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5 SMART Blogging Goals To Set

by Dave Schneider | Last revised on October 5, 2020

5 SMART Blogging Goals To Set

Are you looking to set actionable goals, both personally and professionally, to help you grow? If so, let’s make some of those apply to your blog. What should your blogging goals be?

Firstly, before we dive into the specific goals themselves, let’s talk about how they should be structured. I recommend you create S.M.A.R.T. blogging goals. A S.M.A.R.T. goal is defined as one that is specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time-bound.

Here’s what I mean:

5 SMART Blogging Goals To Set In 2016

Not S.M.A.R.T. Goal: I’m going to get fit this year.
S.M.A.R.T. Goal: I’m going to work out at least 3 times a week for 45 minutes for the rest of the year.

Notice how the first one leaves a lot up to interpretation whereas the second one is very clear. There is no doubting whether or not you completed it.

Now let’s apply that to start blogging with 5 S.M.A.R.T. blogging goals everyone should be setting (not, the percentage points can vary based on your own assessment of what is achievable).

Increase Your Traffic 100% (Or 6% Monthly)

Yes, I said it – arguably the most important thing when it comes to blogging: traffic.

Traffic is the lifeline of a blog – it’s like blood flowing into the body.

And why not increase it 100%? Is it really that impossible?

Believe it or not, simply increasing your blog traffic 6% each month will get you to 100% by the end of the year (1.06^12 > 2).

And when you put it like that, 6% doesn’t seem like that big of a deal over the course of the month. In fact, it may even be a better goal than the original one because it is more measurable over shorter time periods, so you know you’re on track.

I’m going to change the headline now, and you can start working on your traffic generation tactics!

Write At Least 1 Blog Post A Week

Now let’s drill down a bit into where that traffic is going to come from: writing.

Writing is relatively correlated with traffic, as we all know, people that fail to write much on their blogs rarely garner much traffic.

And although writing is certainly no guarantee of traffic, it’s a necessity to have some content that is available to rank and drive traffic.

If you’re not sure how often you should be writing, I say aim for once a week, just to keep the habit up.

If you’re already at that level, see if you can double it to twice a week or more.

Publish One Ultimate Guide Greater Than 3000 Words

Now you’ve got a traffic goal in mind and a schedule to write often, so what should you be writing?

Well, if you haven’t at least attempted long form content, try to dedicate some time this year to really focusing on making one piece of epic content, greater than 3000 words.

After all, long form content tends to do better than shorter content.

If you feel a bit intimidated by this one, remember, it doesn’t have to be accomplished tomorrow. Work your way up to it. Set smaller goals monthly to increase the length of your content gradually, and in no time you will be able to produce content of 3000 words or more!

Increase Your Email Opt-In Rate By 50%

There are many ways to increase your traffic, and not all of them are simply about writing a lot of posts and ranking in Google.

Another is increasing the size of your email list so as to benefit from the direct traffic later on.

And that can be accomplished without changing your traffic at all, as long as you work on some of your standard conversion rate optimization techniques.

At a minimum, make sure:

  • You have a place to opt in on every blog post
  • You are using teasers to increase open rates
  • You are testing different opt-in places such as the sidebar, author box, help bar, scroll pop up and others to see what produces the best result.

Undoubtedly, a day spent reading articles about email conversion rate optimization and implementing some new opt-in boxes will be a day well spent!

Make Connections With 12 Influencers And Feature Them On Your Blog

Influencers are an important part of your content marketing strategy.

Pick one person every month and engage with them. Use these 12 tactics to build a relationship with them.

Then, when the time is right, feature them. You can link to their post, or get a quote from them, for example.

Let them know about it when it’s published, and see if they will share.

One year from now you’ll have 12 valuable relationships you don’t have now – how does that sound?

So, am I missing any S.M.A.R.T. goals?

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

Setting your business goals for the future? Include blogging goals. New content keeps people and Google coming back to your site time and time again. 

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Dave Schneider

Dave Schneider

Dave Schneider is an expert on Blogging. Dave is the cofounder of NinjaOutreach, an innovative new blogger outreach software for marketers based in Boston, Massachusetts. He writes about blogging for businesses, entrepreneurship, and has a love for travel, having visited over 40 countries. Dave can be found at lesschurn.io and daveschneider.me.
Dave Schneider

Latest posts by Dave Schneider (see all)

  • Tools and Tips to Analyze your Competitors Blogs - July 26, 2017
  • Want to Become an Influencer? Start Blogging - June 21, 2017
  • How To Invite Influencers To Guest Post On Your Blog - February 23, 2016
  • 5 SMART Blogging Goals To Set - January 25, 2016

About Dave Schneider

Dave Schneider is an expert on Blogging. Dave is the cofounder of NinjaOutreach, an innovative new blogger outreach software for marketers based in Boston, Massachusetts. He writes about blogging for businesses, entrepreneurship, and has a love for travel, having visited over 40 countries. Dave can be found at lesschurn.io and daveschneider.me.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ankit Agarwal

    October 21, 2019 at 10:44 pm

    Thanx For Sharing This Information. This Is Really Helpful

  2. Ankita

    August 25, 2019 at 12:57 am

    This ideas are really helpful. Thank you for sharing it.

  3. Goyum Expeller

    October 12, 2018 at 12:36 am

    Thanks a lot Sherman

    I read complete article. Its a bit lengthy but very very useful. Information is so much important. It will help me grow traffic on my business websites.

    I have been blogging for 6 months although without any direction. But then my website is a major part of my life and something I love. Lately, I have been getting inspired by reading your posts. I still can’t bring myself to read the posts fully since I find understanding even the basic terms so tough. But I’ll keep trying. ^_^

  4. Ryan Biddulph

    August 5, 2018 at 1:17 pm

    1 blog post weekly definitely makes things pop Dave. I am up to 3 blog posts daily hehehehe ;) Simple way to serve, to connect with new readers and to rock out your blog any year, at any time. Keep creating to rise above the fear of competition. My blogging and life mantra. Rocking post buddy.

    Ryan

  5. Zubin

    March 22, 2018 at 4:40 am

    Thanks for sharing it.

  6. Hassim Adnan

    February 25, 2018 at 9:02 pm

    Thanks for this very inspiring and helpful tips, i remembered the days from almentor under fikry’s guidance.

  7. Suhesh KS

    February 19, 2018 at 8:32 am

    Small targets for Mothly will become SMART.

  8. Shaheen Kadri

    January 15, 2018 at 2:08 am

    Great post. MY brand is my top priority and then I will be moving into several other things (or working on them simultaneously). I am very excited.

  9. Asumpta

    June 26, 2017 at 11:15 am

    Thanks for this goals!they are very specific and helpful.

  10. Erin

    December 30, 2016 at 3:30 pm

    Hi Dave,
    Thanks for the goal ideas. I’m going to implement these for 2017.

  11. RPoornima

    March 22, 2016 at 5:59 pm

    Hello Dave,
    Very useful information with new ideas. “With 12 Influencers And Feature Them On Your Blog” one is really good one. Thanks

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