summer slump

What is it about summer that makes blog views drop? Is everyone on fabulous vacations, too busy having fun and living a real life to read blogs? Or are they consciously escaping from the internet? I approve of both of those, by the way, because I’m not just a blogger, I’m a person with a life who has to balance my virtual time with reality.

I don’t think these vacationers plan to catch up on my blog! Image: Pixabay

But from a blogger’s view, summer is the time when I hope readers will curl up with their devices and check out all the posts they might have missed. And because I’m a book blogger, I’m hoping they will read my reviews so they can decide which books to put in their beach totes.

My stats page looks a little like this right now. Image: Pixabay

Because I’m a little obsessed with views, I can’t stay away from my stats page. Views, Visitors, Likes and Comments – how can you not want to know? And how can you not be disappointed to see the numbers drop in the summer?

If you can’t stay away from the stats page, hoping your views will soar, set more realistic summertime goals. Don’t just compare to last month, or aim for an unreachable number. Are your views up from last summer? Are you getting more likes and comments than last summer?

The truth is, blog traffic depends on what you put into your blog, all year long. You can’t entirely avoid the summer slump, but you can boost your views by staying active. Don’t be a passive blogger, just posting and hoping someone will find you. Jump in to like, share and comment on blogs and on other social media sites. Twitter and Facebook are two good places to go. You can read a book about how to do it, or you can experiment and see what works for you. You have to feed that blogging machine to keep it happy and keep your views up. And you have to do something else too:

Accept that people have lives outside the internet (that’s a good thing) and that views will sink a little in the summer. Things will pick up in the fall. They always do. Remember, blogging should be fun, even if it’s linked to your professional life. Relax and accept the ups and downs.

Relax – the future is bright! Image: Pixabay

I’ve been writing about my obsession with blogging for a while now. Take a look at some of my earlier posts:

Facebook and the wayward herd 3/22/17
Aging out? 10/27/16
Back up that blog! 11/25/16

Thanks for visiting – come back soon!

Summer is here and with that comes a lag in certain types of blogging activity – viewing, commenting and sharing. Have you noticed? We bloggers may be working hard all summer, writing posts and reaching out to other readers, but, when it comes to drawing people to our sites, we just can’t compete with beaches, family time and summer schedules.

If you’ve been blogging for a few years, you may have already noticed the ups and downs on your stats page. June, July and August are my slowest months of the year and my biggest months are September, October and November. December is slower, then it picks up again in January. And it has been that way since I started.

If you’re goal-oriented and obsessed with the number of views on your blog, you may worry that people have forgotten about you.

Don’t. You can’t change what happens in the summer, so why try?

I don’t mean give up, but embrace the summer slump for what it is, a temporary slow-down. Unless you’re a professional blogger, remind yourself that this is your hobby. And people will return to your site, after their summer vacations!