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in Writing & Blogging · November 3, 2017

October Blog Traffic Report

Well, we’ve passed Halloween and are barreling towards Thanksgiving. I don’t hate it! This is my favorite time of year, except for the stress of school that comes with it. But I’m starting November off with happy blog news – my traffic increased in October, as did my social media followers! Before I get into what I did, let’s look at what exactly increased and by how much.

All Traffic Reports

Want to grow your blog traffic? Here's what I did that helped grow mine and my social media networks.

Traffic Report

Current Statistics

Unique Pageviews: 7422(+6.9% from September, +5.4% from last year)

Bounce Rate: 10.53% (+15.7% from September, -82% from last year)

Sessions: 3637 (+18.6% from September, -9% from last year)

Users: 2632 (+12.2% from September, -25% from last year)

Bloglovin: 1767 (0% change from September, +3.4% from last year)

Email Subscribers: 307 (+4.4% from September, +36% from last year)

How I keep my bounce rate so low

Social Media

Facebook: 969 (+1.8% from September, +10.4% from last year)

Twitter: 3093 (+2.6% from September, +16.4%from last year)

Instagram: 2557 (+0.9% from September, +58% from last year)

Google+: 237 (+1.7% from September, +20.9% from last year)

Pinterest: 5439 (+1.9% from September, +44.6% from last year)

Tumblr: 3827 (+0.3% from September, +4.9% from last year)

Top Posts

  1. Loving Someone with Chronic Pain
  2. Accepting Your Body with Chronic Illness
  3. What Abled People Need To Know about Disability
  4. A Weekend in Boston
  5. Top Drugstore Makeup
  6. Endometriosis: The Disease Women Aren’t Talking About
  7. What You Need To Know about Arthritis
  8. Beginner’s Guide: Seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis
  9. 40 Blog Post Ideas
  10. 5 Life Changing Books

Top Sources of Traffic

  • Pinterest (34.89%) – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Pinterest is a blogger’s best friend. I’ve heard people say that you should think about it as a search engine, and I completely agree. But it’s unlike a search engine like Google because the quality of the image is just as important as the search engine terms. I started focusing on optimizing my images for Pinterest back at the beginning of the year, and I’ve continued what I learned. I strongly suggest you look into optimizing your blog for Pinterest!
  • Direct (24.75%) – This makes me happy because it means nearly a quarter of the page views in October came from people coming directly here.
  • Twitter (15.73%) – I love this because Twitter is the big thing I focused on this month! Scroll down to see what I did. Honestly, I didn’t think Twitter had helped until I was looking at traffic sources. Last month, Twitter brought me 6.92% of my traffic, less than half of what it did this month.
  • Facebook (9.51%) – As I mention in my post on how I promote my blog posts, I’m a member of multiple Facebook groups for bloggers. That plus my Facebook page really help drive traffic.

In October, I focused on using Twitter to grow my blog traffic. And it worked! Here's exactly what I did, as well as the other things I tried and whether or not they worked.

Traffic Analysis

What I Did

  • How I promote my blog posts
  • Big tool this month: getting traffic from Twitter. Things I did to optimize my Twitter to get more blog traffic include changing the header, updating my bio, started pinning a tweet that promotes a blog post and changing that pinned tweet every week or so, and added a link to my mailing list.
  • Joined Helene’s free Instagram challenge
  • Featured in Logojoy’s Expert Roundup
  • Went through and added more CTAs to more post
  • Changed the email signup in my sidebar
  • Spoke at Blog Camp Boston
  • Got incredibly sick (bronchitis) and only published 1 post the week of the 16th

I Haven’t Seen Results From

  • Adding more CTAs to posts
  • Spoke at Blog Camp – This did increase my social followers, but it didn’t affect my blog views.

What I Can Learn

  • Twitter can affect your blog traffic, but it might not be obvious
  • If you want to grow your Instagram, you need to be intentional about it.

October Goals

  • 7,000 monthly page views – Success!
  • Maintain bounce rate below 20% – Success!
  • 9-12 posts – Success!

November Goals

  • Maintain page views
  • Maintain bounce rate below 20%
  • 9-12 posts

Has Twitter helped your blog traffic?

Like this post? Check out:

How To Use Twitter as a Blogger + Free List of Things To Post, 8 Ways To Lower Your Bounce Rate, 10 Things Every Blog Needs, Why an Editorial Calendar Is Really Worth the Time + 164 Blog Post Ideas

Kate Mitchell

Kate Mitchell is a blogger, chronic illness patient, and advocate who helps people understand chronic illness and helps chronic illness patients live their best lives.

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Related

Previous Post: « Positive Health Changes from Paying Off Debt
Next Post: Tools for Pain Management that Aren’t Medications »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lauren Imbriaco says

    November 3, 2017 at 8:29 am

    i love reading reports like this! thanks so much!

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  1. Kate the (Almost) Great | Boston Lifestyle Blog - 12 Blog Traffic Boosting Tools To Try in 2018 - Kate the (Almost) Great | Boston Lifestyle Blog says:
    December 29, 2017 at 8:01 am

    […] October: Use Twitter To Grow Your Blog – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love Twitter. Words are my favorite, so Twitter is my favorite. But is it great a building traffic? I think it is, but part of its usage comes from building an audience. If you don’t have any followers, it’s not going to be as useful as if you already have 500 or 1,000 or 10,000. I already share each blog post at least 10 times after it has been posted (the day it goes up, a few days later, 1 week later, 2 weeks later), but I also optimized my profile and more. But working on Twitter doubled how much of my traffic was from Twitter, so is definitely worth it. Read all about what I did for Twitter here. […]

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Having decades-long health problems sometimes mean Having decades-long health problems sometimes means coming across something in your health history that you completely forgot about⁣
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I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate. Follow me for more content for chronic illness patients and their loved ones!⁣
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⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ID: Screenshot of a thread post written by Kate Mitchell | Kate the (Almost) Great with the username katethealmostgreat. ⁣⁣The background is dark teal. All text is what’s above the first black square.⁣⁣⁣
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#AlmostGreatHealth #rheumatoidarthritis #arthritis #spoonielife #healthblogger #autoimmune #autoimmunedisease #chronicallyill #healthblog #dysautonomia #fibro #fibromyalgia #endo #chronicallyill #disability #disabled #invisibleillness #spoonielife #healthblogger
Here are some ways I practice self care, aka talki Here are some ways I practice self care, aka talking care of myself AND who I am as a person separate from illness⁣
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This is my Wonderful Things jar. Every day, I write down something wonderful or good that happened that day. ⁣
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I know it looks like I'm forcing Harley to sit like this, but he was making this face before I put my arm around him. Dog snuggle time is the best!⁣
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I got a Kindle this year and it has been amazing. It's so much easier on my body than lugging around books and it makes borrowing from the library a lot easier.⁣
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Yes, I share this all the time, but filling my pill boxes every 3 weeks make it so I stick with all of my medications. But the self-care part of this is that I don't have to take the time to refill a box every single week.⁣
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I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 7+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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1️⃣ A glass jar on a desk with a lot of multi-color post-its inside⁣
2️⃣ Kate has her face in a golden retriever who is slumped onto her. They're in a teal room with a red rug. Kate is a brunette white woman wearing red pants and a gray sweater.⁣
3️⃣ A Kindle on dark mode in Kate's lap⁣
4️⃣ 3 open pill cases on a yellow bedspread ⁣
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#AlmostGreatHealth #AlmostGreatLife #SelfCare #ChronicallyIll #ChronicallyAwesome #SpoonieLife #Spoonie #ChronicLife #ButYouDontLookSick #InvisibleIllness #MentalHealthMatters #RetrieversOfInstagram #Readers #Kindle #WonderfulThings #GratitudePractice
What I Bring To the Doctor _______ Video: a pa What I Bring To the Doctor 

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Video: a pan of an exam room. White text reads “What I Bring To the Doctor ” and the “1. Planner/notebook
2. List of current medications 
3. Notes on my biggest concerns and questions 
4. My kindle for wait time” 
The intro to Maroon 5’s Priceless plays. 

#AlmostGreatHealth #ChronicIllness #ChronicPain #RheumatoidArthritis #SjogrensSyndrome #Fibromyalgia #Endometriosis
💃🏼 Week 17 of #2025Weekly 💃🏼⁣
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1️⃣ She’s married!! ⁣
2️⃣ She married the best person in the world for her!!!!!⁣
3️⃣ I got dressed up! ⁣
4️⃣ The reality of doing fun things with chronic illness and pain is that then you have to recover from the fun things. It took … a while. One million percent worth it, but this is why I don’t do big events on a regular basis. ⁣
5️⃣ And then I had to be a person again for an appointment!⁣
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I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 7+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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1️⃣ Kate stands hugging Emmie. They're both white woman. Emmie is in a wedding dress and Kate is in a red dress and wearing round tortiseshell glasses.⁣
2️⃣ Kate and Emmie stand next to Matt, Emmie's husband. He is a white man.⁣
3️⃣ Kate takes a mirror selfie. she's in the same red dress but now also wears a jean jacket and holds a cane and mask.⁣
4️⃣ Kate takes a selfie while giving a thumbs up. She looks tired. She's now wearing a pink flowery dress. ⁣
5️⃣ Kate takes a mirror selfie. She's wearing black shorts, a gray shirt, a jean jacket, a blue mask, and black aviator sunglasses. She has a bag over her shoulder and holds a cane.⁣
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#AlmostGreatHealth #AlmostGreatLife #ChronicallyIll #InvisibleIllness #SpoonieLife #RheumatoidArthritis #RheumatoidDisease #Autoimmune #ButYouDontLookSick #AutoimmuneDisease #SpoonieLife #InvisibleIllness #DisabledAndCute
On the one hand, you should always believe what pe On the one hand, you should always believe what people tell you about their bodies.⁣
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On the other hand, I’ve had so much ridiculous and unconnected health things happen that I do understand why people might not believe me.⁣
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⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate. Follow me for more content for chronic illness patients and their loved ones!⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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#AlmostGreatHealth #ChronicallyIll #ChronicPain #Autoimmune #AutoimmuneDisease #RheumatoidArthritis #RheumatoidDisease #SpoonieLife #InvisibleIllness
Last week, I talked about how it surprised me how Last week, I talked about how it surprised me how systemic autoimmune arthritis can be. But something else that surprised me was how much pain can be caused by small things.⁣
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In this picture, I was getting ready to have an MRI on my knee. It has been bothering me a fair amount the last 6+ months, so I'm trying to do something about that. ⁣
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Unsurprisingly, some of the tissue is damaged, but it's not bad. What's probably causing it to bother me so much is a teeny tiny cyst. ⁣
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Baker's cysts are a type of cyst in the knee that are generally caused by arthritis. But having a cyst in my knee means that it's causing pressure on that damaged tissue. ⁣
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The body is a weird thing, and one of these weird things is developing tiny cysts that cause a lot of pain. ⁣
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I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 7+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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ID: Kate takes a mirror selfie. She's a brunette white woman wearing a hospital gown, scrub bottoms, black mask, round tortoiseshell glasses, and round tortoiseshell glasses. ⁣
🌸 Week 16 of #2025Weekly 🌸 ⁣ ⁣ 1️⃣ S 🌸 Week 16 of #2025Weekly 🌸 ⁣
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1️⃣ Spring has sprung … ⁣
2️⃣ … Which means I am overheating! ⁣
3️⃣ A quick view of NYC on my travels ⁣
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I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 7+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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1️⃣ A flowering tree on a street ⁣
2️⃣ Kate takes a mirror selfie. She's a brunette white woman wearing a blue t-shirt saying "The Future Is Accessible," a black mask, a green hat reading "Facilities Management), black shorts, a black knee sleeve, and a black knee brace. She holds a pink cane.⁣
3️⃣ A picture of the New York City skyline behind a bridge.⁣
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#AlmostGreatHealth #AlmostGreatLife #ChronicallyIll #RheumatoidArthritis #SpoonieLife #Autoimmune #AutoimmuneDisease #ChronicPain #Arthritis #RheumatoidDisease #Dysautonomia #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #POTS #InvisibleIllness
If I met my newly diagnosed self for coffee ... ⁣
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I tell her how things would get worse before they got better. ⁣
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I'd tell her to stop eating gluten, dairy, corn, soy, and eggs immediately (although that would have been a lot harder in 2010, more than it even is now). ⁣
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I'd tell her that she still needs to keep advocating for herself. ⁣
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I'd tell her that having a diagnosis unfortunately doesn't mean everything automatically falls into place. ⁣
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I'd tell her that she'll develop many more illnesses but her quality of life will actually get significantly better. ⁣
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I'd tell her that she would eventually have to get her right foot fixed, although she does expect that.⁣
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I'd tell her that using a cane is not a sign of failure, but a tool to make life better.⁣
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(I did a sort of tongue-in-cheek post about this a while ago and thought I'd post a more serious one).⁣
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⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate. Follow me for more content for chronic illness patients and their loved ones!⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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ID: Kate poses for the camera holding a mug with the letter M on it. Kate is a brunette white woman wearing a blue sweater and round tortoiseshell glasses. A white text box reads "If I met my newly diagnosed self for coffee ...". ⁣
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#AlmostGreatHealth #RheumatoidArthritis #RheumatoidDisease #ChronicallyIll #Autoimmune #AutoimmuneDisease #AutoimmuneArthritis #Rheum #InvisibleIllness #Arthritis #ButYouDontLookSick #ArthritisWarrior #CureArthritis
The thing that surprised me the most about autoimm The thing that surprised me the most about autoimmune arthritis is how systemic it is. ⁣
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Like with most things, it's one thing to know the fact and it's something else to experience it. ⁣
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Yes, my joints are affected (a lot). ⁣
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But I've had enough serious infections thats I have to see an immunologist because we need to be aware of my antibodies and I sometimes need help recovering from illnesses. ⁣
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And, yes, I see pulmonology because of my asthma, but we also have to keep an eye out on developing rheumatoid nodules in my lungs. (So far so good!)⁣
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Not to mention that, when I developed POTS, the hospital admitted me to run every heart test to make sure that, at 26, I wasn't experiencing heart failure. ⁣
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Plus, when I developed endometriosis, I also went through a number of GI tests because one theory was that I had ulcerative colitis. ⁣
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Anyway, RA is so much more than "just" joints. If it wasn't, I wouldn't have to kill my immune system every 3 months like I am in this picture.⁣
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I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 7+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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ID: Kate takes a selfie in an infusion chair. She is a brunette white woman wearing a Boston Red Sox shirt, blue mask, and round tortoiseshell glasses.⁣⁣
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#AlmostGreatHealth #RheumatoidArthritis #RheumatoidDisease #Rheum #Autoimmune #AutoimmuneDisease #InvisibleIllness #ButYouDontLookSick #Sjogrens #SjogrensSyndrome #POTS #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #Dysautonomia
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