Hi business-minded-mommas!

I have oh-so-exciting news!  Remember how last week I pretty much had a 100% bounce rate and my average time on page was…let me see…roughly…0 seconds?

Well guess what happened this week!  That bounce rate went down, down, down.  And the average time spent on page went up, up up!  (I mean, we’ve still got a ways to go, but hello progress!)

How did it happen?  I’ll give you a quick overview of my blog analytics, then we’ll take a look at what changed this week, why I’m suffering from a lack of a backlinking strategy, and perhaps see if we can make some conclusions…

1. First off – A quick look at some blog analytics:

I’ve still got one problem site (HGIS, you little stinker, you!)  But the rest of the sites seem to be making forward progress.  MT and BLS are the sites I spend the most time updating, and they seem to be performing the best, with bounce rates of 50-60%, and average time spent on page of 2.5-4 minutes.  Cool.

I wanted to find out last week where my very few blessed visitors were coming from.  Here’s what Analytics is telling me for MT:

• 3 visitors from: (direct)/(none)
• 2 visitors from: !.com/referral

What the heck do those even mean?

• (direct)/(none):  Well, I found this article about it.  And basically it says that Google doesn’t know where the traffic came from, so it’s an “unknown” source.  Great.  Helpful.  Read the article if you want to know more.
• !.com/referral:  Well, it seems like a “referral” is just when someone reaches your site by clicking on a link from another website (the referrer is that other website).  But who in the name of time is !.com??  According to this article – they’re a con artist!! Spam!! So probably these aren’t real peeps anyway.  Meh, and my analytics are skewed once again.  So…referrals are good.  Spam is bad.  I need some non-spam backlinking strategy in my life!!

With so few numbers of visitors, it was important for me to not have Google Analytics counting my own visits to the sites.  You can input your IP address into Google Analytics, which is what I’ve now done to stop it from counting me, myself.

Next up Action:  get some freaking real backlink referrals

• Social media backlinks
• Comment backlinks
• Directory backlinks
• Come up with a backlinking strategy!

2. What new things I’m trying out this week

I’m installing new plugins on my sites to see what their impact is in a week’s time:

• SumoMe
• W3 Total Cache
• Better Click to Tweet
• Yoast SEO
• Manual Related Posts

I’m also now set up with Google Search Console on all my live sites, with sitemaps submitted!

And I’ve entered my sites into pingomatic.com so that my new articles get indexed faster

For BLS, I’ve also followed the top 10 other websites out there with similar content (“competitor” websites), so I can see the types and frequency of emails/newsletters/posts they’re spreading out into the world!  I wonder if I can somehow get them to link to me…see?  Backlinking strategy to the rescue again – it’s a need!

3. What lessons I learned this week (including where I totally failed)

Lesson 1: A blog post of 2000 words with 5 images and two content upgrades (downloads that also collect email addresses) takes me 5 hours to complete right now.  5 hours?! Are you kidding me?  Why so long??

Action:  That process has got to become more efficient – my goal is 1.5 hours.

Lesson 2: Just because you’ve got a Facebook or a Pinterest page doesn’t mean people will see it!  I don’t have any engagement with my content yet. 

Action: More frequent posting could help?  Or following others on a daily basis? 

Lesson 3:  It’s important to have a posting rhythm (something I’m sorely lacking right now).

Action:  Put a weekly posting schedule for each live blog together, and a monthly newsletter plan, as well as a twice-daily social media posting strategy.

4. What books and articles I’ve been inspired by this week

Kindle books I’ve read through (either for the first or second time) this week that I can mightily recommend:

• • Mass Persuasion Method

• • The Sassy Way to Ranking #1 in Google with SEO When You Have No Clue!

• • The Sassy Way to Social Media Marketing When You Have No Clue!

• • The Sassy Way You Started Your Blog Now What?

• • SEO Backlinking – How to build SEO backlinks for free and rank your website on Google’s page 1

Well, that’s it for this week!  Until next week!  Happy momtepreneuring!

The post On Week 3 I’m learning I need a Backlinking Strategy appeared first on Momtepreneur.

I’m now 31 weeks pregnant, and my belly is squishing up into my lungs and ribs, making it slightly uncomfortable to breathe while lying on the couch. But this bump is an answer to prayers and an answer to birthday-candle-wishes for years – so no complaining here – this baby can go ahead and take my breath away as much as he or she wants!

I’ve been slightly discouraged the past couple of weeks – I’ve got blogs set up, trying to make a go of this online business thing – and I’m trying to figure out…how to get traffic?!

1. First off – A quick look at some blog analytics:

So what this is telling me is that I’ve got SOME sort of traffic that’s started – about 4 to 10 people are visiting each active site in the past week.  I haven’t got a clue how they’re finding the websites yet…and I don’t know how to figure that out.

Action:  Figure out how to use Google Analytics to track users better – where they’re coming from!  And then use that knowledge to get more website traffic!

My bounce rate seems to be 100% on all websites except 1.

Action:  Determine strategies to decrease bounce rate and increase time spent on page.

2. Current progress on my online business strategy

So, this week I actually wrote some strategy down!  I don’t want the strategy to be long, unwieldy, and stagnant.  So I just used lots of bullet points and quick brainstorming – points I can quickly skim on a daily and weekly basis.  I’m also focusing on creating a strategy document for each individual website (not an overall one yet…still to come).  I focused on a few key things that I’ve learned are a bit important when starting out:

1. What’s my Vision?
2. What’s my Unique Value Proposition
3. Who’s my Target Audience?
4. What’s my Elevator Pitch?
5. What’s my Mailing List Strategy?
6. What’s my Free Giveaway/Magnet/Hook?
7. Social Media Strategy
8. Monetization Strategy
9. Content Style Strategy
10. Content Ideas Strategy

I actually used BuzzSumo to do most of my research this week, combined with good ol’ fashioned googling of competitor websites to try and figure out what’s working best in terms of content styles, social media sites, and monetization.

3. What new things I’m trying out this week

• Using BuzzSumo for researching competitors, content, and social media strategies
• Using Buffer to schedule posts on Facebook
• Set up Pinterest and Facebook social media accounts for a couple of websites
• Installed new plugins (Layered Popups and Paralax Gravity) for setting up content upgrades on a couple websites

4. What lessons I learned this week (including where I totally failed)

Lesson 1: Use content upgrades to totally enhance user experience!  I think it’s totally worth it to add content upgrades (basically downloadable documents) to blog posts, in order to provide more value to visitors.  But I also learned that a simple content upgrade can take me over 2 hours to set up once my blog content is ready to go and once the upgrade is created as well.  2 hours of just fiddling with setup!  Action:  I’ve GOT to make that an efficient process! (20 minutes tops)

Lesson 2: Social media posting and shares is crucial to blog traffic and ranking in Google.  Ugh, I’m not a Facebook person!!  I’m the friend who goes on Facebook once every two months.  But from everything I’ve read – I’ve got to engage!  I’ve got to be present online in social media forums.  And not just on an adhoc basis – consistently!  So…Buffer free version it is for now, and probably pretty soon I’ll be upgrading…

Lesson 3:  Trying to write blog articles while on holiday has proven difficult; nay, impossible.  I’ve got to learn how to get into a rhythm so that I can write articles even when life is not routine! I’ve been on holiday the last two weeks, and I’ve done a bit of reading and journaling, but not much quality time with my laptop.  If I’m going to be a stay-at-home-mom, I’ve got to figure out how to knock out regular content in the midst of not working.  Work brings order and routine to my life – so I can fit in blogging around it.  But un-scheduled life??  I’m overwhelmed with the free time and how to structure my day so I can still accomplish a bit of writing!

Lesson 4: I’m freaked out by talking to people online!  Books I’m reading about website-building – they’re telling me to email website authors and ask to guest-post.  I’m supposed to engage with people on forums and Facebook groups.  I’m told to email other niche website authors to offer them some helpful content.  Oh man, it means I’ve got to be a salesperson!!  Put me on stage, I can do public speaking.  Put me in a meeting, I can talk it up.  But email to sell myself??  It scares me to pieces!!  I’ve got to take the plunge – I’m scared of being laughed at, of rejection, of not being good enough.  Whooo. Not sure how I’m going to overcome this one.  Right now, I’m procrastinating because I don’t have enough content on my websites, haven’t yet found my “voice”, and am truly not ready for anyone to discover me online yet – but sooner or later, the time will come that I’ve got to get out there!  So between now and then is confidence-building time!!

Lesson 5: Use 5 blog images or more.  This one’s gonna eat my time up – I’m not a graphic designer (even though I love trying to learn new things with Photoshop and Illustrator).  But lo and behold – folks love pictures and infographics!  So…one more action to add to the list…Action:  Create efficient process for creating relevant, snazzy blog images fast.

5. What books and articles I’ve been inspired by this week

Blog articles I’ve been inspired by this week:

• https://coschedule.com/blog/non-designers-blog-graphics-guide/

Kindle books I’ve read through this week/month as I’ve gotten started with my website portfolio:

• The Sassy Way: You Started your Blog…Now What?

• The Sassy Way to Ranking #1 in Google with SEO When You Have No Clue!

• SEO Backlinking – How to build SEO backlinks for free and rank your website on Google’s page 1

• Your Move – The Underdog’s Guide to Building Your Business

Well, that’s it for this week!  Until next week!  Happy momtepreneuring!

The post Get More Website Traffic and Develop an Online Business Strategy! Momtepreneur Weekly Journal #2 appeared first on Momtepreneur.

Today is the first day of my third trimester, and I am heading like a steam engine towards giving birth to my very first baby and being officially jobless!

I would love to be my own boss, to be responsible for my own actions, my own work, my own income.  However, I have no clue how to start the momentum – how do you actually go from making $0 on your own to making $1.  That seems to be my biggest hurdle right now.  And I think it’s all mental.  It’s just a hurdle I’ve got to get over in my mind.  You know what it is?  I’m scared to get out there and say – “Hey, yeah, you!  I’m selling myself!  Don’t you want to buy what I’m offering?”  I’m not afraid to do the work.  I’m not afraid to do the research, write the content, create the products.  I’m afraid to actually tell anybody about it and sell it!  I’m to ask for or set up backlinks because I’m afraid people won’t like what they’ll see.  Maybe they’ll think I’m a fraud.

So, that’s where my mind is at today.  I’ve invested in my soon-to-be momtepreneur business – I’ve sunk money and time into it – and now…I’ve got to deliver the goods – make my first $1.  Prove to myself I can do it.

This is my very first journal entry of my new business venture.  I will be making weekly journal entries to keep you up to date on:

1. What strategies I’m using to make money online
2. Current progress on my strategy
3. What new things I’m trying out this week
4. What lessons I learned this week (including where I totally failed)
5. What books and/or blogs I’ve been inspired by this week

The last weekly journal of each month (which means this post for this month!), I’ll also be giving you a monthly “situation report”, including an updated finance report, that shows extreme transparency in how I’m spending my money and how I’m making money (if at all).

My inspiration for this is Pat Flynn’s blog Smart Passive Income.  However, I always get both a little inspired as well as a little depressed when I see his monthly income sheet – as he’s already “made it”.  My income sheet?  It’s in the red.  Not the black.  Because I’m just starting out.  So, I want this to be used to inspire you!!  If I can start from negative income, then so can you!

Alright, here goes.

1. What strategies I’m using to make money online

So, I read a book called “How to Make Money Online” by Mike Omar.  It’s a bit outdated now, written back in 2013.  However, I thought it gave some pretty great step-by-step instructions on doing keyword research and setting up a portfolio of websites.  His theory is that you can never really guarantee if one niche website is going to do well or not.  However, if you make a portfolio of websites, say 10 websites at a time, and market them all, then some will do better than others, so you continue to put your time and attention into the ones doing the best.  And the income you make from the top-performers will far outweigh your poorer-performing websites.  And overall your portfolio will set you up for making some nice passive income.

So, while I’m not sure I’ll be using all his backlinking strategies yet (maybe I will, just not there yet, and don’t know how many are still relevant in 2017), I thought his approach to having a “portfolio” of websites was excellent.  So that’s where I’ve started.

My primary goal right now is to get 10-14 websites up and running, with a minimum of 10-20 articles on each website.

2. Current progress on my strategy

• I’ve purchased a total of 14 website domains, with hosting and domain privacy from Bluehost.com (I’ve been using Bluehost since 2013, so I’m happy to continue using them for now)
• I’ve got 6 of those websites “live”, with at least 1 article on each of those 6.
• I’ve hooked each website up to Google Analytics for tracking visitors/activity.  I’ve also hooked them up to MailChimp so that I can start collecting mailing addresses as soon as visitors start coming!
• I’ve done keyword research for 11 of the websites, and have laid out article plans for them.
• I’ve got a plan in place to have all websites live and at least 5-10 articles on each by the time Baby is due.
• And pretty much, haven’t had a single visitor to my newly-live websites yet this month

3. What new things I’m trying out this week

So, essentially this week I’m learning how to create content.  As each of my blogs/websites go live, I’m learning how to do article research, how to write articles, how to create images for the articles, and how to create “content upgrades” for each article.  It’s a time-consuming process!  I feel like I’m learning a lot about different pieces of software, first of all.  And that’s been pretty time-consuming.  However, I’m also learning how to create my “voice”.  What is my writing style?  How do I ensure the content I create is useful for my eventual readers?  It’s a bit of learning curve.

4. What lessons I learned this week (including where I totally failed)

Lesson 1: Visitors don’t come as soon as you publish an article on a brand new website!!  So, what I’m trying to figure out now is how do I get some natural visitors to my site.  Social media?  That’s all I can think of right now…so I’ll be trying that out this week.  But basically, I’ve had three websites go live this week, and not a single outside visitor yet.  That’s because I am scared (and refuse) to post to my personal Facebook page to tell my friends.  So…gotta come up with alternate ways to find the “tribes” for each of my websites.

Lesson 2:  I write really long articles.  And I have no idea if they are actually too long, i.e., will I “lose” people with content that’s too long?  Plus it take s a super long time to write the darn things.  So yes, I’m still trying to work out my writing style, with length and time to write as core pieces of that figuring out.

Lesson 3:  It is difficult to incorporate keyword research properly into articles.  The whole area of SEO is still a mystery to me, even after reading a few books on it.  I don’t see how it works yet.  But I also think that’s because I still have no domain authority because my websites are brand new (and I only have 1-2 articles on each!).  So I’m also scared to reach out to others to promote my newly-keyword-optimized articles.

Lesson 4:  I still have a long ways to go on creating an efficient “article-creation process”.  With writing the content, optimizing for SEO, creating the blog images, creating a content upgrade – the whole process takes me forever right now!  I’ve got a feeling I need to learn how to “batch” these processes to make them more efficient.  So I’ll be working on process efficiency in the coming weeks as I get better at this!

5. What books and blogs I’ve been inspired by this week

Blogs I’ve been helped out by this week:

• http://designyourownblog.com/
• http://www.andpossiblydinosaurs.com/

Kindle books I’ve read through this week/month as I’ve gotten started with my website portfolio:

• The Sassy Way to Social Media Marketing When You Have No Clue!
• The Sassy Way to Kindle Bestseller Publishing When You Have No Clue!
• How to Write Great Website Content in 2017
• Effortless Article Writing
• Money on Demand

6. And finally, my financial report for this month (although it actually includes everything spent in both May and June, as I didn’t produce a May report):

Well, that’s it for this week!  Until next week!  Happy momtepreneuring!

The post Becoming a Momtepreneur from Scratch! Weekly Journal #1 and Monthly Finance Report appeared first on Momtepreneur.