Someone requested that this be available as a PDF. I obliged, and you can download it here.
Creating and monitoring various goals for your blog is one of the most effective, efficient, and interesting ways of improving your blog.
You know I love creating big lists, so below are 101 different blogging goals. You definitely shouldn’t make every one of them a goal of yours (that would be insane!); pick and choose a few to work on. You’ll eventually reach them, and then you can either raise the bar a bit or add some new goals to the mix.
And ok, I admit that not all of these are blogging goals, per se; some are Facebook or Twitter goals. But the vast majority of them are still goals that most bloggers can shoot for to improve their blogs.
The goals are very roughly sorted by category.
COMMENTING
- Comment on X number of blogs a day
- Get X number of comments a day
- Get X number of comments per post
- Get X number of comments on your blog per month
- Get X number of comments on guest posts
- Comment on X number of NEW blogs a day
- Reply to every blog comment
- Delete spam comments daily
- Comment on every Blogging Bookshelf post :)
STATS
- Get X amount more traffic
- Decrease your bounce rate
- Increase number of page views
- Increase number of unique visitors
- Get X amount of traffic from source Y
- Get X number of total referrals daily
- Get X visitors from search engines
- Look at your analytics daily/weekly/monthly
- Get readers from every country, US state, etc.
- Sign up for a Twitter account!
- Get X number more Twitter followers per week
- Have a certain followers:following ratio
- Tweet X number of times a day or week
- Get X retweets per post
- Tweet each of your posts X number of times
- Answer all @mentions before going to bed
- Have a certain Tweeting Your Content vs. Tweeting Others’ Content ratio
- Spend X amount of time on Twitter daily
- Get X number of tweets per guest post
- Get X shares or likes per post
- Create a Facebook fan page
- Add fan page widget to your blog
- Update your fan page X times a week/day
- Comment or post on others’ fan pages X times a week
- Like X number of others’ Facebook pages weekly
- Get X number of new friends every week
THE BLOG
- Work on your blog a certain number of hours daily or weekly
- Work on product creation X amount per day or week
- Check broken links monthly
- Run a contest on your blog (either one time or every quarter, etc.)
WRITING
- Write X articles per week and submit them to article directories
- Write X guest posts per week or month
- Write a free ebook every month (or some other period of time)
- Write X number of words per day
- Write X blog posts per week or month
- Send out X emails to your list per month
- Always have at least X posts ready to go in the queue
- Write your posts X days before they’re published
- Try a new kind of blog post (every week/month) that you’ve never done before
- Link to one other “friendly” blog per post
OTHER
- Create or get X backlinks per week
- Submit each post to whatever social bookmarking sites you choose
- Make a certain amount of money per month
- Read X number of blogs per day
- Get a certain Technorati “Authority” score
- Get a certain Technorati rank (either overall or in a certain category)
- Get to a certain spot for a certain keyword on Google
- Learn about something you’ve been curious about before a certain date
- Have (or get) X number of RSS subscribers
- Have (or get) X number of email list subscribers
- Have a certain % open rate for your email list emails
- Meet or talk with a like-minded individual about your blogging (on a weekly/bi-weekly/monthly basis)
- Answer all emails before bed
- Start another blog before X (date)
- Quit a blog if not meeting criteria X before Y (date)
- Read one book related to my niche every week (month, etc.)
- Create 1 video post every X
- Tweak your existing posts for better SEO (do this for X posts a week)
- Email and thank one reader/subscriber every X amount of time
- Invest in one useful product every X (month, quarter, etc.)
- Read about a certain topic that you need to know more about X number of minutes/hours a day/week
- Spend X minutes daily/weekly networking on social bookmarking sites
- Have X number of guest posts on your own blog
- Lower your Alexa ranking by a certain number each week or month
- Get your Alexa ranking below a certain threshold
- Plan your next day’s blogging tasks before going to bed
- Clean up your blogging workspace every day before bed
- Review your goals every day/week/month
- Regularly attend a conference or networking event in your niche
- Get advertiser(s) for your blog
NON-RECURRING GOALS
- Get your layout/design to look the way you want it to
- Sign up for those social media/networking/bookmarking sites that you’ve been eyeing but haven’t signed up for yet
- Create those blog pages that you haven’t done yet (like your Guest Posting, Archives, or Privacy Policy pages)
- Interview that person you’ve been meaning to interview
- Create those autoresponder emails you’ve been putting off
- Evaluate what actions your taking and figure out what’s just busy work and what is actually getting you results
- Brainstorm a list of future blog post ideas
- Make a list of keywords to include in future post titles and posts
- Create a detailed, step-by-step plan for achieving one of your goals
- Monetize your blog through a method you haven’t explored yet
- Start a podcast
- Set up an email newsletter
- Write that ebook!
- Comment on that blog that you read but never comment on
- Help someone else start up a blog
- Come up with some product ideas that you can start assessing and then working on
- Write for the top 3 (or however many) blogs in your niche (could also be a recurring goal!)
- Reduce the clutter in your sidebar/nav menu/footer/whatever
- Make enough money blogging that you can quit your day job
- Learn software X better (or for a certain amount of time weekly)
- Try that one traffic generation strategy that you’ve been wondering about
- Dive deeper into WordPress or whatever other blogging platform you use
- Achieve a certain Google PageRank
- Form a solid relationship with one (some?) of the top bloggers in your field
Final Words
Hopefully that list was enough to get the wheels turning. And don’t forget that the monthly blogging calendar is a great way to keep track of these goals.
Of course, a set goal is worthless if you never monitor your progress. Goal-setting is NOT a one time thing (see the accompanying chart).
Remind yourself of these goals on a regular basis, and evaluate your progress as necessary.
And finally, don’t be afraid of getting rid of a goal if you realize that it’s not the best use of your time or energy!
- Which of these goals stuck out to you?
- What are some other great blogging goals?
- What are some of YOUR blogging goals for the near future?
- What are your long term blogging goals?
{ 91 comments… read them below or add one }
You should have made this a printable PDF to download. Guess I’ll have to copy/paste :)
I just did :) The download link is at the very top of the post.
Thanks!
YES!! Thanks Tristan!
You’re welcome, Lisa :)
Another great resourceful post Tristan.
Some of my short term goals are –
-Increasing the posting frequency on WP kube.
-Adding more features on Blokube.
Some of my long term goals are -
-Making WP kube, a best resource site for WordPress Tutorials.
-Increase rankings for my blogging tips blog, Technshare.
Thanks for sharing this awesome post man. Retweeted.
~Dev
Those look like great goals, Devesh! It’ll be cool to see what new features you add to Blokube. Looking forward to it.
Thanks for commenting, buddy!
I have really wanted to start my own internet business lately, but I dont have any ideas on what to sell or offer. Should I buy and resell wholesale items, and if so what would be a good item, or are there some services that i could offer. Most importantly how would i even start it? Would i need to start my own site, or sell on ebay?
You need to stop spamming my blog, that’s what you need to do. Link back to your site removed.
One thing I have to agree is that having your goals clear in your mind is the number one thing to do when embarking in a new journey.
Actually, it’s far better to write them down in first place and keep being reminded of them constantly.
Lastly, organizing them into a solid strategy will push you the last bit needed to get the most of out of them.
One word of advice though: choose carefully for those goals that really matter for your specific needs. Your strategy needs to be tailored to that, not just a generic list. If you get all Tristan’s advices and decide to go for all or even most of them, you’ll probably end up being insanely out of your mind in a matter of hours :p
I agree Gabrielle, writing down your goals and keeping them in an obvious place is a great thing to do, especially if you’re one of those people who has trouble remembering what those awesome goals were!
And yes, this list was definitely NOT meant to be something that every blogger needs to do! That would be absolutely miserable and you wouldn’t get anything real done.
Great comment, man, and thanks for stopping by.
Rediculously awesome list of potential goals. I always have commenting goals (both # I comment on and # for each blog post), visitor goals, sales goals, ranking for key words goals, RT’s per post, and goals set for what I want to accomplish on a regular basis (i.e. # blogs per week, etc).
Personally, I have found that I accomplish more when I set really good goals for myself. A good action plan to accomplish your goals is also a must. If there’s no plan, chances are the goal won’t be reached very easily.
You’re right, Susan. A goal without no plan is a goal that won’t be reached and one that you might as well not even set in the first place.
Thanks for the comment!
Thanks Tristan. Hopefully by following this I can grow my blog.
No problem, Edwin. Good look with your goals!
Hi Tristan,
Wonderful article again with a nice long list of blogging goals. Well, I am in the process to setting up blogging goals (both long term and short term goals) for my blogging business and I hope that I will follow it. Anyway, thanks for sharing an useful article.
Sathish
I’m glad you liked the post and found it useful, Sathish! Good luck with your goals, and thanks for taking the time to comment.
Great extensive list. Covers blogging top to bottom. How long did it take you to put this together?
Not too long, really. Maybe like an hour and a half? It was just a matter of sitting down and thinking of everything bloggers have to do!
That a great check list. I always have to prioritize and focus/test on what I think is most important. Some suggestions seem basic and those are the ones that newcomers should probably address first and others are refinements for more experienced bloggers. For me (as a newcomer), my #1 priority is good content, everything else (including success, traffic, revenue generated etc. is really secondary). You have to develop a good product before you can market it.
Riley
Riley, I believe that good content is no more important than getting traffic to your blog. They need to be on the same level. Very few people look at a blog’s archives, so what does it matter if you’ve got a backlog of articles or not?
This is actually something I’m going to write about soon because I think it really is a common misconception. When I first started this blog, I spent a LOT more time promoting it than I did creating content, and I think that’s the way to go.
Thanks for commenting!
When it comes to blogging, it’s important to have goals in mind. Sometimes it’s hard to find the time and unfortunately it’s usually the blog that loses out on the attention that it needs. If you have goals established you will be much more likely to stick with it.
I think the best way to reach goals is to be held accountable for them. If you have a certain posting schedule in mind, for example, then you should tell your readers about it. Or tell your buddy about another goal and make him call you every day to see if you’re working on it. That’s huge motivation for me.
Thanks Nick!
Man Tristan, you never disappoint. I’m sure you are talented in many arenas- but delivering valuable info through written word is certainly one.
I’ve downloaded the pdf (thanks by the way) and I’m actually excited to have these goals in front of me. I’ve thought about man, and most have slipped my mind. This gives me a new, more structured approach to my handling my blogging goals. I do have goals, but I’ve been managing them in my head mostly, so I forget about them!
Thanks for all that you do Tristan.
PEACE
Compiling this list was actually really helpful for me, too. Like you said, it’s kind of nice to just have all of this down in paper in front of you.
I’m also very guilty of keeping most of my goals in my head. And yep, I end up with the same result as you; I forget them!
Well, now we can get better at it. Woooo! Thanks Jk!
Tristan,
Okay, this works! I like how you put definitive numbers on these goals and how you have broken it down into segments. This makes this list one you can actually put into action. Now it is a matter of pulling out the ones that work for you.
When it comes to checking links I use “Broken Link Checker” plugin by Janis Elsts. I turn it on once a month when I am doing blog maintenance.
I like to put my auto responder series on a monthly schedule and add to it every month. Pulling information from my broadcasts and adding them to the auto responder is an easy way to do this.
Awesome, thanks for the tip about the Broken Link Checker plugin. I’ve been meaning to look into those but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
I also need to get on the ball with my autoresponder series… Sigh. Lots to do!
Thanks Sheila!
I would recommmend that a newbie blogger start with commenting. It’s a reliable, easy and quick way to get a blog indexed. Not too mention exposure, traffic and maybe a few backlinks.
Find blogs in your niche and leave a comment or two every day. Or when you can, but as Tristan mentions above – make it a goal.
Yeah, I’m a big fan of commenting, too. I think if you make it a goal, more than just one or two is definitely doable. How about 10? :)
Thanks Missy!
Making this available as a PDF is a fantastic idea, I’m sure more people will read this now. :)
Awesome, glad it was helpful, Dean! Thanks for stopping by, buddy :)
Tristan
A side question if I may (and also a back handed compliment – I like following in your footsteps, as you love such big and easy to follow footprints around the old INterwebz).
So: Facebook.
Is it worth pursuing – or is it a crock of crap? I’ve yet to make the move and create a facebook page and do the Facebook Dance. What are your honest thoughts on whether it’s worthwhile or not?
Paul
of course I meant to say ‘leave such big and easy footprints….’ LOL
Paul, I’ve been holding out on Facebook for a while, just because I was focusing on other stuff. I created a page for the blog a couple weeks ago and get a couple visitors a day from it now. Not a huge number by any means, but I guess every little bit helps. My page took a couple hours to create and that was a one-time thing, so the time investment isn’t huge either.
Here’s my philosophy when it comes to this stuff: While I personally don’t care too much for Facebook, I know others do, so if they want to connect with the blog on Facebook, it’s dumb for me to not give them that chance, especially when it takes very little work on my part.
Does that make sense?
But this is just my experience. I know that Facebook is a primary source of traffic for other bloggers. It’s not a priority for me, so I don’t get much traffic from it. I’m definitely not a Facebook expert.
Hope that helped, and thanks for the great question!
Need to print this out :)
Awesome, then do it :D
Thanks Nasif!
It’s crazy how much there is that you could do with your blog other than write content; I mean, that’s the biggest thing overall but there’s certainly a ton of things to work on outside of just that. I’ve set up my own “dailies” where I try to reach a bunch of these goals each day but I also make sure to set them later at night so that I can focus on the bigger wins like working on business ventures and product launches.
Awesome post Tristan, always keeping it down :D
I think that writing content should actually NOT take up most of someone’s blog-related activities. Yes, it’s the most important thing to do, but that doesn’t mean that it should take up most of your time. A blog with great content but without any promotion and traffic doesn’t do you any good.
Hope you’re having a great time in New Orleans! Take some cool pics :)
This is great ! Thank you for writing this post, Tristan ! All of these 101 goals will help us to stay active and be focused on blogging. But, I still have one question for you : What software do you use for creating that image ? I would like to create one so that I can use it for a guest blogging contest.
Thank you !
Jeevan Jacob John
The software I use is Adobe Illustrator. The open source (free) version is called Inkscape.
Good luck with the guest blogging contest!
This is a great source, especially for me. I have almost never had any goal when it comes to blogging. Well, my goals have usually just been about learning more, and writing better blog posts and be consistent (like blogging three times a week). So, I will definitively use this blog post (and PDF) to help me find out what I want with my blog.
Thanks a lot Tristan.
Awesome Jens, I’m glad you liked the post. My goals are all-too-often just in my head. I need to take the time to write them out more and remind myself of them more.
Thanks for commenting!
You need to make proper time table for your work and need to set some goals so that you can check how much you have been progressed and what else you need to do to make it more better. Very nice list.
For sure, Sam. Checking your progress is a super important part of the whole goal making process. I’m glad you liked the list, and thanks for commenting!
WOW Tristan, I should really print that out! Thanks for taking the time and energy to write down these extensive to-do list. We are grateful. It’s what a professional blogger should do in a regular basis. You really covered every single aspect of our blogging business. Keep it up man
Thanks, Steven! I do try to make my content as useful and relevant as possible, so thanks for the kind words! And I really appreciate that you took the time to leave a comment. Feel free to stop by any time :)
Tristan, I love to save your lists and this is also saved on my desktop. I will modify and make it short for my blog.
Good to see that Gabriele has mentioned one of your earlier post in his latest post.
Regards
Awesome Nazim, I’m so glad you liked the post. Thanks for stopping by, and good luck with your blogging goals!
Tristan,
You’re doing that epic thing again that you do. Awesome…and thanks so much.
What stuck out was: Try a new kind of blog post that you’ve never done before. My near and long term goals for my blog involve getting out of my comfort zone and applying this but I have to work out the particulars.
Keep crushing it!
Jon
Jon, I think that getting out of your comfort zone is a really important part of growing as a blogger. Sometimes you’ll try out new things and they won’t work out for you, but other times you’ll try them and think “Man… I wish I had done this sooner!”
Good luck with your goals, and thanks for commenting!
This is an awesome article. Every blogger should read and get to know this list for having a great blogging experience. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Thanks Shree, I’m glad you like the post! I really appreciate the comment. I hope you have a great week!
Tristan, great list of gaols you have hear. Wonderful actionable items. I am glad you threw in the PDF for it. I think it makes a great download.
I think PDFs make everything better.
Glad you like the list, Steve, and thanks for commenting, buddy!
Great list once again, Tristan! I’m not even done implementing the tips from your last few posts yet and you’ve already got more coming! Thanks! :)
That’s my goal, Stella; to just pile up the list of things for you to do and work on :)
Thanks for commenting!
Awesome post, all great points.
Thanks Jay, glad you liked it!
Hi Tristan
Followed your link from John McNally, so my first time here.Just a quick visit.
This post is great and a fantastic list of things to do to keep your blogging on track.
Been having a look around, some really neat articles and some great insights as well.
I will be back for more!!
Regards
Zahid
Awesome Zahid, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! I’m glad you liked the post and found it useful!
Yep, there’s plenty more where this came from, so take a look around the archives and be sure to the subscribe to the blog :)
I also love lists…and I love ticking them off too! Seriously though, thanks for this extensive list. I agree on the importance of surrounding yourself with experienced people. Helping someone else to start a blog and see them enjoying it and growing from the experience, is immensely satisfying.
Exactly, Anne. I think there are fewer things more satisfying than helping someone out with their blog. It’s a lot of fun, isn’t it?
Thanks for the great comment, and I appreciate you stopping by!
I went through about 20% of your post before I voted for it everywhere. That is how much I like it.
I think I will copy this text, put it into a spreadsheet or something like that and edit it to make a long to-do list. Not that I don’t have many of those but I keep “loosing” them :)
Awesome, Tristan, that is all I can say!
That’s awesome! 20%, huh? That must be a record :)
I keep losing track of all of my goals, too. That’s one reason I wanted to compile this list; to keep track of it all.
Thanks for the comment and the votes, Brankica!
Tristan;
Great post here brother! Definitely gonna download the pdf after the comment.
Monthly blogging calender is a most for bloggers. I am glad you also mentioned about monitoring the progress regularly to see the achievements. Man; your posts are never disappointing (O:
I’m glad you liked the post, Adam! And I agree, a goal is no good if you don’t monitor it and easily lose track of it (which, incidentally, is definitely a problem I have…).
Thanks man!
Hi Tristan .. thanks so much .. downloaded it & it will be very helpful – as are all your posts.
Enjoy the week .. cheers Hilary
Thanks Hilary! I’m so glad you like the post, and I hope you find it useful in the future.
Thanks as always for the comment, and I hope you have a great week!
Tristan – It is a long list to follow and you must have spent good for this research . I am already following few of them but because of lazy nature I give many gap in weekends .
It really didn’t take too much time to create the list. I just sat down and churned the sucker out.
I’m glad you liked the post, and thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
I think the most important tip here is commenting on new relevant blogs every day – a great way of discovering great new content and learning, and also getting a unique link back to your site.
For sure, Rose. Commenting is a great way to to build relationships, get backlinks, and build traffic. And it’s a super easy thing to do on a daily basis.
Thanks Rose! I appreciate the time it took to read the post and leave a comment.
Top post.Thank you for information.
which is good
1.Blogging everyday?
2.Blogging in week?
Replay me.
Thanks for good information
NOT blogging every day. A couple times a week is fine, I think.
But my friends says that daily blogging increase “Alexa Ranking “.Is it true?.
I need some tips to increase my “Alexa Ranking “
Ah, I love pdfs. Why? Dunno, but I do.
This is a great idea for idea generation as it helps with focus. I have found that focusing on only a few things at a time has helped me to be more productive, and a bit happier.
And, I really agree with you – using this with a calendar can surely make a difference.
Have a great day!
Mark, there’s just something… Magical about PDFs, isn’t there?
And I agree with you 100%; the only way to go is to focus on a few of these things at a time. Any more and you’ll just go crazy and not get anything done.
Thanks Mark!
I definitely agree with you Tristan. If you want to improve your blog it can greatly benefit you if you create various goals that you can accomplish. What I found most impressive about this blog post is the fact that you actually came up with101 different blogging goals.
It must have taken you a while to develop this list. You listed a few goals on here that looked familiar to me since I am trying to accomplish them right now as I type this comment.
The one that stood out to me the most is having a certain followers:following ratio because I just got started with using Twitter as a business tool and I really want to use it effectively. Thanks for sharing as always Tristan, and good luck with all your goals.
Thanks for the kind words, John!
I’ve done enough of these 101 lists now that it’s really not too difficult. It just takes an hour or two of sitting down and brainstorming.
Thanks for yet another awesome comment, John. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions about your goals or if you need any help. You’ve been a longtime commenter and supporter here and I really do appreciate it.
Yay , just a thank for the pdf version , now to answer you first question , “# Write X articles per week and submit them to article directories” is the one goal I am so set on to do the next that stood out is “# Write X guest posts per week or month” which sounds like a good idea , I can ask my friends or exchange some article with other loggers , nice one. Lastly “# Write a free ebook every month (or some other period of time)” I dont understand , exactly how and why we should write a free ebook ?
WOW! I got to say, Tristan, I’m impressed! I’m definitely going to put many of these goals on my to-do list! You sure have a knack of creating creative, unique blog posts.
Keep up the awesome work! And, as always, thanks for the valuable information. :) This deserves a tweet!
Christina
This is a really good list actually and many of the things on the list are things that I know I should do but they get pushed aside and put off and never get done. This is a good idea to have it all listed like this and then go along and follow the list or even pick random tasks out of the list. It’s certainly a motivator and a great To Do list that I can use!
Tristan,
I can imagine that you don’t have any difficulty coming up with this list here :D Hmm, not sure if you’ve published this before but what about coming out with a priority list of things to do for your blog?
Downloaded the PDF and RT!
I came on this blog post because it is recommended by Brankica on her Sunday blog posts review and am I glad that I came in to check it out! I have downloaded the PDF and I definitely plan to put those suggestions into action.
Having said that I think there are two things that one needs to do to really follow on the goals and that is because there are two types of goals:
1. Goals that are dependent on your direct actions, that is what is in your control. Examples:
- Comment on X number of blogs a day
- Comment on X number of NEW blogs a day
- Reply to every blog comment
- Delete spam comments daily
- Comment on every Blogging Bookshelf post
Now these are under my control and I will either do these or not do them. This part is easier (not easy)
2. Goals that I can aspire for – which are not in my control. I can only create the circumstances that will enable me to achieve those goals. Examples:
- Get X number of comments a day
- Get X number of comments per post
- Get X number of comments on your blog per month
- Get X number of comments on guest posts
And I think achievement of the second set of goals is to a great degree dependent on the execution of the first set of goals. The achievement of these goals is dependent on the action of my readers. The second set of goals is a “result” of the achievement of the first set of goals.
I’ll keep you posted on my progress with the two sets!!
Great list of goals for me to achieve. I had not thought of the impact that social media- likes/followers/fans could have a positive effect on my blogs popularity. Grant
“Comment on every Blogging Bookshelf post” Ha! Nice one. Consider this the first of many then. =)
nice tips.it looks so heavy in the start that it was a long list …but at last it really makes the calendar of the monthly tasks to do.really very usefull article which guides in a very simple way…
Quite a list…a bit overwhelming. I suggest readers pick one or two each week. Focus focus focus. Are you going to list the tools to accomplish these goals??
Quite a list. Suggest users pick one or two each week. What are your tools for the goals?
This is what I’ve been looking for! I was aiming for something but I can’t really specify them until I found this post. Thank you so much for sharing this!
I think this is a great to do list for any blogger. I was wondering where you saw you and your blog 2 years from now
Heard the angelic chorus when I found this list. Thanks, homie. You rock.
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