Still 2020 But, Updated for Relevance
What are you thankful for?
Can’t deny, I’ve seen this specific question pop up a couple of times on the blogosphere and on social media, and with 2020 being one hell of a rollercoaster ride, there’s no surprise that answers haven’t always been in the positive context.
In twenty-twenty, humans for the first time in recent decades shared similar problems – the Covid-19 pandemic, colossal loss of jobs and protests against racism, bad governance and police brutality – which all happened concurrently in countries across the globe.
We were more united than ever!
Hmm… I just can’t decide between what I’m thankful or not so thankful for in 2020 so, I’ll be mixing things up, answering the big questions and of course, talking on my blogging routine and social media habits.
What I Learned So Far This Year.
#1. On WordPress.
Better than before, I was active in the WordPress community in 2020. I took out time each day to comment on a few blogs from favourite and random bloggers. And on a heartwarming note, I got to know more bloggers like myself, especially Nigerians creating remarkable stories and arguments.
The Good
- Engagement with other bloggers meant reciprocity of comments, likes and shares which was awesome.
- Because I discovered new blogs from excellent writers at an amazing pace, I was able to broaden my knowledge on a lot of previously unknown subjects.
The Bad
- Engaging with other bloggers didn’t always translate to a two-way street.
- On some days, blogs I had to keep up with were off the hook! It was demanding reading all of ’em a few times.
#2. On Blogging.
This year, I feel like I was very consistent with posting from January to December because each month, I had a blogpost on the blog at least four times and that was actually due to a Google Sheets addiction on a Greek god level! Hahahahahaha.
Also, I came up with a routine that included writing a couple of paragraphs everyday and that was really productive.
Midyear, I started this thing where I edit old but successful blogposts like my Keke Napep writeup and it was quite the impact.
And finally, because of the pandemic which caused lockdown, transport price hikes and made tourist attractions shutdown temporarily, I was pretty much grounded for most of the year. Of course, concern about my own health and safety (which I’m trying not to take for granted) was also a big player and so, I couldn’t imagine many blog topics like I used to.
The Good
- My consistency game improved. It wasn’t as hard as previous years.
- I jumped on a top-notch schedule which was genius.
- Re-editing evergreen articles doubled my blog traffic.
The Bad
- Some articles take too long to gain traction.
- Researching can be quite cumbersome.
- It’s easy to run out of ideas when you’re overly consistent.
#3. On Republishing Old Blogposts.
I read somewhere that republishing content from time to time helps in creating traffic to previous blogposts particularly evergreen ones.
And it did!
On a sincere note, republishing old content can be risky and somewhat techy. If done wrong, you may lose all your rankings and traffic in one ill-timed swoop.
Hire a SEO expert to do this for you or simply make use of WordPress’s reblog feature to be on a much secure side.
In September of 2020, I tanked the rankings for my Oniru Private Beach article after recording much success earlier in the year.
RELATED: A Birthday Trip to Barracuda Beach Resort
Later, I contacted my SEO friend and he fixed it.
The Good
- By republishing old content I was able to spark up conversations once again.
The Bad
- It’s tricky business. One wrong move and everything dips.
#4. On Guest Posts.
In previous years, I was featured/interviewed on a couple of blogs about travel, public transport or living in Nigeria and I had to share my opinions alongside other bloggers.
But for the first time in 2020, I wrote my maiden guest post (and that’s not even half of the gist). It gladdened my heart to join the bandwagon of bloggers with a guest post across the interweb.
For the big reveal, my guest post was about Dating in Nigeria (I know, it’s a long mile from travel content) and I spoke about family involvement in relationships, the right age to date and cohabitation in my home country.
Read here: Dating Around the World – Nigeria
‘Twas awesome! And special thanks to Shelly for making my first official feature happen.
The Good
- Guest posting is an excellent way to reach a wider audience.
- If readers enjoy your article, they’ll pay your blog a visit.
The Bad
- You have to dedicate yourself to writing guest posts, just like you’d do yours to record groundbreaking success. It’s really not bad when you think about it, just demanding if you have a full plate.
#5. On Social Media.
I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with social media cos one minute, you’re having a chuckle at comedy skits, connecting with new or long-time friends, watching cinematic clips and the next, one toxic fella picks up his phone to tweet the most demented thing you’ll ever see on the internet!
If you’re looking for peace of mind (no, serious), I don’t think social media’s the correct place to find it. This year alone, we had people calling the Coronavirus a hoax, sharing 5G propaganda and outright online racism.
So what’s there to love about social media?
Well, I guess it’s one of the best places to get folks who think or do stuff just like ya. And that in itself can be occasionally exciting.
Another awesome thing about social media is support groups and visibility. You’ll discover Facebook Groups, Twitter Chatrooms, and Instagram Live sessions suitable for your niche.
The Good
- Extra tools like Hootsuite can help you schedule posts which is useful if you aren’t available 24/7 online.
- Uploads on most social networks can be embed into your blogposts.
- With WordPress, it’s even easier to automate new articles to appear on LinkedIn, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter or other platforms.
- Social media is great for promoting blogposts.
The Bad
- It’s super easy to be distracted.
- Frequently engaging with other bloggers on social media doesn’t mean they’ll reciprocate.
- Growing an active audience may be time consuming.
#6. On Pinterest.
Yeah I know, Pinterest also counts as social media – technically – but for me, it’s really special and deserves a standalone subhead.
Let’s begin, this year I think I took my Pinterest game to the next level. I read a few blogposts and watched YouTube videos on Pinterest Marketing and applied what I had learned to design attractive Pins and Boards.
Most importantly, I formed a SEO-friendly name and joined FB Pinterest Groups.
The Good
- Pins on Pinterest have long shelf life.
- With apps like Canva, it’s possible to design a clickbait Pin under five minutes.
- Pins can include backlinks and that’s kinda helpful for generating traffic.
- You don’t need to have many followers to record success, number of followers ≠ number of referrals via Pinterest.
The Bad
- Consumes a lot of data.
- Conversion is low on some days.
The Honorable Mentions.
Quick Top-three Milestones.
Success does come in different ways.
- Increasing my average word count per blogpost to 1,090 words.
- I’m “this-close” (wish you could see my fingers right now) to reaching 700 followers on WordPress.
- I had a Pin on Pinterest which did so well. Over 30,000 views!
My Top-three Blogposts So Far This Year.
People love these posts so much, it’s mindboggling.
- 7 Most Amazing Things to Try at Oniru Private Beach
- Keke Napep: 5 Things You Should Know About The Popular Tricycles
- Want to See a Movie in Osogbo? Now You Can!
My Top-three Blogposts With Comments.
Something about these write-ups sparked endless conversations.
- 7 Most Amazing Things to Try at Oniru Private Beach, again. 🏄♂️
- Celebrating 500 Awesome Followers!
- Surviving Covid-19: Should You Be in Lagos Traffic Right Now?
Three Noteworthy Commenters On My Blog.
Y’all are the best!
- Winteroseca from UCan2
- Cindy Georgakas from Uniquely Fit Blog
- Pooja G. from Lifes Fine Whine
My “Random-three” Favourite Bloggers On WordPress.
I say random because I have so many favourites up in my head, it would take an entire blogpost to honour each and everyone.
- Amarachi Ekekwe from Travel with a Pen
- Ojocheyi from The Cheyi
- Nwanz from The Traffic Inn
Ha! They all begin with T’s.
Conclusion
2020 was a shocking year for everyone, okay maybe not everyone – that’s fallacious – but nonetheless, I’m most thankful for my wins and interactions with a bunch of amazing bloggers outchea!
…
So, the big question – what are you thankful for?
Kindly mention in the comment section.
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ERICOTRIPS 
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