Blog Goals For Beginners To Strive For Immediately

If you are a big goal-setter, you are already researching how to set blog goals for beginner bloggers. Obviously, you may already know the value of creating S.M.A.R.T. goals for all of your endeavors. But what if the project is so new to foreign to you that you don't even know where to start? I struggled to find very many resources on blog goals for beginners, which made it hard so set my own new blog goals.

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Why Beginner Bloggers Struggle to Set Blog Goals

When you play a sport, you know that your goals to get better include being faster, stronger, and more accurate. If you play music, the goal is to memorize the notes and learn more difficult pieces as you go.

But what about when you are a beginner blogger? How do you set goals for something when you don't even have a baseline for what's normal?

You can't set a goal to get faster, when you don't know what pace you are starting at, right?

Luckily, there were a few helpful resources I was able to lean on while researching achievable goals for a new blog.

One of the most helpful tips was the reminder that there are several types of goals you can set for a new blog. They don't have to be simply the number of visitors or how much money you make. (Though, those are always classics.)

Some “out of the box” goals to consider as a new blogger include: 

• How often to publish new blog posts
• Setting deadlines for creating new content upgrades and starting your email list
• Email list subscriber growth goals
• Number of Pinterest Pins published each month
• Number of Tweets published each month
• Deadline to launch a Facebook Page for your blog
• Facebook likes and follower growth
• Goals for guest posting opportunities
• Increasing your blogger network
• Focus on firsts: first link back, first @mention by a reader, first comment from a (not spam bot) stranger

Blog Posting Goals for Beginners Starting From Zero

If you are going in circles trying to figure out how many posts to have before launching your blog, stop here.

The common thread among expert bloggers is to recommend having about 10 quality blog posts on your site when you launch a new blog.

That number should be enough to allow new readers to click through to a few related articles and get a sense of what your site is all about.

So, instead of feeling like you need dozens of posts before you make your blog live, focus instead on just two or three posts in each of your three or four main content pillars and you are off to a great start.

The next goal to set is your frequency of new posts. 

Of course, you know that posting more creates more potential to be seen and increase traffic more quickly. But what is actually realistic for a solopreneur who can't expect to post daily?

The sweet spot for blog posting is about 11 posts per month.

So, for a new blogger, if you can set a goal to post about 2 – 3 times per week, you are on a great track.

Ready to start a blog and use it to make money? Don't miss my all-inclusive post about making that dream a reality!

Traffic Goals for a Beginning Blogger

Setting traffic goals feels like the hardest part with a new blog because there's no “reality check” for whether your goal is attainable or a stretch goal.

For many new, first-time bloggers, you may not even have analytics set up yet to even know what your traffic stats look like.

Here are some common themes I have found in advice from pro-bloggers.

Elna Cain, the face behind TwinsMommy.com (and several other sites,) has an example on her post for new blogger goalsthat shares some real numbers. From her advice, it might be realistic for a new blogger to set a goal to grow to10,000 page views in 30 days.

The longer term traffic goal, then, might be to have 100,000 page views within your first year.

Another point of view from FindingBalance.Mom lists out traffic goals she deems highly achievable as follows:

• Month 1 – 2,000 pageviews
• Month 2– 4,000 pageviews
• Month 3 – 7,000 pageviews
• Month 4 – 10,000 pageviews
• Month 5 – 15,000 pageviews
• Month 6 – 25,000 pageviews

Ultimately, while these two opinions might feel like a wide gap (2,000 versus 10,000 page views in the first 30 days) they are pretty close when it comes to blogging traffic.

Considering pro bloggers have hundreds of thousands of monthly page views, a few thousand is actually a pretty close gap.

My thoughts?

Let's split the difference. I'll aim for 5,000 page views the first month, and 10,000 by month two.

Actionable Steps to Reach Traffic Goals

To grow traffic as a new blogger, it's about getting your name out there and starting to get some brand recognition. In order to reach traffic goals, the actionable steps you can take are all about marketing.

Of course, it's almost impossible to get involved with all of the social media platforms at once, especially if you want to be consistent. But by choosing at least two or three of the ideas below, you can build a plan that allows you do take direct actions that help you reach your monthly page view goal.

• Pinterest
  • Post at least 2-3 pins for each blog post
  • Switch to a Pinterest Business Account
  • Create boards specifically for your blog and for your primary content pillars
    
• Facebook
  • Create a Facebook Page for your blog (Possibly also a Group)
  • Join Facebook groups with others who share their posts and would be interested in yours
  • Share Facebook Lives
  • Grow page by 500 likes
  • Grow group by 250 new members
    
• Blogger Network
  • Guest post monthly
  • Build and improve consistent relationships with 2-3 bloggers in your niche each week

Mom Has The Last Word

Setting blog goals for The Professional Mom before launching was almost impossible. I had no idea whether 25 views a month was good (assuming my mom would only be about 15 of those…) or 2,000 was realistic.

The important thing to keep in mind is that setting a goal anyway is valuable to keep you focused and moving forward.

And, once you start making progress and get a better sense of the standards and “the norm” for bloggers, remember this. You can always change your goals and adjust as you go.

There are no rules saying if you set unrealistic goals, you're not allowed to add other small milestones to achieve along the way!

So, which goals did you set for your blog? I'd love to hear in the comments below!