Summer Blog Slump: What Bloggers Can Do in the Summer

The summer blog slump is real guys. My traffic and income have been wayyyy down (you’ll see this reflected in August and September’s income reports), but I’m not worried. I’ve been spending my days with my kids, at the pool and on vacation, just as all of my readers have. But, that doesn’t mean I’ve completely stepped away from blogging. I may not be posting as often, but I’m still hard at work behind the scenes when I have time.

Here are 10 things bloggers can do in the summer to prepare for busier times ahead.

What Bloggers Can Do in the Summer

If your traffic is down, don’t fret. Mine is about half of what it was just a few months ago. I’m still marketing my blog in the exact same ways, but people just aren’t online as much in the summer months. If you’re new to blogging, expect this every single summer, no matter how big your blog gets! In the meantime, here are 10 things you can be doing to prep for busier seasons!

Update images on top posts

You can find your top posts on Jetpack or Google Analytics. If the posts are older, go back and update them. You may want to add in some affiliate links, create new images to share on Pinterest, or simply update the content to make it more appealing.

Create an editorial calendar for the fall

Think ahead to September when things will naturally pick back up in the blogging world. What do you want to be promoting? If you’re a food blogger, for example, now is the time to start thinking of and possibly even creating your fall recipes. Mommy bloggers can start thinking about back-to-school and everything that comes along with that (shopping for clothes, prepping lunches, creating a homework space, etc). Instead of worrying about your low summer stats, prioritize the season ahead and be as prepared as possible!

Join Pinterest group boards

Group boards have brought in a significant amount of traffic for my blog. Since I’m busy with other blogging tasks the majority of the year, I spend a good amount of time in the summer joining new Pinterest group boards. Once I week, I set aside at least 30 minutes to find new boards to join. If you want to join my group board, Mama Entrepreneurs, follow me on Pinterest and send me an email!

Back up your site

My site literally almost vanished from the internet a few weeks ago. Can you imagine?!?!! Luckily, it’s still here and I’ve since made it a huge priority to keep everything backed up. Since I do not like technology and have no desire to learn that aspect of blogging, I hire this task out. If you are ever in need of some tech assistance, I highly recommend Grayson Bell at iMark Interactive. He can help you with one-time issues or keep your site current and updated every month for a small fee. Worth every penny and cannot recommend him enough!!

Update your “About” page

I updated a mine a few months back (you can check it out here!) and like to update this about once a quarter. Things change, my blog goals change, and my message changes. I want to make sure my About page clearly relays what I want my readers to get out of my blog. Also, you can optimize your About page for SEO by using /yourcity-blogger in the URL. Mine is “charlotte-blogger” that way I hopefully show up in search engines when people and brands are looking for bloggers in Charlotte.

Go through my “6 Steps to Profitable Blogging” guide

It’s completely free! If you want to take your blog to the next level, sign up for my FREE guide on 6 Steps to Profitable Blogging. Your traffic may be down now, but once it spikes, you want to maximize your profits. My guide will show you exactly how to do that! Sign up here!

Reach out to brands

Who do you want to collaborate with? I have a list of about 20 companies I’d like to work with and plan on reaching out to them by the end of summer. Your blog may be slow in the summer, but other big businesses are rockin’. Don’t wait to send an email introducing yourself and your brand!!

Brainstorm a product to create

I’ve created two products so far. My first is an ebook The Beginner’s Guide to Blogging (if you haven’t started a blog yet, follow my tutorial here and I’ll give you my book for free!) and my second is How to Make Money as a Web Hosting Affiliate. This is an online course geared toward intermediate bloggers looking to take their income to the next level. While my best income source is affiliate sales, there are tons of bloggers who make bank selling their own products. One day, I hope to see my own product income surpass my affiliate income. And there’s no better time than now to start brainstorming products your customers would want!

Spend more time on social media

Yes, things are slower online, but there are still plenty of people you can connect with! Now is a great time to find new blogs and social accounts to follow. I recently joined a ton of blogging groups on Facebook and am making it a goal to actively participate in them. I’m following more people on Twitter and Instagram, posting on Stumbleupon and Google+, and emailing bloggers I like to make a connection!

Enjoy the break!

And finally, allow yourself to take a break, too. Your blog will be here when you get back 🙂

How has your summer been? What are you working on blogging-wise?