My Blogging Journey And Why I Decided To Share It
Before you guys start reading this post I would highly recommend reading the first part of my blogging journey by clicking here.
Recently, I decided to write six posts on my blogging journey. Since I began blogging almost exactly six years ago (it will officially be six years in about a month) I thought I would write one post a week talking about my blogging journey during each year. As well as what was going on with my life and how it affected my blogging. I will also be talking about the technical things like the updates I made, what plan I use, how I customize my plan, the SEO work I got done and more.
And, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy sharing it with you guys and I hope it helps newer bloggers on WordPress as well. I would also like to give all my readers a heads up because my blogging journey posts tend to be a little longer than my regular posts so if you don’t like longer posts this may not be for you.
2016- I Finally Start Figuring WordPress Out
So 2016 was kind of a crazy year for me. I had so much going on with my personal life. And I was mentally and physically exhausted by the time I was done with everything. It was also the year of personal growth and acceptance for me. And in many ways this was the year I finally began to find and accept my true self.
For the first six months of 2016 I was super preoccupied because I was preparing for my A Level exams. It was quite stressful even though I was doing three subjects- History, English and Psychology. Anyone who has done A Levels will tell you that it is no joke. I had some tests and exams in Jan and Feb so I did not write much during those two months- I still did try to write occasionally and ended up writing more often than I had in 2015 but still my views were pretty low because I rarely posted and if I did it would be randomly without much of a schedule.
March
By March, I had realised that this whole blogging hobby was here to stay and that it was going to become a thing. I had also figured out a lot of the technical things by this point as well. And by now I had learnt the most important lesson you can learn when it comes to blogging- BE ACTIVE. You need to be active both on your own blog and on other blogs if you want to remain relevant and make sure your blog is growing consistently. I tried really hard to concentrate on my education but also stay active on WordPress. I’m not going to lie- it was definitely a struggle.
My school ended in April and I had most of April and some of May off for reading break and so I was mostly at home which made it a bit easier to both revise and blog. My views went higher during these March and April because I was spending more time on my blog and I was so excited to see my hard work pay off when I got over two thousand views in a month for the first time. This was such a big deal to me and it also told me that what I was doing was working for me and that I should continue with blogging. Unfortunately, my views in May and June got lower as I was more preoccupied with my exams.
Real Growth
From July till December my views continued to grow and so did my followers. I was so absolutely delighted. And I was extra happy because I had started to make blogging friends. Which as you guys know is a big part of why I enjoy blogging. I had begun meeting like-minded people and socialising a lot more now that I was getting more comments and was following more blogs and leaving comments on these blogs. I think most bloggers can understand the excitement you feel when you get a new notification or a new comment on one of your posts. It’s just such a rush!
Mental Health
Unfortunately, as my blog grew my mental health was deteriorating and my anxiety was getting worse. I had finally figured out how to control my depression as best I could. And then having to start all over with anxiety was a lot to handle. Mental health problems are constant and they can very exhausting. By the time I was done with my exams I found myself too exhausted to think about university. Especially because I wanted to go abroad to study. My parents realised this and suggested I take a gap year which I did and honestly it was the best decision I made.
During the next few months I did as much research as I could on mental health. And in particular on anxiety and depression. I looked for ways to deal with both. Or at least ways through which I could control them enough to continue to pursue my dreams without being constantly pulled down by my mental health problems. I learned my triggers, I learned how to control my triggers and how to best deal with the symptoms of anxiety. It was difficult but it was worth it because the things I learnt in this year are things I still use to control my anxiety. I have mentioned with before but when it comes to mental health problems you never fully recover- you kind of just learn to deal with the symptoms and carry on despite them.
Not All Gloom And Doom
Before this post gets too depressing I also want to say that it wasn’t all doom and gloom. As always this blog and WordPress kept me sane. It helped keep structure in my life. And in case you can’t tell I am one of those people who needs a lot of structure. I thrive on organisation and planning and blogging taught me a lot about both.
I also decided to use my gap year to my advantage as best I could. Like doing a bunch of stuff I had been meaning to do but never found time to do. I tried new foods at new restaurants, I did a lot of art, I redecorated and best of all I got my first tattoo! It was a tiny little tattoo but it’s still my favourite thing ever! I also traveled but that was mainly in 2017 so all that will be in the next blogging journey post which will go up next week.
Getting The Hang Of Blogging
By the end of 2016, I had finally gotten the hang of blogging (or so I thought…). And I had figured out how to grow my blog (I kind of had!). I celebrated one of my biggest milestones in August of 2016. I had gotten 500 followers. Honestly, I was surprised and honoured that out of all the thousands of blogs out there these 500 people had chosen to follow my tiny little baby blog! Maybe people actually did like my writing and maybe I should continue blogging (spoiler alert- I did!).
Although, as I mentioned in my last post, blogging for me was more of an outlet than anything else. It was still amazing to know that people were actually reading my writing. I was so honoured and thought I was a mini-celeb hehe (spoiler alert I wasn’t and still am not…)! So yes, 2016 was a crazy year for me filled with a lot of change both negative and positive. A lot happened and I learnt a lot of things about blogging, myself, my goals and what I want this blog to become in the future.
You can check out my posts from back in 2016 if you’re interested by clicking here.
Thank you!
I want to end this post by thanking everyone who took the time to read and comment on the first post I did about my blogging journey. I was so overwhelmed by all the sweet and amazing things that everyone commented. And it’s so nice to know that so many of you found it relatable. So thank you from the bottom of my heart. And I hope you continue to enjoy and support my posts about my blogging journey. If anyone wants me to write about anything specific about my blogging journey let me know in the comments below. I will try my best to include it.
Thoughts
If you have been blogging for over an year did you second year of blogging have any similarities to mine? Does you blogging journey have any similarities to mine in general? Why did you decide to start blogging and how has blogging changed you life? What’s your blogging journey/story? Let me know in the comments below I would love to hear your thoughts and your story!
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