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in Writing & Blogging · February 7, 2020

Successful Blogging Tips: The Simple Strategy that Grew My Blog by 32% in 1 Month

You know that we’re officially in a new year when I have a new blog traffic report! Blogging-wise, 2020 is off to a great start. As you can see from the title of this post, my blog traffic grew by 32% in January. And even better, I did it with a super simple strategy. (Is there anything better than when you find an easy and quick way to grow your blog? It almost never happens.) Per usual, I’m going to share my stats – blog traffic and social media, my top sources of traffic, and my most popular posts – and then get into the details of how I did it. Let’s get to it!

This post contains affiliate links.

All blog traffic reports

In January 2020, Kate the (Almost) Great tried some different things to grow her blog traffic. In this post, she's sharing her successful blogging tips - including the one that grew her blog traffic by 32% in 1 month.

January 2020 Blog Traffic Report

Google Analytics Statistics

Pageviews: 14,648 (+32.87% from December, -18.5% from last year)

Bounce Rate: 20.91% (+3.7% from December, +11.22% from last year)

Sessions: 6,600 (+32.23% from December, -24.2% from last year)

Users: 5,731 (+35.77% from December, -28% from last year)

Bloglovin: 1,835 (+0.65% from December, – 1.5% from last year)

Email subscribers: 695 (-1.5% from December, +13.5% from last year)

How I keep my bounce rate so low

Webhostinghub.com Statistics

Pageviews: 123,364 (+27.33% from December, -58.4% from last year)

Sessions: 41,750 (+6.66% from December, +64.19% from last year)

Users: 2,512 (+22.47% from December, -45% from last year)

Social Media

Facebook: 1,084 (+0.18% from December, +4% from last year)

Twitter: 3,692 (+0.7% from December, +11.13% from last year)

Instagram: 2,942 (+1.62% from December, +14.5% from last year)

Pinterest: 9,220 (+0.82% from December, +22.47% from last year)

Tumblr: 3,981 (+0.07% from December, +1.73% from last year)

How I manage social media for my blog | How to get followers on Pinterest

Top Posts

  1. 10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Received My Rheumatoid Arthritis Diagnosis
  2. What Does Endometriosis Feel Like?
  3. POTS and Heat Intolerance
  4. Beginner’s Guide: Infusion for Arthritis
  5. Fun Things To Do in Boston: A 3-Day Guide
  6. The Products I Loved (And Wanted) in Grad School
  7. Accepting Your Body with Chronic Illness
  8. Loving Someone with Chronic Pain
  9. The Lifestyle Changes I Made for My Rheumatoid Arthritis
  10. Why Is Rheumatoid Arthritis So Hard to Diagnose?

Top Sources of Traffic

  • Pinterest (66.16%) – If you’re not treating Pinterest like a search engine, you’re missing out. Ever since I started doing that, Pinterest has brought over 50% of my blog traffic. Clearly, January was no exception! (Psst, I’m trying something extra with Pinterest for February, so you’ll hear about that in a few weeks!)
  • Facebook (13.57%) – I’m in a lot of Facebook groups for bloggers, in addition to my Facebook page, so I’m glad to see that pay off. You can learn more about what I do with Facebook in my post about how I promote my posts.
  • Search Engines (5.53%) – I try to utilize SEO in every post, so I’m glad to see that it pays off here, in addition to in my Pinterest work.

This does not include direct traffic.

How to use Pinterest for blog traffic | How to use SEO to stand out

successful blogging tips, blogging tips, blog tips, grow your blog, grow blog traffic, grow your blog traffic, how to increase blog traffic fast, how to increase blog traffic for free

Successful Blogging Tips: The Simple Strategy that Grew My Blog by 32% in 1 Month

What I did

  • How I promote my blog posts (updated a few weeks ago!)
  • The simple strategy: individual marketing plans for each post
  • Participated in an Ultimate Bundles email sale, which usually leads to losing email subscribers
  • Changed my Sumo share options (see left side of the screen) to get rid of Google+ and added LinkedIn

Why I switched to MailerLite from MailChimp for my email newsletter | The best WordPress plugins: the plugins I use and love

I haven’t seen results from

  • Changing Sumo share options – I’m not surprised by this at all, but at least I don’t have an obsolete social media network listed now! Google shut down Google+ at least a year ago, but I forgot about it in my Sumo options until recently. I decided to add LinkedIn because of my blogging/social media instructional posts.

What I can learn this month

  • Don’t use the same promoting strategy for every blog post – Obviously, I have my standard way of promoting posts, which isn’t changing. But what Sharon discusses in that worksheet about creating a marketing plan for each blog post is that a standard procedure is not enough for change. Which was pretty obvious once I thought about it; how can I do the same thing for each blog post and expect my traffic to grow? For every single blog post, I thought about what are special ways (for me and that post) to promote my posts. Am I a member of online communities who might benefit from seeing that post? Is there a special hashtag or topic being discussed online that I could use? That worksheet/ebook linked above is so simple (hence the name of this post) that it was feasible to use for each post. It obviously made a huge difference! This made such a big difference for me personally because this blog is not a single-niche blog. I categorize it as lifestyle, but, as you all know, I write a lot of posts about blogging and social media, as well as health.

January Goals

  • 5 blog posts – Success!
  • 12,000 page views – Success!

February Goals

  • 4 blog posts
  • 13,000 page views

What are your successful blogging tips?

Like this post? Check out:

11 Tools To Grow Blog Traffic: 2020, Why Isn’t My Blog Getting Traffic?, What Do Bloggers Do?, My Proven Method for Blogging with Limited Time

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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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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#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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