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Many professional bloggers tell you not to focus on pageviews and not to repeatedly check on your stats as a new blogger. Come on now.

I consistently get over 150,000 views a month on my one blog and I still like to check on it multiple times per day. Yes, I’m addicted. But I can almost bet, if you are reading this, you are too.

Pageviews are a great tool to gauge how your blog is doing.

• Is your social strategy working?
• Where is the majority of traffic coming from?
• Which posts are the most popular?

When you are able to analyze that information, use it to promote wisely and create new content, you are on your way to building a successful blog.

But what if your traffic is so low that your stats aren’t able to show you anything useful and the only blips you see come from Facebook sharing threads you have participated in?

You want traffic and you want it now!

Well, first off, let me tell you that traffic takes time. It takes time to build a community. It takes time to write a lot of fabulous content. And it takes time for your SEO and social media efforts to take root and produce results.

I’ve had this particular blog since November 2016 and with over 250 posts now, I consistently see traffic without having to super promote.

It was a lot of hard work getting to this point but I did waste a lot of time doing tasks that did not help my views.

See if any of these things have been holding you back from getting more blog traffic.

5 Things Bloggers Need To Stop Focusing On If They Want More Pageviews

1. Perfection

OMG, this was me. I tinkered with blog names and themes and platforms. Everything had to be absolutely perfect or I would start all over again.

Looking back, I see I was running around in circles. I probably looked like that to my audience too.

Your blog will never be absolutely “perfect” to you, so stop stressing. I see way too many bloggers in blogging groups over-preparing for their first launch or obsessing over themes/niches/funnels/etc.

Post. Promote. Repeat. Don’t worry about being perfect. Just get your words out there.
 

2. The money

If there is one thing I’ve noticed lately, it’s the obsession with making money blogging. And fast. Like from day one.

People are starting blogs in droves with the intent of earning tons of cash and quitting their day jobs.

Ain’t nothing wrong with dreams.

But if that is the force that drives you, you may fail miserably as your audience will see right through you and get turned off.

Yes, I do make thousands of dollars monthly and many other bloggers do too. But if you look at the bloggers that are really rocking it, like 6 figures and higher, most of them started their blogs without any intention or knowledge that they could make money blogging.

What most newbies do not see is that these super bloggers spent years building a community, creating awesome content and learning all they can about their ideal reader. It is that information that allowed them to secure the income they make now.

If you concentrate on your reader’s needs instead of your own, magic happens.

I’m not saying you can’t dream and set monetary goals. I’m saying, build a solid foundation first. And that starts with being very clear on who you are writing for and why. Creating a mission statement will help you with that.
 

 

3. Multi-tasking

Blogging can be over-whelming because you, especially in the beginning, are a one man band. You feel like you have to juggle a lot of different tasks and wear a lot of different hats. It stresses you out. Am I right? But did you know that multi-tasking is actually the root of why you never seem to have enough time?

Research has shown that multitasking takes as much as 40 percent more time than focusing on one task at a time — more for complex tasks.

In other words, you actually think you are getting tons done but you really aren’t.

I know it is hard to turn off your brain and focus on one thing, but it does increase your productivity. When I am working on a post, I literally disappear from everyone. Sometimes, I will get in my car and drive to a secluded parking lot if my family refuses to acknowledge what a closed door means. I turn off all my notifications and write till I am done.

Think about it. If you are feeling like you are not making any progress and like you are doing everything half-assed, it is probably because you are trying to do too much at the same time.

Slow down. Concentrate on one task at a time.

• You do not have to do it all even though you feel you must.
• Don’t let your fear of missing out (FOMO), guide your blogging strategy.
• You do not need to do everything and be everywhere ALL THE TIME.

The only think you need to do is create content, then promote to the proper social media platform. (More on that below.)

Remember the saying:

Jack of all trades, master of none.

Don’t fall victim to that.

4. Being active on social media platforms

It really pisses me off when I see someone advise new bloggers to have a presence on all social media platforms.

That is an impossible, Herculean task that will lose you traffic, cause you stress, and burn you out.

By all means, secure your handle on all the platforms as soon as possible. Fill out your profile. Post randomly. But throw your real time and effort behind one social media platform at a time.

I do agree that in the beginning, you may have to dip your toe in several platforms. But once you have figured out where your readers hang out and which platform sends you the most traffic for the same amount of effort, you need to focus all of your attention there to maximize your potential traffic.

Pinterest is that place for me.

Why would I spend hours on Facebook and Instagram when I get 500 views/month as compared to 100,000 from Pinterest? By concentrating on Pinterest, I am able to learn and understand the platform in depth.

It may sound like I spend a lot of time on Pinterest but in comparison to someone who flits between all the social media platforms, our time spent is probably the same.

Do more of what works, less of what doesn’t. 

5. Education

You can read thousands of articles about how to write a hit song or watch tons of videos about how to improve your golf swing, but nothing will improve your skills more than actually, physically, practicing. Over and over and over.

It is the same with blogging or any creative endeavour.

Believe it or not, you can become a success at blogging without having taken a single course! It’s true.

The only way to improve and get better is to learn by experience. Don’t be afraid to fail. You will learn so much more from what doesn’t work than what does.

There is not only one way to become successful blogging. Following someone else’s template will not guarantee you results either.

Forge your own path.

Keep your head down and focus on the things that move the needle for you.

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