters feel compelled to click on my site to see what else I have to say.

It also helps when guest posters and authors add my links to their sites. This is something that I always encourage. However, not every author has a blog or website, or if they do, it’s not well maintained or highly trafficked. But every little bit helps and, like tips, is always appreciated.

I’m retiring my author interview series

I started my author interview series in mid-2019 as a way to increase my weekly posts from once to twice a week. The response to my call for author interviews was immediate and, at times, overwhelming. Authors love to be asked about writing because, unless you’re a best seller, people rarely ask you about it in real life. They were also easy for me to schedule. I just had to create a few images, format everything into WordPress, and schedule.

I offered an interview to every book review request I received, whether I agreed to read their book or not. The problem is, if you’re not famous, there’s not much incentive for readers to click. Book giveaways help. However, the interviews that did the best were from authors and bloggers with large followings who helped to promote the posts.

I’m currently posting three times a week. However, the stand alone interviews just don’t do well. I also feel that the questions became stale. I could have redesigned my interview template and changed the questions around as I have done before. But I feel like there are more creative avenues to drum up interest in books and indie authors.

I do still accept guest posts, and they will be moving from my Wednesday to my Friday guest slots as I reduce back to posting twice a week. I’ve also gotten more strict about my guest post guidelines, hoping to gain more serious inquiries with unique and interesting topic ideas and writers who are more willing to promote the post once it’s published.

Guest posting

Speaking of guest posting, I’ve featured over 35 guest posts on my blog this year. Many were from authors who wrote promotional posts about their books. They, too, also offered book giveaways to go along with their guest posts. And it too was a mixed bag of participation levels after the posts were published.

A good example of this was my annual Blogtober 2021 series. Blogtober is meant to be a blogging challenge where bloggers post on their blog everyday of the month. Instead, I put my own twist on it and use the month to showcase other bloggers’ writing by putting out a call for mini-essays from bloggers on a particular topic that I then spread over multiple posts throughout October.

This year’s Blogtober essay theme asked bloggers to share an area of expertise spread over two posts over two weeks. Part 1 of the series did extremely well with multiple shares. Part 2 received about half the number of views and shares, despite the same level of promotion on my end as well as my encouraging all participants to share both posts.

I’ve seen a lot of bloggers who have since banned guest posts from their blogs. However, I started my blog with the intention of giving a platform to those who are looking to build up their publication history, promote their work, and not require an extensive resume in order to do so. So, I’m not giving up on guest posts just yet. If you or anyone you know is serious about guest posting, check out my guidelines, and send me your pitches!

No more ebooks?

I always give authors the opportunity to offer book giveaways on my blog, and many of them do take me up on that offer. Some giveaways do better than others, particularly if the author is good about sharing the post with their audience. And hard copy books do better than ecopies, of course. However, as the year went on, I noticed a significant decrease in interest in the ebook interest. I even had a few giveaways earn no entries, no matter how hard I promoted them.

As a result, I’ve decided to retire ebooks and, going forward, only accept hard copy or audiobook giveaways going forward. It will be interesting to see how the next year unfolds in terms of book giveaways. My giveaways don’t cost the recipients a penny, and it puts books into the hands of readers who will hopefully love, rate, review, and recommend them. We’re all hustling in the book world, and one of my goals next year will be to find new ways to find readers and get them excited about the books and authors that I feature.

Weeding out the con artists

This year, I’ve also encountered some issues with plagiarism. I caught at least one guest poster who had submitted the same post to multiple sites, and I immediately deleted their post from my site. I was also notified about a blog that copied and pasted an author interview from my blog onto theirs. The site administrator played dumb when I confronted them and immediately replaced my interview with a link to my site.

Many bloggers start blogs in an attempt to be able to quit their 9 to 5 jobs and work from home. However, when they see the work that goes into starting, maintaining, and growing a blog, they can see that it takes longer than 9 to 5 to make that happen.

Content takes a back seat to monetizing and marketing. And whether they’re desperate to make money, ignorant of the rules, or just lazy to begin with, they will scoop up already-written content just to have something to publish so that they can add their ads and affiliate links in hopes of making some sales.

My blog may not be the most popular or successful, but I take a lot of pride in the accomplishments I have made. And I want to preserve the integrity of my site for as long as it exists. It’s a frustrating chore, but it’s also necessary.

I hit 5,000 Twitter followers…and it didn’t matter

A big social media goal of mine was to hit 5,000 followers on Twitter, and I finally hit that goal this year. How did I do it? Ultimately, through writer’s lifts. I started my blog with 600 Twitter followers. Then, I found the blogging community. The follow threads helped to bump me to a few thousand followers in no time.

Over time, however, those who participated in the follow threads would drop their links and run. Nobody was engaging with each other aside from the account that posted the original thread. Again, it goes back to this business-minded attitude of trying to grow your brand while ignoring those who are trying to do the same. The blogging community has become less collaborative as a result.

Deciding to play the game, I did start my own follow threads using the hashtag #writerslift. Often, they fizzled out with no engagement. But if I hit it at just the right time, I could earn a few hundred new followers over the course of a few days.

It got tricky as I was always close to the 5,000 following limit and often couldn’t follow back everyone who followed me. However, I would ask posters to drop their links as well, and I would read their blog posts or retweet their book listing on Amazon. It could be time consuming, but in the end, it got me to my goal.

Having 5,000 followers hasn’t really changed the number of people who engage in my posts. I’m still lucky to get a handful of likes on my promotional posts and maybe a few dozen responses on any polls. I’m hoping to come up with some more engaging content, funny, positive, and non-promotional stuff that people are more likely to respond to in the future.

The mess that is Pinterest

Every business blogger stresses how crucial Pinterest is to bloggers. But is that true of every type of blogger? And now, is it true for anybody?

I’ve taken courses, joined Facebook groups, and spent hours of my life I can’t get back on trying to crack the Pinterest code. The result? Like everyone else, my engagement plummeted this year, though mine seemed to plummet later than the heavy hitters. Nobody could figure out…and still can’t.

Don’t get me wrong, I do get traffic from Pinterest. But the amount of time and energy it takes to create pins, repin everyday, organize boards, and experiment with different techniques has not been worth it. My little book post pins can’t compete the lifestyle bloggers, the ones who pay graphic artists to design quality-looking pins, or the changing algorithms and rules that have ultimately ruined all of our numbers.

As a result, I’ll be scaling back my Pinterest efforts in the next year. Why continue to run on that treadmill that never gets you anywhere? As much as I believe that having your links in as many places as possible is ultimately beneficial, it’s your Google traffic that you want to pay the most attention to.

My top posts of the year

It’s always a mystery why some posts do better than others. Here are the top 5 posts that I published in 2021 and why I think they did so well. Links will open in a new tab.

The Jolly Bupbup by Ann P. Borrmann Book Review and Author Interview

Children’s book posts do pretty well on my page. What helped this post to excel, though, is that author Ann P. Borrmann offered a gift card along with her giveaway.

How the Midwest Horror Was Won by filmmaker James Morley III

I read and reviewed James Morley’s novel, Sweetness Followed, in 2020, and when he found out I reviewed horror movies, he asked me to promote his short film as well. Morley then drafted this behind-the-scenes look of his film, which is free to watch on YouTube via the link embedded within the post.

Good Luck Chestnut and Other Lucky Colors of the World Book Review and Author Interview

Linda Gruenberg’s picture book about diversity and inclusivity using horses really struck a cord with readers who flocked to the post to check out my review and author interview.

Keep Walking, Your Heart Will Catch Up by Cathay O. Reta Author Interview

This author interview was the rare stand alone interview that did well on my site. I credit Reta with sharing this post with her followers which helped get more eyes on the post than my standard interview.

Spirited Author Hopes to Inspire with Her Book, Willful Evolution

Author Janice Beetle contributed two posts to my site this year. But it’s her guest post about writing her latest memoir that rounds out my top five.

Goals for 2022

In freeing up my schedule to bit, I already know how I’m going to fill that free time. In 2022, I plan to guest post a lot more, look for paid writing gigs again, though not regular gigs that require a minimum commitment from me, and put my name out there so that I can add a link to my blog and send new readers to my already extensive and ever-growing catalogue of book and writing-themed content.

I am continuing to accept book review requests, and I’m hoping to amass another great collection of indie titles. However, I’m also going to mix it up by reading new releases. I think it will help to grow my followers, and, while readers are checking out the bestsellers, they might also come across an indie recommendation of mine that they may be compelled to check out.

I also have a book being published in the spring of 2022. So, not only do I want to have the time to help promote that release, but I also want to get back to writing the follow ups to this middle grade novel which I intend to turn into a trilogy. So, fingers crossed that everything works out as planned with the launch, sales, and response. I’m hoping that the writing community comes through for me as they have in the past and gets my book into the hands of my intended audience, young readers who may one day write, review, and blog about books themselves.

If you have a blog, share how long you’ve been blogging and your reflections and lessons learned about blogging over the past year!

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