beyonce upgrade u
Image by Nat Ch Villa via Flickr Creative Commons

If you’ve had a conversation with me that lasted longer than 10 minutes, I probably in the course of our discussion brought up Beyonce.

Yes, I’m a bit of a stan and proud member of the BeyHive. I even have a ritual of listening to her music every Friday.

Ironically, I don’t listen to Queen Bey to get pumped up to party. I listen to her to get motivated to work. The weekend is my time to turn my attention to building my blog and my business and songs always make me feel like a boss.

One of my favorite tracks to listen to is “Upgrade U” and this song has been playing in my head on repeat lately as I consider all the ways I plan to upgrade my blog for 2016. Here’s how you can do the same.

U – Utilize social media. Are you posting regularly to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest? Even if you are, chances are you’re not promoting your blog content enough. Mattie James of Mattieologie, for example, tweets every 30 minutes from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. That’s nearly 20 tweets a day! And she will share a blog post every day for 14 days after it’s published. You may think this sounds crazy and that if you follow this plan you’ll lose followers because you’ll seem spammy, but you won’t. Remember the average life span of a tweet is 15 to 18 minutes and only about 1 percent of your Twitter followers actually see you tweets. So tweet like crazy!

P – Post more content. Obviously, the more content you post, the more reasons you’re giving people to visit your blog. So commit to blogging more and more consistently. If you’re currently posting once a week, kick it up to three times a week. If you’re already posting three times a week, consider posting every weekday — especially if you’re a new blogger.

G – Guest blog and freelance. Guest posting on blogs frequented by your target audience is one of the best ways to increase your blog traffic. Freelancing for online and even print publications is a great way to get your name out as well. Make a list of your favorite blogs, websites, and publications in your niche and start working on pitches to send. Don’t be afraid to go for big names!

R – Revamp your look. You have to look the part to get the role, right? Is the look of your blog properly representing you and what you’re striving to accomplish? I know for me, personally, improving my visuals is one of the main things I need to do to step up my blogging game. Be sure that your posts include vivid, aesthetically pleasing graphics and/or photos that are as wide as your blog post column. You need great images on your pages and in your side bar as well.

A – Assess your branding. While you’re examining your visuals, consider your branding as well. Are your colors and fonts consistent throughout your blog and on your social media channels? Do you have the same handle and avatar on each social media platform? Is your messaging consistent and clear? Can someone visit you anywhere online and instantly know who you are and what you and your blog are all about?

D – Deliver high quality content. Producing more content only works if that content is good. Are you giving your readers what they want? Is your content useful? Are you posting content that either solves a problem or fills a void?

E – Evaluate your numbers. If you’re not doing so already, start keeping track of your numbers — your blog analytics, email list subscribers, and followers on social media. Check in on these figures once a week so you can track any growth or slump in numbers and determine what caused it.

What are you planning to do to upgrade your blog as you prepare for 2016?