Want more Website Traffic? Develop a Writing Schedule.

Would you like an easy strategy that will increase your website traffic?

Awesome. I have one!

Let me tell you how I increased traffic, subscribers, and interactions on my fishing website.

I implemented a Posting Schedule, and I’ll show you what it looks like at the end of this article.

Now wait… I know what you’re thinking…

“Schedules? Rules? Seriously? How BORING. I didn’t start my own business so I could follow rules, you goober!”

(I can’t believe you called me a goober. Nice one.)

Fair enough… and you sound an awful lot like I did about 2 years ago. Schedules suck! Right? Well… kinda. Any successful businessman or woman will tell you, they’re constantly evolving. They’re constantly looking for ways to improve, ideas to test, and no matter what field you are in - things will change. Change is the only constant, actually… and if you’re not moving forward, you’re losing ground.

The world won’t wait for you.

My field didn’t change, per se, but my loosey-goosey approach to content creation did.

Why?

Because my opinion on posting schedules was wrong.

Having a Posting Schedule is actually NOT sucky. I freakin’ love it!

Let me tell you what changed my mind…

2 years ago I decided it was time to go MAX-OUTPUT on blogs. I wanted to fill my site with 300+ articles - real articles - so that the SEO gods would begin looking at me favorably. Like you, I wanted to pull some organic traffic. I might share the fancy spreadsheet full of article stats with you at some point, but let me summarize: I was trying to hit 2,000 words a day, every day, for a year.

So What’s the Problem?

Hitting 2,000 words a day is not a bad goal in itself, but my execution was garbage.

Why?

Because I was trying to hit 2,000 words just for the sake of hitting 2,000 words. I was speaking AT people, not WITH people. There was no conversation. I was trying to pump out as many blogs as possible to appeal to Google, not to humans. It was cold. It was mechanical. I was trying to aggregate links to my YouTube videos as well - instead of using videos to supplement my articles in a way that made sense - or better yet, in a way that was useful - to human readers. The platform I had selected was not meant for this kind of content… so while platform doesn’t matter when it comes to building your site, it does matter if you are trying to appeal to users that are looking for a specific type of content.

My Silly Mistake Also Gives Us Hope in the Face of AI Content Writers.

Many people have recently started to discuss AI writing all of the content on the internet.

Bot writers.

Search engines will have to combat this - to an extent, and only if they want to - but the bots will never be able to take away your unique voice. You have one, even if you haven’t discovered it yet. So, as you develop your style, as you develop your audience, as you start to interact with them, you will be developing a human connection that AI can’t replicate.

But it requires you having a conversation with them.

Like a human.

Be human.

Be aware of what is happening. Be aware of the dance between you and your visitors.

My Posting Schedule (shown below) was developed in a way that pushed me towards topics that needed more of a human touch. As a result, I started getting email like the following from readers in less than a month - after 2 years of crickets on my mechanical posts:

“Really enjoy your videos and writing! Based on what you wrote, I'm going to make the switch, so if you could pick 2 different color combos (2 heads, 2 tails), which would you pick? I'm wondering what you like for clear water or sunny days and for dirty water/cloudy days. Interested in your thoughts. Target species are panfish of course… and bonus largemouth.

Thanks for your time!

-RA

Finally… interaction… but also, something even better. People have started to ask me for my opinion on different topics. I’m still learning of course, but the way I’m writing now presents my ideas and my opinions in a certain way - a way that prompted several fishermen to ask me for my opinion as an expert.

Outstanding.

Don’t you want this as well?

You can have it.

You can also tell new visitors what to expect the very first time they visit your site. Or the 1,000th time, for that matter. Let them know they can count on you for something.

This is extremely important. If a visitor feels overwhelmed or confused when they hit your site - they’ll leave. Make an attempt to tell them what you do, what they can expect, and why they should care.

BONUS: My Posting Schedule also Removed Stress

Every day, the category is already laid out.

Monday?

Motivate people.

Tuesday?

Talk about health & wellness.

Wednesday?

Browse the archives and pull up some topic(s) from the past.

… and so on…

The only “scary” thing is running out of ideas to write about… but there is a really easy way to move beyond that fear…

We’ll talk more in the next article.

For now, just take a look at what you’re posting. How often do you create content? Does it make sense - not to you, but to your visitors?

If not… this adjustment will be the first - and possibly the best - step in the right direction.

Try it out, and let me know how it works for you.

Here’s what was put into place… see what I mean? Simple - but effective!

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EXAMPLE: The Minimalist Fisherman Posting Schedule

Articles and videos are posted on a weekly basis. Here’s what you can expect:

Monday: Weekly Fishing Motivation
An interesting concept to chew on this week while you make time to fish.

Tuesday: Fisherman Health & Wellness
Learn to take better care of yourself so you can feel better, fish better, and live better.

Wednesday: The Fishing Archives
Fishing articles and information from past to present.

Thursday: Fishing Stories
Things happen out there. Some real. Some imagined. All interesting.

Friday: Fishing Photography
An image or gallery from the field, or in the workshop.

Saturday & Sunday: Fishing Videos
Grab a coffee and relax with some videos from The Minimalist Fisherman and Stars & Bars Fishing. TMF focuses on techniques, projects & reviews while S&B focuses entirely on in-the-field adventures.

* Product reviews, bait tests and project updates are posted as they are completed.

——-

It works. Trust me.

🍻 Cheers, - AJ

Interested in working together? Sounds great!

I help website owners like you turn window shoppers & tire kickers into paying customers. I’m also a partner and Senior Design Lead at The Hauser Design Group where we focus exclusively on premium website development.