Many websites and blogs struggle with decreasing page views over the summer months. There are several reasons for this, but the main reason is that people are spending less time on the Internet and more time outdoors, on vacation or with family.
It can be frustrating to watch your business drop off over the summer months, but you can do certain things to combat the drop off.
Change Your Content
One way that you continue to attract readers is to change your content so that it is seasonal. This applies to all sorts of topics, that you may not think go through seasonal topics. For example if you have a blog on budgeting start talking about summer expenses and budgeting for vacations. Another example is if you are writing about retirement you may want to write about purchasing a second home or retirement vacation home as a summer relevant topic. It makes sense to start to introduce the new season’s content about a month early. Also leave a few blog posts open each month to dedicated to current events or news stories that are related to your niche topic or blog. This can really attract readers, and search engines are looking for fresh content.
Start Emailing Newsletters
Another way to increase hits to your website is to email out a monthly or weekly newsletter promoting the new content on your site. This frequency of your newsletter should correspond to how often you are updating. If you are adding several articles a week, you can justify a weekly newsletter, but if you are only adding four articles a month, then you should only send it out once a month. Highlight the topics that match the current season and interest of your readers with links back to your site. You can collect emails by offering a contest that also has the reader sign up for a newsletter.
Keep Posting Content
One reason many readers lose interest is that the content becomes stagnant. Although it may be tempting to recycle old blog posts for the summer topics, especially when you are vacation, it is best to avoid doing this. You can have guest posters fill in for you when you are gone. You can also create opportunities for your readers to share your posts with others through Pinterest and other social media sites. Take advantage of the ability to schedule your blog posts in advance.
Offer Summer Sales and Promotions
If you use your blog as a promotion tool for services you offer online or products, then take the time to offer sales over the summer. This is a great way to drum up business during a slower time. You may also consider expanding your product line to include summer specialty items. If you offer a service such as editing or writing, you may offer a ten percent discount on advance or bulk orders. It is also a great way to raise extra money to cover your summer vacation and other expenses.
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