You may have noticed that I’m publishing fewer posts than usual and be wondering why. Let me reassure you that everything is well with me. I would like to thank those who contacted me out of concern.
The main reason I am publishing fewer posts is to ascertain whether it affects the stats. So far this year, I’ve published seven posts (eight, if you include this one) and have had just under 9,500 views.
This time last year, I had published 20 posts and had 7,500 views.
So, publishing fewer posts is affecting my stats, but probably not in the way some of you would have thought.
Here is your opportunity to catch up on my three blog posts published in February 2025.
Discover the exciting possibilities of BlueSky for enhancing your WordPress blog! Connect easily, share your posts, and engage with a growing community of users.
An ‘About’ page is essential for bloggers, promoting connection, credibility, and engagement with readers through personal insights and mission statements. This post outlines the key elements of what information to include.
Hugh’s Views and News is at the heart of fascinating conversations and engagement. Have you participated in the debates and discussions? If not, why not join in and share your thoughts with us?
Since BlueSky is new and (at the time of this post) has over 30 million users, it’s an exciting opportunity for WordPress bloggers to enhance their posts by adding a BlueSky sharing button at the end of their posts!
Let me empower your blog by showing you how to connect it to BlueSky. Many blogs have yet to embrace this fantastic feature (and it’s not only BlueSky that you can connect to your blog).
On the dashboard of your blog, go to Tools – Marketing.
On the Marketing and Integrations page, click on the Sharing Buttons icon.
click the Sharing Buttons icon.
Click on the Edit sharing buttons icon.
Click the Edit Sharing Buttons icon.
In the Edit visible buttons box, click on the BlueSky sharing button. If you do not already have it as a sharing button, it will be ghosted out.
Select the BlueSky sharing button.
Click the Save Changes button.
The BlueSky sharing button will now appear on your blog posts.
Visitors can now share your posts with BlueSky.
Click the Reorder button to rearrange the order of the sharing buttons on your blog posts. To do so, click on one of them and drag the button to where you want it to sit.
Click the Save Changes button.
How To Connect Your BlueSky Account To Your WordPress Blog
On the dashboard on your blog, go to Tools – Marketing.
On the Marketing and Integrations page, click on the Connections icon.
Click the Connections icon.
In the Share posts with Jetpack social box, look for BlueSky and click the connect button.
Click the BlueSky connect button.
Add your BlueSky Handle and BlueSky app password in the boxes and click the Connectaccount button.
Add your BlueSky details.
You’ll be asked to confirm your BlueSky account by clicking another Connect button.
Confirm your BlueSky account.
Your BlueSky account is now connected to your WordPress blog. WordPress will share your posts directly with your BlueSky account whenever you publish a new post.
Remember to connect other social media accounts to your WordPress blog by following the same instructions.
Are you on BlueSky? I’d love to connect! Please share your BlueSky details in the comments so I can follow you. If you have questions about BlueSky, adding a sharing button, or linking your BlueSky account to your blog, feel free to drop them in the comments section—I’m here to help!
You may have noticed that I published fewer posts than I usually do this month and wondered why. I wanted to see if this affected the number of views my blog gets. And guess what? It did.
However, you would be mistaken if you think my blog received fewer views due to the reduction in the number of published posts. Perhaps a discussion for another day as to why?
I’ll just mention that you don’t need to burden yourself with the notion that you must publish blog posts every day to achieve good viewing figures. Overdoing it only results in blogging burnout and, ultimately, the abandonment of your blog.
In the meantime, here is your opportunity to catch up on my three blog posts published in January 2025.
Have you set any New Year’s resolutions? This is what you should do with them.
Social media can significantly enhance blog traffic, but managing an excessive number of platforms can reduce effectiveness. Discover how I transformed social media into a success for both myself and my blog.
Would you like to participate in a vibrant online programme that encourages interaction among authors, bloggers, writers, and readers? This post offers comprehensive details and an invitation to join.
Hugh’s Views and News is at the heart of fascinating conversations and engagement. Have you participated in the debates and discussions? If not, why not join in and share your thoughts with us?
Comments are closed here. Please leave any new comments on the original posts.
Social media is a powerful tool. When used correctly, it can connect us with thousands of individuals and bring visitors to our blogs, resulting in new followers and connections.
However, social media is a ravenous beast. Before you realise it, it’ll consume all your time while scattering you far and wide without delivering results. It’ll take everything from you and give little back.
One of the first pieces of advice I received from another blogger was to join as many social media platforms as possible to attract visitors. It turned out to be one of the worst pieces of advice I followed, as it wasn’t long before I found myself spending too much time on numerous platforms.
I realised that spreading myself too thinly on social media was not the solution, so I reduced the number of accounts I managed. This freed up significant time, allowing me to engage more on those platforms. Before long, I noticed increased visitors coming to my blog from various social media sites. Social media was finally paying me back for the time I was investing in it.
Since starting my blog in 2014, I’ve tried most social media platforms. Today, I will discuss five of them and explain why they have worked or not for me.
I joined BlueSky in November 2024. It’s one of the new kids on the block. When this post was written, it had gone past the 27 million milestone of the number of users. That number is rising fast.
Not only have I found BlueSky a friendly place to engage with other users, but it’s simple to use, running a similar platform to X. Like any social media platform, the more you engage with other BlueSky users, the better the results.
I’ll write more about BlueSky in an upcoming post, but early indications are that it’s a rising social media platform that all authors, writers and bloggers should seriously consider joining.
I’ve also found a lot of photographers on BlueSky. If you have a photography blog or host a photography challenge, ensure you join BlueSky.
Don’t forget to add the BlueSky sharing button to the sharing buttons on your blog posts so visitors can share your posts to BlueSky.
I joined Flipboard in 2019. It has brought incredible amounts of traffic to my blog and has an excellent customer service team that reaches out whenever problems occur.
Users add information to magazines, so, as in blogging, setting up categories is essential. My most popular magazines are Blogging Tips, Entertaining (short) Stories You’ll Enjoy, LGBTQI, and Writing Tips.
Mastodon is a big part of the Fediverse, which WordPress promotes heavily. The Fediverse is a global, open social network of independent servers that communicate with each other using a common protocol.
Users create posts in much the same way as on X and BlueSky. Posts appear on the timelines of those who follow the person who created and published the post, but other users can also see them.
I’ve had a steady flow of traffic from Mastodon to my blog, although out of the three social media accounts I use, it’s the one I use the least.
X/Twitter
After 14 years, I deleted my X account on December 31st, 2024, for reasons I won’t go into. This means that I will no longer share my blog posts or other bloggers’ posts on X.
Given that I had over nine thousand followers on X, I hope those who followed me there will now follow me on BlueSky. Some already have, but given that this post is my first mention of joining BlueSky, many will not know I am now active there.
I recently gave Instagram another chance. I did my best to boost engagement, but I struggled significantly. While some people interacted with my posts, it was difficult to stand out amidst all the self-promotion on the platform.
There is nothing wrong with self-promoting your own books and blogs, but I find it too overwhelming when it’s every post. I only saw a little of others promoting the posts of others.
Maybe I was following the wrong accounts?
Instagram wasn’t for me. I deleted my account in December 2024.
Avoid following the accounts of those who only promote their own work and who give nothing back to others.
Other Social Media Platforms
There are many other social media platforms that I have not mentioned, and other bloggers, writers, and authors use them successfully. But how?
I would love to know which social media platforms you use and which ones have been the most successful. In the comments section, feel free to share which platforms you use and your username so that anyone reading the comments can follow and connect with you.
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Hugh’s Views and News is at the heart of great conversations and engagement. Did you join the debates and conversations? If not, why not jump in and let us know what you think?
Comments are closed here. Please leave any new comments on the original posts.
Here’s your chance to catch up on my five blog posts published in November 2024.
Hugh’s Views and News is at the heart of great conversations and engagement. Did you join the debates and conversations? If not, why not jump in and let us know what you think?
Question: What was the last thing that lit up your life?
Do you have a successful blog? Are you a blogger engager or a comment spammer? These are just two questions I am asking in this milestone post. But what blogging milestone am I celebrating?
This is post number one hundred and four this year. It was meant to be my one-hundredth post, but life got in the way (I’m not going to bore you with the details), and my Wordless Wednesday post from a few weeks ago earned the honour of being post number 100.
When you think about it, one hundred and four posts in ten mouths seem like an awful lot. Am I overwhelming readers with too many posts, or do you want more? I’m averaging nine monthly posts, which appears to have become a good balance.
If you asked me, ‘Am I publishing too many posts?’ I’d respond, ‘Do what feels best for you.’ However, we should never forget our audience, so there’s no harm in reaching out and asking. Without you (my audience) reading these posts and engaging with me, this blog would be like arriving on a barren planet. And nobody wants that.
I’d be interested to know how many posts you have published in 2024 and if you’re happy with that number. Let me know in the comments.
Let’s discuss other blogging topics
Did you see my recent post about whole blog posts being shown in emails? No? It’s titled ‘WordPress: Excerpts Are Working Again!‘ It’s worth reading if you only want an excerpt of your posts to show in email notifications and want visitors to visit your blog to read them. Reading posts by visiting a blog is a much better experience than reading them by email, especially since some blocks do not appear in emails, making posts look odd and broken.
There are many reasons to encourage visitors to visit your blog, one of which is that they are more likely to engage with you if they are on your blog (rather than reading from an email). Furthermore, visitors can explore your blog, catch up on posts they have not read, and check any links. This brings me nicely to the subject of engagement.
Are you engaging or comment spamming?
As regular visitors to my blog know, I am passionate about engagement in the blogging world. Recently, I came across an alarming article stating that engagement has decreased to an all-time low in blogging. How sad is that? However, when you look at some blogs with low engagement or, conversely, blogs with numerous non-engaging comments, it is evident that this is happening.
Here’s an example. I recently discovered a writing challenge blog and wanted to get involved. But when I checked out some of the comments left, I knew that participating would not be worthwhile. With lots of non-engaging comments such as ‘Nice one’ and ‘great attempt” being left on stories, nobody wanted to engage with one another. It was a barren planet. I left with a heavy heart.
When I publish a post, it’s the engagement I crave. So when I publish a short story or piece of flash fiction, I look for feedback beyond being told it was a great story. Engaging feedback is critical for all of us to improve our writing.
Do you agree? Do engaging comments help to improve your writing?
Take action if you want engagement
This may seem like a shock-horror move, but I’m now marking comments such as ‘nice’ and ‘beautiful post’ as spam. Leaving short comments all over the blogging world is like leaving spam everywhere. We all know how spam can cause frustration and diminish the enjoyment of blogging.
One main reason readers do not leave engaging comments is a lack of time. However, many who offer that excuse leave non-engaging comments everywhere. They spend the time they could have used to leave an engaging comment, posting numerous non-engaging comments everywhere. The flash fiction challenge I mentioned earlier seems to confirm this.
Some bloggers believe that nobody will leave comments on their blogs if they don’t comment, so they leave short, non-engaging comments everywhere. Honestly, that’s a crazy thought.
Before I finish discussing engagement, I want to reassure everyone that they should not feel obliged to leave comments on any of my posts. I won’t be upset if you don’t comment, but I will mark comments as spam if they are those pesky, non-engagement comments I mentioned. One engaging comment every once in a while is worth a thousand non-engaging comments.
I don’t know about you, but it makes all the difference if somebody wants to engage with me and does so in a way that proves they’ve read the post and are interested. Do you agree?
Please preview your posts before publishing them!
Did you know you can preview your posts before publishing them? It seems that some bloggers do not know they can do this. From seeing upside-down images to posts with a terrible and hard-to-read layout, there is no excuse for anyone not to preview their posts before publishing them. It’s so simple to do.
Before publishing a post, click the little ‘laptop computer’ symbol at the top right of the page on which you are drafting the post. You will be able to see a preview of your post as it will look on a desktop computer, tablet, and mobile phone. Plus, and this is fantastic news, WordPress has now moved the ‘preview email’ option to the same menu for how your post will look in an email.
Always preview your posts and WordPress notification emails before publishing them.
Thank you for making that option more accessible to find, WordPress.
There is no excuse for sloppiness in ensuring your posts and WordPress notification emails are at their best for your audience.
Finally, how are your blogging stats performing?
I’m delighted that my blogging statistics have rocketed this year. I’ve surpassed last year’s total number of visitors and views to my blog. But to make things even better, 2024 is on track to be my best year ever (in the ten years I’ve blogged) in terms of viewing statistics and engagement. I believe this disproves those who tell you that you must publish posts every day for your blog to be successful. You don’t need to force yourself to blog every day.
A blog’s success depends not on how often it publishes posts but on the quality of those posts.
Thank you to everyone who visits my blog, reads my posts, and engages with me. Without you, Hugh’s Views and News would never have reignited my passion for writing and engaging with others.
How are your blogging stats this year? Tell me in the comments section.
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Here’s your chance to catch up on the nine blog posts published in October 2024.
Hugh’s Views and News is at the heart of great conversations and engagement. Did you join the debates and conversations? If not, why not jump in and let us know what you think?
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Do you use excerpts in your WordPress blog posts? If so, there has been an ongoing issue with them that has now been fixed. However, for the fix to work, you must take action. Read on for more details.
Here’s your chance to catch up on the nine blog posts published in September 2024. Hugh’s Views and News is at the heart of great conversations, discussions and engagement. Did you join the debates and conversations? If not, why not jump in and let us know what you think!
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Hugh's Views & News 