Evaluating Your Blog’s First Year: 12 Great Questions to Ask · 10. Did you make any new...

Evaluating Your Blog’s First Year:12 Great Questions to Ask

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Firstly… Congratulations on making it through your first year! A lot of bloggers don’t get this far.

During this evaluation, we’ll take a look at key metrics for your blog, but we’ll also be thinking about what you’ve learned and accomplished over the past year.

As you go through these questions, focus on what you have accomplished rather than on the goals you’ve not quite managed yet.

1. How many blog posts did you publish… And how consistently?

Key Metrics for Your Blog’s First Year

What was your publishing schedule? Did you manage to blog fairly regularly all year? Or did you write lots of posts in the first two months, then not much for the rest of the year?

How many blogs posts did you publish? How many blogs posts did you want to publish?

2. How many subscribers do you have to your blog and/or newsletter?

Did you see steady growth? Can you identify any peaks and what caused them?

Subscribers at start of year:

Subscribers at end of year:

Net gain in subscribers:

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3. Did your traffic grow during the year?


Did you see steady growth? Can you identify any peaks and what caused them

#1 post:

Reason:

4. Which of your posts were most popular?

Find your top three posts and see if you can figure out what made those posts especially popular.

#2 post:

Reason:

#3 post:

Reason:

Monthly pageviews at start of year:

Monthly pageviews at end of year:

Net gain in monthly pageviews :







Web hosting and domain name:

Email Service provider:

5. How much money did you spend?

You may want to create a more detailed spreadsheet or an accounting system, but below are the main cost categories for bloggers.

Premium them and/or plug-ins (if any):

Design, editing, other services:

Computer/equipment:

Internet:

Professional development:

Advertising:

Affiliate marketing:

6. How much money did you make?

Ideally, you want this figure to be higher than your spend… but if it’s not, that’s very normal for blogs in their first year. Look at income from all sources:

Product sales (eg. If you launched an ebook):

Services provided (eg. If you get paid to write for other blogs):

Sponsorship:

Other sources of blog revenue:

TOTAL BLOG REVENUE:

TOTAL BLOG COSTS:







#1 new skill:

8. Did you learn anything new?

Your first year of blogging was probably a steep learning curve at times. I bet you picked up lots of new skills. Perhaps you learned how to register a domain and set up hosting; sourcing, resizing and editing images; or got familiar with your blog’s content management system (eg. WordPress); you set up an email list for your blog; or you developed new social media profiles and learnt about marketing.

I know that it’s easy to feel a little discouraged at this point. Perhaps when you started blogging you dreamt of quitting your day job by now… and yet your blog hasn’t made a single dollar.

It can also be encouraging to look at everything you have gained, even if it’s not all about the numbers. Here are six more questions to ask yourself:

#1 nice comment:

7. Did you get any nice comments?

If someone wrote that your post came at the perfect time for them, or that it helped them with a problem, that’s a real success. You might want to track down all your nice comments and emails, bring them together into one document, and print them out as source of encouragement. They also serve as evidence of your influence if you are working with advertisers or sponsors, and as great social proof if you have permission to use them as testimonials.

#2 nice comment:

#3 nice comment:

#2 new skill:

#3 new skill:






9. Did you challenge yourself?


Your biggest challenge(s):

What was your biggest challenge? Something you did, that you thought you couldn’t or wouldn’t ever do? Perhaps you wrote a post you were worried about publishing; or had a guest post published for a big blog in your niche; or maybe something you tried, but didn’t quite work, but you gave it a go.

10. Did you make any new connections in the blogging world?

When you started out blogging, you probably didn’t know many (if any) other bloggers. During your first year, you’ve likely got to know at least a few.

#1 blogging connection:



11. Did blogging open any doors for you?

Sometimes blogging can lead to some amazing opportunities. What opportunities have you had?

#1 blogging opportunity:

#2 blogging opportunity :

#3 blogging opportunity :

12. Did you enjoy the year?

What did you appreciate most in your blogging this year?

#1 blogging highlight:






What Will You Do During Your Blog’s Second Year? Looking Forward



Now that you’ve taken a look over the past year of your blog… What are you going to do with the next year?

1. How often will you post?

Post frequency:

If your current schedule hasn’t really worked for you, you might try posting less frequently and focusing on writing the best posts you can.

Get help: “How to Be More Consistent With Your Blogging” [podcast]

2. How will you monetize?

Monetization opportunities:

Whether you want to make a living or simply cover costs, think about how you’ll make money form your blog. Some bloggers think it’s all about advertising or affiliate sales, but there are many options.

Get help: “The Full Blog Monetization Menu – 60+Ways to Make Money With Your Blog”

3. What successes can you build on?

What’s working:

Look at what’s been going well for you.. And go further with it.

Get help: “How to Update Old Posts on Your Blog (and When You Should Consider Doing it)”




https://problogger.com/podcast/how-to-be-more-consistent-with-your-blogging/

https://problogger.com/the-full-blog-monetization-menu-60-ways-to-make-money-with-your-blog/

https://problogger.com/update-old-posts-blog-consider/

What Will You Do During Your Blog’s Second Year? Taking Action



Right now, write down three specific actions that you want to take as you move into your blog’s second year. Feel free to share them with us in the comments or ProBlogger Community Facebook Group.

1. During the next WEEK…

I will:

And, good luck for your next year of blogging!

2. During the next MONTH…

I will:

3. During the next THREE MONTHS…

I will:




Date post:	25-Jun-2020
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