What Is A Tipping Point? I May Have Reached Mine!
Hello, Everyone.
It's good to be writing again. It hasn't really been that long, but it sure feels like it.
May has been difficult. It started back in April, when I had to go out of town, and wasn't able to post for over a week. It's continuing in May, because I'm going out of town again, to Alaska, where internet service is somewhat spotty at best.
I'll be gone just over a week, and I expect to lose those days unless I can write some articles in a notebook to post later.
So my website goals suffer. I'm trying to keep up with my writing goals for my posts, but life is getting in the way.
Don't you hate it when that happens?
I've Reached A Tipping Point.A tipping point is a point in time when you can go one of two ways. Either you can give in to discouragement and taper off, even quit, or you can redouble your efforts and refocus on your goals.
I have to admit that I've been a little discouraged lately. After a year of posting, I'm not seeing much traffic. About the only traffic I get are the people responding to my requests for comments from Site Comments.
Right now it would be very easy for me to give up.
Does anyone else ever feel this way?
I think that there must be some problem with my keyword research, or my posts. Or something. Less than 5 visitors per day after a year is discouraging. Kyle's training says that at 3-4 months a website should start generating some traffic. I passed that point 9 months ago.
Check out this screenshot.
It's trending down, not up. Maybe I shouldn't let it bum me out, but it does.
Well, I'm not going to give up and quit. I still think I can make this work. Normally I'm a very positive and upbeat person. It's not my natural state to be discouraged.
Probably by tomorrow I'll be back to my normal self.
Anyway, I'm wondering if I should go back over the 70+ posts on my website and re-check my keywords, update my content, and try to make my posts more SEO friendly, I can add more videos, maybe more images, stuff like that.
OR,Should I just continue writing 3 posts per week and wait (hope) for things to improve?
Both directions are time-consuming, and I'm pretty sure I can't do both at the same time.
I'm in the SWAG challenge. I don't want to get behind with that, but I do want to improve my rankings with the posts I already have written as well.
What would YOU do if you were me?
Sorry for the downer.
I'm Grant.
Recent Comments
49
I too have been going through ups and downs in this crazy business. My numbers seem to be going up and then they dip.
They say consistency and persistence is the key to success with affiliate marketing.
Right now I am in the Bootcamp training trying to learn how to make videos and publish them to You Tube. This has been a challenge for me personally.
The people that do not succeed at this are the ones that give up, I don't plan to be one of those statistics and you won't either.
Together we will get through this and be the success stories everyone talks about!
Hang in there!
Hi Grant, i also feel the same way as you, when we are trying to follow all the training and recomendations from other members, for me it just seems to make me feel even more worried about where that point is. There are so many things to do and learn and implement that I sometimes wonder if i am doing anything right and like you i am not seeing much traffic.
All i can say to you is have faith in your own abilities and keep at it. Although i have not made one penny yet, I do and have learned a hell of a lot about stuff I thought I knew but actually didnt. So i am now treating it lime i am doing a degree (which usually takes 3 years by the way) and i am now 62 years old.
Can you teach an old dog new tricks......YES i believe you can.
Hang in there bud, I am with you
Paul
Thanks, Paul. I’ve got you beat in the age department. I’m 66. I’m learning a ton too. I should take the pressure off myself and just enjoy the experience.
I thank you for asking this honest question.
I have paid attention to many members stories here who say they have 200 posts and no traffic. I certainly dont want this to happen to me.
Although i believe writting lots of content is important, i also believe getting independent traffic sources are equally important. So for me if i spend 90 mins creating a post, i need to spend 90 mins on social media trying to increase my independent website visitors.
Other people could spend that time creating an email list.
Do you have independant traffic streams coming in?
Yes I do. I place my posts on Facebook, Twitter. Google +, and Pinterest. I also try to build my followers. Thanks for your advice.
Grant
Good Morning Grant,
Jessica has it all covered I think.
I started with Pinterest some months ago, that is also time-consuming. it has helped with real visitors but no comments yet.
I did update all my posts after 1 year, checked for links to my own posts, outside links, put in a video here and there, did the different H2, and H3, call it a facelift!
Do not give up, that would be a shame!
Greetings from the south of Spain, Taetske
Thanks Taetske. I still need to go back and add some of these improvements to my older posts.
That’s what I’m doing now too. I’ve been to Barcelona, by the way. Back in my Navy days. It was just a port visit but I loved it.
Grant
Hello, I believe you got some great advice here, this video here may help with maybe doing 301 redirects instead of changing your permalinks. Two Ways To Create A 301 Redirect
Hi Grant,
I would look at the existing posts to see if you can fix them up. I don't even have 70 posts on either of my sites and I have had one for 2.5 years. I do get some traffic and sales however. So, therefore, it is not all about the number of posts. I am still getting sales even though I have only written about 1 post per month this winter on my primary site. I was busy starting up my new site and just didn't get much done on the first one.
Do you have all the other parts filled out such as a good SEO Description, Tags, Image Alt Text, Description etc? How good are your keywords? Some advice says a QSR (competition) under 100 is good. I totally disagree. When you are starting out you should find better keywords to get some traction on your site.
Do you have links in most of your posts? I do. Some don't but in my experience it works. Just don't overdo it and make it look spammy.
Have you done internal linking between your posts? That is very important. Do you have good images in your posts?
These are all aspects you could look at to improve things.
I gave up on social media since it seemed to be a waste of time compared to adding good content for me (since I struggle to add enough content so I need to focus there). However, I have found that Quora is a great source of traffic. Try it! Just search for questions on your niche or your specific post topics. Then answer those questions if you can and include a link to your relevant post. Just make sure you are actually answering the question so the link looks legit. I am getting traffic from Quora almost every day now and that started within just a day or two of answering questions there.
I hope some of these ideas help.
Jessica
Thanks for the great advice, Jessica. Yes, my posts have the things you suggest, at least mostly. I’m sure some of my descriptions, alt texts and such can be improved. That’s what I’ll do.
Grant
Hi Jessica, please what is the appropriate qsr if not below 100? I am quite confused as everyone's opinion seems to vary. Thanks.
Well, I am sorry to hear that. My site is six months old and I am facing the same thing. I think Kaju has the right idea, see if you can bring up the ranking on some of those old posts.
This is frustrating and I hope you will find success soon. Best of luck to you.
Steve
Just means you're human. Thanks for sharing with us. I have to constantly remind myself that my breaking point is also my breakthrough point. Take a day off, then go back looking at your content and SEO words. Also try to write something from a different niche if bringing something new to the table breaks the monotony. Keep pushing and keep striving. Congrats!
-Tristen
Hey Grant,
It's easy to get discouraged but please don't. You are ON to something here...
"I'm wondering if I should go back over the 70+ posts on my website and re-check my keywords, update my content, and try to make my posts more SEO friendly, I can add more videos, maybe more images, stuff like that".
YES!! This is called "repurposing" and I believe this what you need. Change some of your post titles to include better low comp keywords. Repeat them in the 1st or 2nd paragraph, then again in the last paragraph.
You've done most of the hard work, what you need is tweaking.
So what do you do with the permalinks that have the old KW in them? I know we don't change permalinks.
I know many here don't advocate this strategy, and this would certainly make sense if Grant were getting some traffic. But he is not.
His current posts in question are failing miserably. 5 visitors per day after a year defines that. After he changes his title to a better long-tailed keyword and revises some of his content, why NOT change the permalinks of these posts to match the new titles?
He has nothing to lose. Why to avoid a 404 Error? This can be fixed. IMO, in Grant's case there is greater upside re-purposing existing content that he has invested many hours in that already has potential.
As you know, once decided the process of changing of the permalink is quite simple.
Go to Posts » Categories and WordPress will show you the list of categories. Take your mouse over to a category and click on the quick edit link. WordPress will show you the title of the category, and its URL slug. You can change the URL slug and click on the Update button to save your changes.
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I am in the Gogetters training and it has made a huge difference in my traffic. You might want to start that training. Bo is a wonderful teacher. I know it means more time, but you might try it. I go at my own pace and sometimes I get behind, but what I'm learning is amazing. Please don't give up Grant, I've been doing this for a year too and there are days I get frustrated about it, but I'm going forward and so should you!
Don’t worry, Brenda. I’m not quitting. Sometimes, though, it helps to vent, and get advice from others. Bo’s amazing. I’ll have to check out his training. Thanks.