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Creating content you love is the heart of your blog, the thing that keeps people coming back time and time again and the reason you created your blog in the first place. But creative inspiration isn’t constant and it certainly isn’t linear and there will be times where you can’t write new content for a bunch of reasons. It’d be impossible for us to be creative 24/7. But that doesn’t mean blog growth has to stop! Here’s how to grow your blog even when you’re not creating new content.

How To Grow Your Blog

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Blogging isn’t all about the content creation. A heck of a lot goes on behind the scenes of a blog which arguably is the most common misconception that “non-bloggers” have about our industry. They only see the final product – the perfectly posed and edited Insta shot or the immaculately crafted blog post but blogging is a wormhole of behind the scenes activities which help bring those end results into fruition.

Related: What I Wish Non-Bloggers Knew About Blogging

How To Grow Your Blog

Want to know how to grow your blog without producing new content? Here are some tips!

Brainstorm new ideas

If you’re not in the place (or the mood) to actually write new content, brainstorming new ideas for future content is a great way to keep yourself productive and moving forward. Think about the time of year you’re in, can you do any topical posts around that? What’s going on in the world right now? Do you have a opinion on that you can turn into an opinion piece? Have you just tried some amazing new skincare that you can review?

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Update your socials

Another main aspect of blogging is social media and making sure all your social platforms are up to scratch and the best they can possibly be is a great way to help you stay on top of the more ‘mundane’ side of blogging when you can’t actively create new content. Are you keeping it consistent across all your platforms? Is your email address noticeable in your profiles so brands can reach you? Have you responded to your tweets or Instagram comments?

Reply to blog comments

It’s very easy to let blog comments get on top of us to the point where it seems like such an impossible and daunting task that we just leave it and hope nobody notices. Now the comment police aren’t going to come and get you if you don’t reply to your blog comments but it’s always nice to take the time to thank those who are taking their own time to comment on your work.

Related: How To Get More Comments On Your Blog Posts

Grow your blog by scheduling your social content

Arguably the most boring and painstaking aspect of blogging but it really does have an impact on blog views and how to grow your blog so it’s worth just sucking it up and getting it done. I use Buffer to schedule my own blog tweets, Tailwind for Pins and if you have a Facebook page for your blog, you can simply schedule a post for the future instead of posting it now. If you’re not actively creating new content right now, scheduling your old posts in a new exciting way might gain you new viewers who weren’t around when that post actually went live and keeps things interesting.

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Take photos / create graphics

If you’re not feeling writing new content right now, then maybe now would be a good time to up your photography or graphics game.Take photos in bulk – flay lays, product photos, photos of you – and get them edited and stored away ready to add to your new content when it’s created. You never know, taking photos might also give you some inspiration on what to write about. You could also hop on Canva and start creating some cute graphics for your posts too.

Make a plan

When I’m not feeling the writing part, something I always find myself leaning towards is goal setting and making plans. I’m a very goal oriented person and I like always moving forward and progressing and an important thing to remember is that just because you’re not actively creating new content, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not moving forward. Having a break to really figure out what you and your blog are all about, what topics you’re really passionate about and refining your skills in other areas, might just be the thing that helps you progress further.

So sit down and think about what you want from blogging and your blog. How you feel about it right now and how you’d like to feel about it. Where would you like to be in a years time? 5 years? Even 10, if we’re getting brave? What do you want to improve? What new skills do you want to learn? And most importantly, what steps are you going to take to achieve these things? A huge ‘behind the scenes’ element of blogging we can work on, is ourselves. So use this time wisely!

How To Grow Your Blog

I hope you learned something from this post about how to grow your blog when you’re not creating new content! Anything to add?

88 Comments

  1. Brilliant advice, Jenny! Clear and insightful tips, especially when writing posts is only a small part of blogging. Thanks for sharing such great advice! 😀

  2. Great post Jenny. 🙂
    I’ve been focusing a lot more on my goals recently and am excited for the start of 2019.

    I hope you’re having fun this holiday season, Dax. x

  3. These are some great ideas Jenny. When I’m brainstorming ideas, I always create a draft post in WordPress with some notes, some of them do get binned but a lot turn into posts. At the moment I’ve been responding to blog comments and creating graphics in Canva.

  4. These are great things to do! 😄 When I’m not writing a blog post I’m normally reading other blogger’s posts & replying to comments. I also plan what my next posts are going to be.

  5. Thanks for the suggestions! I am new to blogging so these will definitely be helpful especially when hitting those times where the kids are sick, I’m sick or just in a bit of a rut.

  6. Great advice! I find it is so important to take a break from creating content if you need to (I’m actually doing that now, took a week off because of stress and things going on) but you’re so right, there’s so much more to blogging than just writing content. Even though I’m not writing blog posts at the moment I make sure I’m still active on social media’s and brainstorming for future ideas is great!

    Chloe xx
    http://www.chloechats.com

  7. This is such a useful list of suggestions. I’ve been very underwhelmed by my Instagram & blog right now and come to the New Year I want to switch up a few things, so your suggestions are great. Thanks so much for sharing them! 🙂

    Sarah 🌺 || Boxnip

  8. this is basically me these past 2 months.Ive been hardly active at all, just writing to stay consistent and not truly putting my heart into blogging, and these are exactly all the things I did while I was semi-absent!love this post!

  9. I was so excited when I saw you tweet this out earlier, and you did not disappoint! I love brainstorming & jotting down post ideas, even if I’m not in a position to start writing them up. Taking flatlays & editing them is also another element that I really enjoy. I’ve been so bad with scheduling tweets recently, but this was a great reminder to do so! Thank you for all of these fabulous tips x

    twinklexthoughts.blogspot.com

  10. I love this! There’s so many helpful tips here. I especially love the idea of taking pictures when you’re out of inspiration. As a book blogger, that can be super helpful because while looking for books to take pictures of, one of the books may remind me of something and inspire me to write about it! 🙂

  11. Great post! I’m at the point where I’m needing to fill those moments where I’m not content building – this was the perfect post for me tonight!

  12. I felt a lot of my November posts were a bit meh! So I challenged myselft to Blogmas! Daily Christmas history posts . . . it definitely is a challenge but it’s given me renewed energy for my blog! 🙂

  13. These are great suggestions Jenny! There is always so much that goes on behind the scenes when you are a blogger. I’m looking forward to sitting down with a notebook soon to brainstorm and plan some ideas for 2019. Sometimes it is good to have a break from content creating and take some time out to feel inspired again. Fab post as always! <3 xxx

    Bexa | http://www.hellobexa.com

  14. Great ideas! I update my bookstagram begrudgingly, but I definitely enjoy planning and taking more photos when I’m in a blogging slump. And I go and read other people’s blogs, to see if that sparks an idea 🙂

  15. A big yes to all of these, such brilliant tips! I definitely have times where writing a blog post is the last thing I want to do so I try to do other little bits behind the scenes – just making sure I’m on top of scheduling tweets, replying to comments etc. It makes me feel productive and I’m still technically working on my blog but just doing the things that can sometimes get forgotten about. Such a helpful post 🙂 xx

    Tiffany x http://www.foodandotherloves.co.uk

  16. Love this Jenny! I think it’s so easy to get caught up on the content creation hamster wheel that taking time out to focus on areas like this get lost. I’m looking forward to a break later this month and to finally install and customise a new theme I bought back in October (!). Blogmin is a chore but sometimes it’s just what you need to get re-enthused and spark off new ideas. Thank you for sharing your tips 🙂 xx

    Lisa | http://www.lisasnotebook.com

    1. Totally agree! I don’t have any of my own posts up again until the last few day of the year so I’m totally focused on next year and doing all the “boring” stuff too! It’s so important 😌 And taking a break is equally important!

  17. Thank you for sharing this! I always appreciate veteran bloggers sharing their wisdom and helping us newbies out.

  18. These are such good tips, thanks for sharing lovely! I’m always forgetting to take photographs and often have a mad dash trying to get some photographs together for a post! Thank you for reminding people that it’s also okay not to post 365 days out of the year, breaks are so so important sometimes. x

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