10 Most Popular Posts on Boosting Your Blog

At the start of a new year, I like to take some time to evaluate how things are going in my life – business, and personal. I use the whole month of January to look at what worked – so I can add more of that, and what didn’t – so I can make changes. When it comes to business, one thing I like to do is really take a deep look at my statistics, and use that to help create a solid game plan for the upcoming year. Part of that is looking at Google Analytics to see which posts were the most popular. In doing so, I’ve come up with a few categories that people seem to like the most, and the top 10 posts in each category. That gives me some awesome content to reshare, and a great view of what to do more of.

This site will be changing quite a bit in the new year… I want to do a lot more DIY, crafty type stuff, since that’s what I’m super passionate about. Over the past year our life had a lot of changes, and obstacles, so I wasn’t able to do as much of the “fun” stuff that I wanted. But one thing that has always been a favorite here on Sunshine and Sippy Cups since the beginning has been tips on earning more money – whether it’s blogging advice, or other clever online tips. So, for this first round-up of most popular posts, I’m sharing the 10 posts on this site about earning money that got the most visits during 2014. Hope you find some helpful stuff!

First of all – I LOVE that quote. It’s totally the way I approach my business. I’ve always been an open book – I share any tips I learn, love to support others and answer questions, and never feel that I have to keep “secrets” to help myself succeed above others. If you know me – online, or in real life – you know I love to help, and get super excited seeing other people have awesome accomplishments! So – here’s the list of the 10 posts about building your blog and earning more income, all filled with tips and resources that work for me, and I hope help you too….

1. 10 Ways to Make Money from Home: This is my NUMBER 1 post of all time, and has been pinned over 274,000 times. Not all of these tips relate to blogging, but they’re all additional ways you can earn money from home when you’re not blogging, or ways you can use your online influence to earn extra side cash. There are also a ton of great tips that readers have left in the comments too.

2. 99+ Ways to Earn More Money Blogging: This is a huge list I worked on for a few weeks. It covers things like ad networks, sponsored post networks, review and brand programs, freelance writing, and more. I’m hoping to revamp this soon – update any outdated links, and give more info about each opportunity listed. If you have other suggestions to add, please let me know in the comments section!

3. Blog Party Linky List: This is a big list, broken down by day, filled with linky parties you can join to promote your blog posts! I use this regularly, and it does really help a lot!

4. Blog Giveaway Linky List: What fun is running a giveaway if you don’t go out and tell people about it, right? :) This has a ton of great free ways to promote your events.

5. Where to Submit Your Recipe Posts: This is a list of 30 places that you can submit your recipes to, to get more traffic, as an alternative to the “big guys” like Foodgawker that can be hard to be accepted to. Try a few new ones each week, then see which ones work the best for you.

6. 15 Clever Ways to Get New Blog Traffic: This is a big list of tips that I’ve personally found helpful. A different way to use Facebook that I see people miss a lot. Different social sites like Hometalk, or other “pinterest-inspired” type sites. Or even ways to market your blog and business offline.

7. How to Find Sponsored Posts: This is another big list of sites and tips to use to connect with people who are interested in compensating you for posting.

8. Top 10 Resources for Fashion Bloggers: Some of these are sites and tools to check out, some are links to some uh-may-zing resources filled with info and tips. It’s also great even if you’re not a fashion blogger – a lot of the tips got me thinking out of the box on how to promote my own content in new ways!

9. Top 10 Resources for Food Bloggers: Food blogging is hot right now, right? People don’t go to their cookbooks first thing anymore when looking for new recipes, they usually jump online! So, take advantage of that and promote your posts as much as possible to grab that traffic.

10. Top 10 Resources for DIY Bloggers: As I mentioned at the beginning, this is an area I totally want to move into more. So I’m definitely excited about using some of these tips more in this new year!

What was your most popular post of 2014? Or, if you’re not a blogger, what was a favorite post you read this year? Share some links in the comments – I’d love to check them out! And there are TONS more helpful tips on my Blogging & Social Media board on Pinterest below too. If you have a post about improving your blog, leave a link in the comments and I’ll be sure to pin it there. Thanks for reading!