My Challenge Expanded: How I will reach 50,000 monthly page views

Earlier this year I set out my goals for 2012. Three very simple goals but with real meaning behind them. You can read the complete list and why I decided to make this years goals public here: Dee Kumar’s Challenge.

If you have read it, you know exactly why I failed miserably in 2011. Not due to lack of effort, but simply putting all my efforts into other successful projects and totally forgetting what I had originally set out to do. I learnt many lessons from 2011 and put them in this article which forms the basis of today’s post: What is goal setting and why SMART goals do not work.

In this post I am going to use the principles of my Goal setting article and clearly define how I will reach the first goal on my list: To reach 50,000 page views by the end of the year.

I going to spill it all out here so that you guys can hold me accountable. At the turn of 2012, I was contacted by a reader who asked me how my 2011 goal went.. yep because I had declared my goals publicly I was held to acount.  I want 2012 to be the same, I want someone to hold me accountable. Not only do I want someone to hold me accountable but I want to be able to say I smashed that target completely. Here is how I will do it. (These goals are written via my improvements to SMART goals – if you have not read my article be sure to read it first by clicking here).

 

 My Current Stats

I mentioned previously that although this blog once has a good following, I totally neglected it last year. I went from masses of traffic (after hitting the front page of Digg) to what now is a trickle. In all honestly I have only started writing regular again since the turn of the year.

Here is a screen shot of my traffic stats that I have just taken.

There are some noteworthy stats here. Firstly my busiest day has had over 6,300 views – well I did tell you I neglected this blog completely last year. Secondly, I am only half way through today, but it tells me I have had 40 views.

These stats were acquired via Jetpack – a free plugin that comes bundled with WordPress.

But let me just put that into perspective here. If I want 50,000 views a month, then that is  approximately 1660 views per day. Which is a about 40 times the traffic I have today.

At present I have approximately 1200 views a month going solely on 40 views a day. So some work to do, HOWEVER I did not pluck this number out of thin air. I have two other sites (in much less attractive markets) that have 50,000 views a month. So I do have some knowledge about what needs to be done.  

If I use the principle that ever visitors on my site views 1.5 pages (or every 2 visitors visit 3 pages between them) then I need approximately 1,000 unique visitors a day. This now sounds manageable.

I also have a following on other well-known sites which I’m sure will help increase traffic to this blog, now that I have started to promote it.

 

What influences Page Views?

Before I look in detail at my plan, let’s have a quick look at just what influences page view.

Page views are not visitors. Views are simply the number of pages that have been seen, regardless of how long the person stayed on the page or how many people created those views. In theory I could create all 50,000 views myself, just to save face, but that would be rather pointless.

There are a few ‘good practices’ to help increase your page-views in an organic (natural) and thus useful way.

One such way is to include links in your articles to other content on your site. I have to say I was very lazy with this initially. I would simply write a post and publish it, without any regard to helping lead the reader to other content on my site.  You will see at the top of this post however, that I have started to do this in a very natural way. I will ensure I mention something in another article and then encourage the reader to click the link so that they can be fully up to date before continuing with this content. For example, if you unsure how I will manage to get all this work done, then be sure to read this article: 6 tips on how to increase your productivity today. 

Of course design is also a factor in both attracting people to your blog and keeping them there longer. It can give a first impression of quality or authority. Thankfully Hesham over at ThesisAwesome did a great job with my blog makeover. I will still make some slight changes, but it is more than good enough.

Another great way to both keep people on your site longer and have them reading more content is to create  a series of articles that link together. This can be a guide to doing something or perhaps an explanation of a certain topic, but the content should flow from article to the next. This naturally helps users read more content.

I noticed that I really need to address the issue of core content on this site and perhaps a series of articles is the solution. Core content is structured and useful content that attracts people to your site. At present I have a number of individual articles that do very well and bring in 90% of the traffic, but no connection going from one article to the next. This is something you will see me address in this plan:

 

My plan to reach 50,000 page views: 

 

50,000 page view is a meaningless goal because it is results orientated not action orientated. You can only control your actions, but you hope those actions bring results (if not you tweak what you are doing). I’m going to be using my own improved goal setting guide  to detail my plan.

 

What action will I take? 

I have decided on three distinct courses of action to help me reach my goal.

 

The first will be content creation.  

Good quality content must be at the heart of this blog, but not simply good content. I must have a number of ‘series’ or groups of article that are written to flow together. This will be my core content, something I have been missing for some time.

I  will also encourage more guest posts. You may have seen the link at the top of the page, or you can read the guest post options here. Guest posts allow readers to have their content shown to a new and growing audience. Thankfully, my reputation on other sites means that I will not be seen as a ‘new’ or ‘struggling’ blog but rather as one that will grow quickly. So why not use my reputation to help me add more quality content to this blog and give my readers more great info all in one place. It’s a win-win as guest posters gain quality backlinks, exposure and even targeted traffic too.

 

My aim is to add 300 pieces of content over the next nine months.

This will include three different series of article which will cover a core content theme.  (You will see my Make Money Blogging) series start to appear at the same time this article is published. The idea is to create the content first then spend time later in the year ranking and optimizing. I also have to drip the core content so not to disrupt the flow of my current content.

 

The second method will be getting my content out there on other blogs. 

Guest posting on well-known blogs has helped me build a good reputation for providing great content with a unique angle. I should not only keep doing what has been working for me, but perhaps look to increase it too.

 Many people spend time creating links on poor quality forums and blogs, I would rather target quality website that will not only give me great link juice but also give me tons of traffic too. You will notice that guest posts on my blog regularly get tweeted and shared, meaning your reputation increases and you gain visitors. Takes a little more effort but your links are worth a lot more. 

 

My aim is to add 30 pieces of guest content over the next nine months.

I will add 30 pieces of new content but I will make a change in my existing plan. At least half of those pieces of content must go on well-recognized blogs where I have never previously added content. Also it would do little good to simply post once on a recognized blog, I will ensure that I write a series of at least 5 articles for each new blog/website I decide to write for. This will give me much more exposure and allow their readers to truly get to know me and remember me.

 

The third course of action will be starting a podcast and video series. 

Now I must confess, this is an area I have never really explored so does make me a little nervous. I choose this method as I really need to diversify my traffic sources and attract readers from as many different angles as possible. I have heard many people tell me how much they like listening to podcasts but after traveling so much, I don’t think my voice sounds anyway near as appealing as it did before: when I was younger I was a stage presenter/host at very large events and trained to be a radio presenter. 

But that was all many moons ago and so much has changed since then. My accent is now so confused and strange (due to living in USA and Germany) that my friends from my British hometown think I am faking my accent. The last time I stood on stage was four years ago, and I remember it being so much more  nerve-racking then when I was younger and doing it regularly. 

Alas I’m going to give it a go and see how this venture pans out. That is why my goals here are rather modest.

 

My aim is to create 10 podcasts and 10 videos by the end of the year. 

Many people tell me that creating audio and video is much faster than writing content. Whilst that may be true, the learning curve and the ‘getting used to it’ may mean it takes me a lot longer initially.

I have a Flip HD camera which is adequate for filming. I also have good experience with Screenflow and IMovie on my Mac as I often create comedy videos with my niece and nephew. I have to invest in a good microphone (if you have suggestions let me know) and perhaps a condenser mic that I clip to my shirt. I don’t know if I need the condenser, but I’ve seen it in other videos and I want to look cool too. Lastly I may have to invest in studio lights and a white screen for my recording. Again suggestions welcome in the comments below.

 

When I look at that, it is a mammoth challenge. Especially considering I have 2 more goals on this blog and other sites too.  The biggest effort on that list is clearly the content creation, but I really consider this core to the success of this site, so totally understand why I need that and fast. However, both the videos and audios will count as content towards this sites, so I am not double counted those. (so that technically means 280 pieces of written content).

I also have not factored in guest posts which will also be added content to this site and will ease my workload. Guest posting has many advantages for the writer, least not forming a relationship with me, someone who has great connections online.  If you want to diversify you reach why not guest post with me?

I still have another 2 goals to detail in the coming week, so be sure to look out for them too. Leave your feedback below and be sure to bookmark this page so you can hold me accountable!