July Self-Reflection.
So it's been another week since I've posted. I haven't been this inconsistent with my blog...ever? I did take a week off once around the end of October, but that's it.
I have to say that it's thrown me off a bit. I'm so used to doing so much on my blog, that I feel a little bit out of the blogging loop! I'm behind on reading posts, and interacting with all of you who I call my "blogger friends".
I was actually talking about it with my sister this weekend. We were on the train into the city, and I was telling her that I didn't really know what direction to take my blog in. I really like writing personal posts, and I also enjoy writing about products I don't like or really like. I sometimes feel like my blog isn't growing the way I want it to? Since I've changed my URL, my views have gone down extremely, and the amount of engagement I get has also gone down. It's a bit disheartening to see all the work that I've put in the last year and a half, basically has gone down to it's starting point.
In June, I already knew it wasn't going to be a great month of stats, and I decided to take it as moment to step back, not take blogging too seriously, and just enjoy writing and reading other blogs without feeling the pressure of blogging.
I have to say that those two days of not posting might have not seemed like much, but I technically had two long weekends of not really writing anything. I was just enjoying my life, and getting the creative juices flowing. I do have a few posts planned, and I'm excited to share them with you. I'M BACK BABY! While some of you have might not even noticed I've been gone, I appreciate those of you who have mentioned that they missed my consistent posting.
If there's anything specific you want me to post or talk about, don't hesitate to leave a comment down below or send me an email/contact form! As always, I hope you guys have a wonderful day/night. Thank you for all your love and support. Sending you love, strength, and positive vibes.
-Melina xx
Love and support always <3
Love you bby girl, thank you for the constant stream of love and support. Means the world to me xxx
I always think that when you get stuck with anything you should always take a break and come back to it, fresh eyes are a blessing! I think it's great that you're changing your blog direction and doing it for yourself, that's the whole point of blogging in the first place. We write what we love š love this Melina xxx
You are so right, fresh eyes are a blessing! I've come back to blogging with a renewed sense of happiness. Like you said we started blogging because we love writing. There something we want to say and share with others. I've definitely let go of that pressure, so I'm extremely happy to just be doing me! Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts love ! xx
Hey again! I totally understand where you were coming from, I wasn't blogging much for a really long time myself and questioned its place in my life. Sometimes we need to be off to figure it out. I know it seems disappointing about stats but it seems like it's only temporary and one of those things that goes away after a while once your new blog name is established or has been around longer. I love that you write from the heart and love when you do your reviews. I would love to see an empties post sometime too- I'm always interested to see what people use up which you're probably not surprised about haha. Glad to see you writing again!
XX Jen
Hey Jen, You are totally right, I'm feeling much better now about getting back into writing again. I missed all of you guys! After seeing all your empties posts, I was thinking of trying one for the month of august into September! I'm definitely curious to see how much I use up in a month! Thanks for reading and commenting š x
Yay that makes me excited!! Iāll be on the lookout for that post if you do it!!
When I changed my URL to a self hosted domain my views also dropped sharply. I guess most of my traffic was coming from the wordpress reader so without my posts showing up there I need to work more to get my content seen. I'm still trying to recover those stats six months later, but I'm also trying not to fret about it too much.
I'm looking forward to see what posts you have planned for your blog coming up!
Okay, I'm glad I'm not the only one who struggled with this. It's only been 3 months, but it's bothered me a little bit. I didn't know if there was something wrong with me and my blog!
Thanks so much for reading and commenting Cleia š xx
It's so frustrating! I'm having to do some serious work to optimize all my SEO and bump up my DA score, there are so many things I didn't know I would have to do once I went self hosted. What I did to up my wordpress reader views was keep my old alwayscleia.wordpress account and now I reblog all my posts from my selfhosted account on there. Now they at least show up in the reader, and I can migrate follows over to the new blog. It's kind of a clunky workaround but it's the best I've come up with :S
Blogging and stats definitely have their ups and downs. Sometimes it's good to take a step back, just enjoy life and relax, get the creative juices flowing back again by just, doing other things and not thinking about blogging. I know I need to do that more often and it's so important - it helps us enjoy ourselves better when we come back for sure. I'm glad that you're feeling a bit better now and inspired to write blog posts again, I can't wait to read them all <3 <3 Take care of yourself, Melina! xx
While I felt a bit guilty about leaving my blog, I do feel much better, and I honestly missed it! Thank you so much for reading and your thoughtful comment Marie xx
I've noticed people on Twitter, talking about their stats being low right now. I think blogging is so up and down. I'd say just keep going, and people will soon get use to your new name. It might help if you're able to change your username on twitter and social media as your full name.
I did miss seeing your posts. I scrolled through my Reader and I actually clicked on your name a couple of days ago, because I was worried that your posts were not showing. It's great to see you back and you have been missed! xxx
lmfaoo, you're so cute! I'm glad to hear you've missed me! I actually missed blogging and reading your blog posts (even though I'm all caught up now š ) I'm glad to be back love xx
You're not actually allowed to stop blogging again. You'll catch blogtitus (a dangerous diesease I've just made up) and then I'll miss you š xx
Lmfaooo, okay okay deal! Iām back and my creativity levels are back at full capacity š
It's good to take a step back and evaluate things every so often - and sometimes you just need to take a break and think about where you are heading...
That's exactly what I needed, because I'm feeling much better about my blog now š Thanks for reading and commenting Kate! x