A Virus is Killing My Website (Part 2) + Free Advice For You ;)
A couple of months ago I talked a bit about how the COVID-19 affected my website. I also told you guys how I planned to turn it around. And even though I still see the effect of the virus, it's going the right direction again. This all because of some quick thinking and rapid action!
So, what have I done in the past couple of months to make sure that my website wasn't going to suffer too much from the crisis that is going on.
1. Anticipation
The moment you jump on board of something that's already trending, you are too late. Even if you truly believe in the product or service you are writing about. If the ship has sailed it has sailed.
The moment something is trending for months or even years already, it's quite hard to take your spot in the market. Which is also why at WA there's an emphasis on low hanging fruits. If you haven't finished the training yet, please do, because this one is really important to be aware of.
What to do then if you can't promote your favorite product or service? Well, have a look if you can find a sub-niche you can write about. If you love traveling for example, you won't be scoring a lot when you are writing about general traveling. Look what possibilities are lying ahead of you as there are so many different categories: backpacking, train holidays, etc.
This is just an example of course, in the current crisis I wouldn't like to start a blog about travelling.
How did this translate to my own website? Well, I was writing a lot about retreats and suddenly I saw a big drop in incoming traffic. Which was to be expected. Luckily, the programs I'm affiliated with jumped on the online wagon and started offering online retreats and teacher trainings. This was something I had to jump on to as well!
And then another thing that I implemented, I started teaching my own private online yoga classes! I started about a month ago and I've already got two yoga students! Which is great and even though it's not a passive income, directing traffic to my website is.
2. Updating Your Website
At this moment there are also a lot of changes going on at Google and in general with the people as well. Take the time to update your website and make sure that you don't forget about your older articles.
If you are still on your first website like me, than chances are that your first articles weren't actually that great. They might have been, if you were already a great writer before. But when I look back upon my own articles I see they were just rubbish and they would never ever rank high.
It takes time to develop a skill and while you were figuring out how WP works, building your theme, doing research and setting everything up, there might have been not that many time left to focus on your writing. If you've progressed a lot already, you might want to take a look back at your older content. Even content that is older than a year can still rank in Google if you are playing it right.
3. Buy A Theme
Recently I've been looking at some other themes. And I liked one so badly that I decided to buy it for the one year aniversary for my website. I was also very lucky as this theme was actually on sale.
But why should you buy a theme? Well, if you are using a free theme, it's great for when you are starting up everything and when you are not that interested in all of its functionallities. However, at some point you might get frustrated as there is so much you can do with a free theme.
Not just that, but now that I've bought a theme, my bounce rate has lowered quite a lot and at the same time it looks more professional. It doesn't necessarily mean it's easier to work with though, as there are more things to learn.
However, buying a theme is in general also not that expensive. Most themes I've encountered were priced around $50 (I bought mine for $38 on sale). Which is actually quite a nice investment to make. And besides that, you also get support with it as well. Which you often don't get with a free theme.
That's It (For Now)
So, that's a bit of what I've been doing for the passed couple of months with my website. And some conclusions that I've drawn myself after implementing these tips I mentioned above. The road is still long I feel as my niche is quite competitive, but my traffic is going up again and I'm still grateful for having this amazing platform here to ask and give advice!
That's it, hope you are all well and see you next time again!
Nama-stay wonderful!
Recent Comments
3
You offer great tips here Virendra. Thanks too for clarifying that just because you may need to buy a theme doesn't mean it will be easier to work with.
We are Blessed.
Mark
You're very welcome Mark ;). It's a two-sided coin though. It might not be easier to work with, but at the same time, you'll get much more with a bought theme. So, you've got to see what it is that you are looking for :)
Very important addition :)