Hi! It’s been over a week, which to me feels like a long time to go between blog posts. I wanted to write about my recent feelings about the blogosphere. But first…
Go ahead and follow CrystalAuraGaze on Twitter for daily horoscopes and tarot messages!
I saw a boom in stats back in 2019 when I first switched my blog to premium — WordPress boosts your blog when you pay for the upgrade. And then I saw a HUGE boom in 2020. This was followed by a smaller, but still impressive increase in 2021. And then the next year came, and suddenly stats went flat. And then downward. I wondered, is it me?
After doing some “research” into this and speaking to other bloggers, I realized that I was not the only one. Most bloggers have concluded that it was the pandemic that made blogs so successful. With everyone in lockdown, most working from home, blogging was booming. And with the slow return to “normal,” blog views are dying out again. No one has the time — or the patience.
It is honestly frustrating to see a lack of growth at this point. I’ve realized that I am not going to get the reach I am hoping for this way. All I’m asking for is enough to monetize, not for a living, but even for some spare change — even if I am still spending more money to run this blog than I am earning back. I am not going to be pretentious and pretend that money has nothing to do with it because it does.
But it’s definitely not the only factor. Outreach in general feels really good. I see some bloggers out there who are succeeding and have a huge personal community built — how do you do it? Please let me know. What is your secret? I know that I am not the best at keeping up with other people’s blogs, maybe that’s my problem.
However, however, however, I have a lot of family who support my blog and I’m so thankful for that. I have also made so many friends through here who I’ve met online because of my blog. I am so thankful for all of the people I’ve met through here. And because of that, I will never stop blogging! And I just love to write — especially lengthy rants like this!
I just think that I need to refocus my energy. And that brings me back to my new Twitter account — I’ve turned to this platform because it has an amazing outreach. Unlike Instagram which is far more based on photography/pictures and also flooded with scammers, Twitter is based on writing. And most people today do not want to read more than 100 words at a time. It’s kind of sad, but you kind of have to roll with it. I thought this would be a great way to write daily horoscopes and tarot messages. I will still try to do monthly horoscopes here.
I don’t know, and again I’m really just venting nonsense at this point, but maybe I am a little burnt out from blogging. I feel guilty for not supporting other people’s blogs the way I want people to support mine. But I’m also not going to force myself to spam random blogs with inauthentic comments and praise. I may need to take a step back until the spark returns. And maybe that will be tomorrow, or next week, or next month, who knows.
Anyway, I started my new job last week and so far it’s been fantastic. I have a lot to learn still and I’m sure it’ll be a while until I fully know what I’m doing, but it’s awesome and I’m so thankful for how everything worked out. 😊
Crystal Aura Gaze 
I was literally talking about the lack of traffic on WP this past week. It’s not just you. It used to be good and then things died down a few months ago. Things never did get better. Another blogger said it happened right after a WP update in 2022. My follower count hasn’t budged at all in half a year which is so frustrating. I too have a Premium Plan but I don’t plan on renewing it in November. I’m thinking about either switching to the Personal Plan (they brought it back apparently) or go self-hosted. It comes down to how much time I’m willing to invest in learning something new.
Now I’m going to go back and read the rest of your blog post. I jumped straight to the comments! It’s practically muscle memory now 😂
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Literally talking about this with another blogger* this past week. And I meant to say April 2022 (sorry for the typos)
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Okay glad it’s not just me!!! It’s absolutely nuts that lockdown brought so much success for bloggers… and now that’s going away. People are back to their busy lives! And what you said also makes me wonder if WP has something to do with it. I’m not sure if they are even promoting sites in search engines the way they used it. It is frustrating! Not that I’m going to ever stop, but maybe slow down, I’m not sure.
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Glad things are going well with your new, and so far not giving up on blogging.
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Thanks, definitely not giving up on blogging 😊
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I do agree with you that the COVID-19 lockdowns did give blogging a boost. With nowhere to turn to, most people around the world returned to blogging. Those who had blogs started posting again after hiatuses that lasted months, if not years. (Though, I can’t say if the plans did affect anything as I’ve been on a Free plan for 9 years now.)
Well, if there’s any secret — I’d say it’s patience. See, I’m not exactly a bigtime blogger with just less than 900 followers and less than 100k views in 9 years’ time. I actually spend more than what I earn from this blog. But what makes me happy is that legitimate bloggers of quality engage every time I publish something. You know, it recently sank unto me that this engagement is what the spam bloggers envy; that’s why they abuse the Like function in a bid to gain my attention!
And you’re right: There’s no need to spam random blogs with “inauthentic comments.” Just to add: Don’t pressure yourself into churning out more content every day. Tying in with patience, I could say my longevity stems from the fact that I simply publish once a week. That once-a-week habit essentially becomes one month, then six, then one year until you’ll realize how far you’ve gone and how many you’ve published. 🙂
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Thank you, I really needed to hear this! I appreciate genuine comments and personal thoughts. My own satisfaction is really what keeps me going at the end of the day. It’s not right that I feel guilty after one week without posting… that’s really not long at all. It’s bringing burnout. This site has brought me to many amazing friends!
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happy to that you’re enjoying your new job! it’s totally okay to take breaks, burn outs are no fun. hope it’ll get better for u!!
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thanks so much!!! 🙂
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