5 Ideas for Managing your Blog During Summer

If you’ve been blogging for at least a year, then you’ve probably noticed that blogging has high and low seasons. Fall tends to boom but traffic fades as Christmas approaches. Page views pick up again in January, but by May, you start to see the summer slide off.

Summer is particularly hard to keep up page views and engagement because people are off doing fun things rather than sitting at the computer. So, what should we do?

I say, embrace it! No use worrying about what you can’t control. Plus, if all your readers are off enjoying life, then perhaps you should too!

Of course, enjoying your summer doesn’t mean abandoning your blog (we can have a blog and a life too!), but it requires a different approach to managing your blog during summer.

Different bloggers approach summer in different ways, so today I am going to share some ideas for you to consider.

1. Take a month off.

Summer is the ideal time to take an extended break. I recommend a month because it’s long enough to feel refreshed but not so long that you lose traction.

You can define for yourself what “a month off” looks like. Last year, my month off looked like 0 blog posts, 1 newsletter, and an occasional social media post when I thought of something great to share. Other bloggers prefer to just take a writing break but continue their social media presence.

*If you decide to take a break, I highly recommend keeping your Pinterest account moving. You can easily set up a month worth of great content by using Tailwind. Make sure you schedule your own content and content from other bloggers. This will keep Pinterest happy so it continues bringing you traffic even while you are off enjoying the sunshine.

2. Cut back.

Maybe a month off feels too scary for you right now. Or maybe blogging feeds your soul and you don’t need a break. If that’s you, then plan to at least cut back.

If you usually post twice a week, post once a week. Already post once a week? Try every other week. Give yourself more time to read, journal, and come up with new ideas.

Even if you don’t feel like you need a break, I believe we all need seasons to move slower. You may be surprised at the rest you didn’t know you needed.

3. Collaborate.

Since summer effects everyone about the same, it’s a great time to collaborate with other bloggers. You can take turns sharing each other’s posts on your websites or  collaborate on a series that gets cross-shared.

Collaboration is a win-win for all involved. It keeps a steady amount of new content on your blog without requiring you to create all the content.

4. Collect guest posts.

Another way to maintain steady content while taking a break, is to collect guest posts. I recommend asking for guest posts a couple months before you need them. This way, you can get the posts set up and scheduled before officially going on break.

5. Work on a big project.

Summer is a great time for behind the scenes work. Since your traffic and engagement are down anyway, move some of your blog writing and maintenance time to project time.

Need to spruce up your website? Do it during summer. Want to launch a product in the Fall? Create your product and plan your launch in these down months. Need to update your pins? Redo a few images each day.

Regardless of how you decide to approach summer, the most important part is to embrace this season for what it is—a gift to do things differently.

Already have a plan for summer? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

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