How to increase blog traffic?

November 16, 2015 7:02 PM

I author a knitting blog. It makes driblets of money. I've done the math, and for me to get what I would consider a worthwhile level of compensation for the ten hours of work I put into it every week, my blog needs to get 20 times the traffic it currently gets. Does anyone have any brilliant ideas as to what I can do to increase my traffic?

I launched the blog three years ago, and it's been getting almost exactly the same amount of daily traffic for the last two years. It typically averages slightly less than 1,000 page views a day. The blog has a Facebook page that is growing, has a very good rate of engagement, and currently has nearly 6,000 followers. I also post all blog post links to my Twitter account, though I haven't gotten much traction on Twitter. If my traffic were growing at all, even slowly, I would have grounds for hoping there are better days to come, but with it remaining exactly the same for so long I'm just running in place. What can I do to get my traffic levels up?

posted by orange swan to Computers & Internet (18 answers total)

Can you provide a link so we can see it? Or MeMail it to me? I'm the type who would follow a knitting blog but it's hard to comment on what might be improved without seeing it. Do you know who your primary demographic is, and have you done much SEO?
posted by jrobin276 at 7:21 PM on November 16, 2015

How often do you post?

Do you interact with your followers (how many?) on Twitter, or do you just feed your blog posts there?
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 7:28 PM on November 16, 2015 [2 favorites]

A few ideas of the top of my head, without knowing anything about your blog...

Also attach it to Pinterest and Instagram accounts;

Advertise on Ravelry;

Do some round robins with other knitting blogs like, say, the modern quilters do;

Talk to the yarn companies and do some giveaways. Then get the giveaways cross promoted.

Interview famous knitters, like design/pattern stars or other bloggers. Then they'll promote you.

Expose some other hobby you have that cross pollinates with your audience well. For example, there's overlap between the modern quilters, above, and Pyrex collecting. So some of them photograph their stuff draped around Pyrex.

Send somebody with overlap a handmade gift, again so they cross promote you.

Do things to get your audience to post back to you, e.g., run a Flickr page where they can show the colorways they used with your patterns (or whatever... I know nothing about your blog

I hope some of that was helpful.

posted by carmicha at 7:29 PM on November 16, 2015 [7 favorites]

Mod note: One comment deleted. Sorry, nixed the links, it's better to just put them on your profile page and folks can click over there to see them.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 7:32 PM on November 16, 2015

How's your presence on Ravelry? Particularly in the forums - do you have your own group? It doesn't have to be a huge one, just enough to prove that you're hanging out there and paying attention. I hear about most stuff in the knitosphere via Ravelry and tend to be skeptical of anyone who runs a knitting-related business/publication without trying to connect to the Ravelry community.
posted by Metroid Baby at 7:37 PM on November 16, 2015 [3 favorites]

Well, if you're trying to maximize ad revenue, then I'd do YouTube videos. There's a reason some people literally make a living on YouTube. You can make knitting tutorials, craft tutorials, yarn reviews, etc. Post them to your own Youtube page and to your website. Link your website (and any patterns you use in your video's description) to your website to drive traffic between the two. Here's some info on how to do it.

Really that's my number one suggestion. It can equal ad revenue and increased traffic. I'm assuming you're talking about the money you currently make on ad revenue on your website (instead of personal sales.) You could branch out to personal sales through Etsy or something. Some people sell knitting patterns as digital downloads so it's more passive income similar to ads.

I'd also definitely do Instagram. But that does require work to connect with people to get a following. Though it can bring in traffic. Still traffic doesn't always equal ad revenue whereas someone watching a Youtube video that is monetized does bring in ad revenue.
posted by Crystalinne at 7:46 PM on November 16, 2015 [3 favorites]

Just took a look at your blog. I love the way you write, but the content could use some beefing up. From what I can tell, it's mainly reviews of items shown in magazines. There is nothing wrong with these types of overviews, especially when readers have limited magazine-buying budgets and want to ensure they get the books with the best patterns. But I think there is only so much engagement you can expect from these posts. Plus, you have to look at what they're accomplishing: they're directing people to spending their dollars on buying magazines and pattern books, and driving them away from your site. Essentially you are advertising the magazines for free. I know you've named two online shopping sites where you get referral payments, but I don't think that's enough of a reward for the work you are doing. You need to find a way to offer your readers something they can only get through you--either patterns or tutorials or supplies or something.

I was also going to say these types of review piece benefit from having a comments section, but then I realized I missed the comments on first view. Maybe there is a way to better promote the interaction with your readers--make the comments more visible and encourage more people to post. If you can build up your community on your site, rather than on facebook or twitter, you stand a better chance of getting sponsors or advertisers.

Personally, I find your original pieces (the anniversary piece and the one about stashes) are more compelling content. I especially like the leather and wool one. If there was a way you could balance the two types of posts (original and review) I think that would be useful in driving more readers to your site.

The advice you got up the page was good: try to build some partnerships and cross-promote for each other. Whether that's via contests or giveaways or discounts for your readers, it helps to offer your regulars some type of value-add in addition to the posts.
posted by sardonyx at 8:28 PM on November 16, 2015 [3 favorites]

Cross linking is a pretty easy way to increase traffic and page rank.
posted by irisclara at 8:39 PM on November 16, 2015

Check out ProBlogger - they have a 31 days to build a better blog course (free), free podcasts (iTunes/Stitcher), good email newsletter and the main dude hosts really informative Periscope broadcasts pretty much every day. (Sorry for lack of links, on mobile...but it should be easy enough to find with a search)
posted by man down under at 11:35 PM on November 16, 2015 [2 favorites]

You definitely need to be active on Pinterest, and maybe Instagram. The crafting community has a huge Pinterest presence.
posted by Brittanie at 4:16 AM on November 17, 2015 [1 favorite]

With knitting it's all about cross posting with other knitting sites and getting them to link to you. You have to really participate in the community. Also the number one thing that drives traffic is give a ways.
posted by betsybetsy at 5:38 AM on November 17, 2015

How about a companion podcast?
posted by cabingirl at 6:30 AM on November 17, 2015

I read your blogs regularly and with interest. I'm going to be blunt: Most of your posts are terse pronouncements, from a single point of view, and don't invite much conversation. This is evidenced by the lack of comments and participation from readers. Whether it was your intention or not, you seem to be passing down judgments with a sense of finality. Compare with the Fug Girls, who do a similar fashion review, but with more of a conversational tone.

Furthermore, most of the conclusions you come to run along the same lines: you hate hate hate dropped shoulders, women must be a particular body shape to wear certain items, and the hourglass profile is the preferred profile. I would really like to see a greater variety of appreciation for people's diverse styles and choices in their fashion messaging. Sometimes a person wants to portray a boxy silhouette, or is looking to get lost in an oversize comfy sweater. I remember a post from a long time ago when you were ruminating on an accusation of body policing, and I would gently suggest that you revisit that post.

(Although I totally agree with you about what's up with Bergère de France dressing children exclusively in beige. There are so many great colors out there, BdF!)

I skip the fables, because I totally do not ride the conceptual art bus. Not your fault, I just don't have the patience for Art.

I really liked your historical posts from a long time ago, when you dug up patterns from the 1920s, 30s and so forth. And the thematic posts when you gather all types of doll patterns, or Hanukkah patterns, etc. Those are really fun and maybe you could style yourself a "curator" of unknown Ravelry patterns.

I agree with the advice above to cross-link with other knitting blogs. Maybe you could contact some designers whose work you've reviewed and interview them. You could ask them why they chose to include a detail that you liked or didn't like, and what difficulties they encountered in the creation of their designs. I don't recall any other blog/podcast that does this.

How about getting profiled on a Patternfish newsletter--they might enjoy shaking things up with non-designers. And I know that creating yet another community on Ravelry would be yet more work, but I would join!
posted by Liesl at 7:30 AM on November 17, 2015 [6 favorites]

Treat it more like a product. Send mailers (handwritten if possible) to local; and distant; stores, suppliers, craftsfairs (a small 1"x2" spot on the ad fliers they do before shows), and geez; start beating on the CL in various cities. Done right; your content never dilutes, and your readership increases.
posted by buzzman at 8:13 AM on November 17, 2015

Ok, now I've checked out your blog too... and I remember the AskMe where you sought naming help! Anyway, I really like your blog, especially when your tone is cheeky and comports with the edgy aspect of your blog's title. I like the investigations into knitting culture, the use of knitting as art and decor (loved the lighting posts, for example), and the stuff that shows over-the-top applications, like making animal clothes, etc.

So with that, I understand what your tag line "the knitting blog even a non-knitter can read without pain" is getting at, I think, e.g., not cutesy or soley about knitting technique, well-written, funny, self aware, etc.. Can you tell if the people who read your content identify as knitters? I think you want knitters, since you need the blog to make money and you want them to click on your affiliate links. In that case, why suggest to knitters coming to check out your site for the first time that it's something non-knitters would like, e.g., not technical or mostly about other stuff or whatever?

I agree with the observations above about your magazine and book reviews, although I have to say the Bergere entries cracked me up. Can you corral them into a regular feature, with a name that reminds readers that they will turn up on, say, Fridays? That accomplishes two things: it makes them less the centerpiece of the blog and more of a service and it reminds the many people who don't use feeds to turn up at your site weekly to see what's new. Regarding the books, it's pretty easy to be an Amazon affiliate and get kickbacks from those who order.

Maybe I didn't read enough of your blog to be clear about what follows, which is prompted by your third anniversary post where you are candid about the site's need to make money, your other work/health challenges, etc. It stood out to me, because it was a departure in tone, which is understandable since it was a first-person anniversary post. but re your audience, it's worth thinking about your relationship with them, e.g. are they comrades in arms, students, friends, etc.? Are they beginner or accomplished knitters? Are they former knitters who just like reading about it because they may take it up again someday (e.g., me)? Knowing the answer makes a lot of decisions easier, especially whether/how to follow through on some of the money-making suggestions like putting together YouTube videos.

To make your blog a more appealing reading experience, I think it would be worth learning more about how the blogspot software works, because I'm not sure the aesthetic of your site supports your posts. The way I see it, the photos you choose are either very clean (e.g., mittens on rocks) or whimsical (the woman with the stash). The photo of the knitting party is really wonderful, but having it tiled all over the place is distracting and somewhat dated. Moreover, it's shiny, which really conflicts with the photos you're posting from the magazines you review. It would make a great banner, however, which right now is pretty much wasted space.

And speaking of space, your content winds up in a very narrow column and the pictures are pretty small. Try to see if you can expand both; if you stop tiling the knitting party you won't need the big buffer around them. The photo size issue probably a function of resolution and limitations on the containers Blogspot allows, but try to figure out if you can get them bigger. Blogspot may let you delve into the HTML, which could be worth it especially if it's forcing big frames on your layout. Are you scanning the photos, saving them off the web as jpgs or getting the photos from the publishers? It will be worth figuring out the technical side of the photo posts and you have enough traffic that the publishers might send you better versions of the photos. Look through the BlogSpot themes. There might be one that's more suitable to an illustration-heavy blog.

Same goes for fonts. I think you have to assume that your readers care about design and you obviously do, from your incisive and funny entries. But the Times Roman feels like phoning it in, from a design perspective. For some reason, I'm getting two different fonts on your header. Most of the time, it's fine; the font fits the space and the content, but occasionally it's a comic sans horror that wraps on to a second line and does you no favors. Is it possible that the header settings for .com landing pad is different from those for separate posts? Or that there's a conflict between how you edited the header and whatever the theme's default title font is? I was skipping around the content, so I can't be sure exactly when/why it happened.

I hope you keep going, Orange Swan. I'm going to add your blog to my feed. Also, I have a ton of rose-apricot mohair yarn I'm not going to do anything with. If you want it, meMail me, and I'll send it to you for Quonsmas (not actually your SQ).

posted by carmicha at 8:17 AM on November 17, 2015 [2 favorites]

I did not see a model on the page that was, eh; 'plus size'; they all seemed a little narrow as compared to much of what I would consider a traditional knitters build. Yes, the push for a modern and more trendy audience is great; but expanding an audience is also a factor of reaching out to a more traditional knitting demographic.
posted by buzzman at 8:31 AM on November 17, 2015

A breakthrough piece that you can get on huffPo (or another big site) that drives people to the blog. But it's got to be crossover.

"Knitting your way back from a breakup"
"Rage and Yarn: how to get through the holidays"
"How I met 50 celebrities: I knitted them"

Or some kind of Julie and Julia thing. some major project you can do - knitting all the presidents - that'll get you on Boing Boing.

Or if Prince George wears ANYTHING knitted, show how to knock it off for YOUR kid.

Or you do a thing that's topical. Some major thing will break and you can come up with the yarnish response piece.

Anyway as a reality TV producer those are my ideas. Some big thing that could be a hook in.
posted by rileyray3000 at 9:23 AM on November 17, 2015 [2 favorites]

There are really two different, but related, issues here: more readership, and more revenue.

Increasing readership has some good suggestions already, but I do want to emphasize that engagement is really key. Asking questions, doing giveaways, inviting readers to submit their versions of a theme you pick, etc. The goal is to build a community, not just to get more eyes on your page :)

As far as revenue goes, you have several options. From a UX standpoint, I would lose the opacity under the sidebar. It makes your sidebar hard to read -- and one of them is your Amazon affiliate link which can be a great revenue source! Just make it a light grey or something, so the text is more readable.

Also, post photos in your sidebar of knitting products you use/love with links to your Amazon affiliate program -- people will click on photos much more readily than just a general link to Amazon, which turns into more sales for you. You can do product reviews of needles or yarn you like and link in the blog post as well.

Have you considered sponsored content? Contact some companies and offer to do a product review on your page. You will probably get free product, and later, actual money. As your readership builds, this is a key way to build revenue. Just don't overdo it, and try to keep the tone light and conversational so it doesn't sound like an ad. Amalah is a good blog to look at to see this done well.

Good luck! The knitting community is strong and growing, and if you make a few changes I think you'll see things moving in the direction you want.
posted by ananci at 11:33 AM on November 17, 2015