Blogging Tips & Goals for 2014: a 2013 review of Baby Dickey

Now that we’re into 2014 I can look back on the past year and see how things went for Baby Dickey. I compare year to year and look at top posts and top traffic sources. It helps me make a plan of attack for the upcoming year and create some blogging tips & goals… what worked and what didn’t? What posts do the best? Where should I increase promotion of my content or where can I save time? I don’t stress too much about numbers because… I don’t like stress 😉 But I think I can handle it once a year, ha. Plus, I’m happy with the way my blog is going and the money it’s earning… but there is always room for improvements! Let’s check it out…

Top 13 Blog Posts from 2013

  1. This is why I’m a mom: funny quotes
  2. Holiday Crafts for the Kids
  3. Homepage visits to Baby Dickey (no specific post)
  4. Being a Mom: quotes
  5. How to make a pregnant skeleton costume for Halloween
  6. Present Wrapping Ideas
  7. Gift Ideas for a One Year Old
  8. Wordless Wednesday: Words Have Power
  9. My Top 10 Pregnancy Must-Have Products
  10. Pregnancy Week 39: Birthday Poll
  11. Sweet & Salty Halloween Treats
  12. Easy Oreo Cream Cheese Truffles
  13. Decorating a Monster Themed Birthday Party

It’s always interesting to see what posts perform the best. I have my favorites and apparently readers have theirs! I went beyond the top ten to show some recipes posts and one of my birthday party posts. The other party posts I’ve written fall just a little further down the list (pretty in pink and dinosaurs). Clearly the “advice” posts do very well: top ten lists, best products, and quotes. I don’t do many recipes, but I think they are improving and that’s something to work on. Craft posts do well, too, with my DIY Skeleton Costume ranking at #5 for the year and a letter wreath post a little further down… another topic I don’t make enough time for. What is also interesting to note–there are no giveaway posts near the top, no matter the prize (and I’ve had some great ones). In 2013 I was loaded with giveaways, reviews, and paid posts. I made great money. But I lost time for really great content–a goal I have for 2014. Many of the posts in the above list weren’t even written in 2013–they were from 2012, some even from 2011. In 2013 I learned to stay on task and on deadline with a calendar (I <3 Cozi), now I just need to write down content ideas and create my own deadlines for them. We’ll see how this turns out 😉

Top Traffic Sources

  1. Google (Organic)
  2. Direct
  3. Pinterest
  4. StumbleUpon
  5. Google.com (Referral)
  6. Facebook
  7. Yahoo (Organic)
  8. t.co (Twitter)
  9. Mobile Facebook
  10. Bing (Organic)
  11. Online Sweepstakes
  12. Feedburner

I like to see organic Google traffic at the top–I must not be too bad with SEO. Direct traffic at number 2 means people are typing in my URL or visiting from their bookmarks or favorites. Pinterest is at number 3 overall, but it is my number 1 referral source… I love pinterest! I’ve gone back to old posts to insert “pinnable” images, but should work more on this. StumbleUpon was a focus earlier in 2013, but I haven’t used it in a long time (since they changed their rules) and I’m surprised to see it’s still a top source. Unfortunately Facebook falls at number 6, which is still great, but it used to be a lot better. Facebook changed their rules for posts from pages showing up in news feeds and it hurt. There are some other search engines on there–Yahoo and Bing–and I went beyond the top 10 to include sources I could work on. Online Sweepstakes is a site where I list my giveaways (I should be sure to list ALL of them) and Feedburner is actually at spots 12 and 13, with email and feed. I’d like to work on those subscribers. Don’t forget about mobile sources! Everyone is on their phone or iPad so make sure your site is compatible.

blogging tips

Blogging Tips & Goals for 2014

  • Online calendar Cozi.com for setting deadlines (paid and not) to stay on track
  • Photo editor picmonkey.com – the paid version is totally worth it, fyi (I also use the paid version of Rafflecopter for giveaways)
  • Photo backdrops for better (more pinnable!) images (I bought some from Swanky Prints on Etsy)
  • Better utilize affiliate monetization sources–Skimlinks is a site that automatically converts links you already place in your blog posts to affiliate links (if they have them). I signed up at the very end of August 2013 and have made $152. A nice option for no work. Amazon is also back as an affiliate source for the state of IL so I’ll work on that in 2014.
  • Never miss a deadline, be professional, create quality work, interact on social media, and SEO old posts
  • Set office hours (and a set office SPACE) and get.work.done. during that time
  • Get a new site design–ideas on a designer??? I need a new look
  • Earning goal: average $3K a month. Traffic goal: 50K uniques/month

Happy New Year! What are your blogging tips and goals for 2014?

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