50 Blog Goals In 1 Year (an epic monthly breakdown)
Why do you have a blog?
If you’re like me, your answer might be a bit…general (like to make money or to get leads). This is a solid starting point, but it isn’t the most helpful or actionable.
So I put together this ultimate list of blogging goals in a way that mimics a realistic blog growth timeline.
The blog goals in this list are like key checkpoints to work towards. They’re strategic and build upon each other. I’ve been writing online since 2019 and — in my humble experience — these milestones are some of the most important (and exciting) ones.
So let’s wrap up this chit chat then — let’s do this!
Month 1 Blog Goals
Month 1 is a collection of blog goals for beginners.
These are the things I would focus on first if I was starting out.
1. Become One With Your Niche
Whether you’re already an expert or on your way to becoming one, knowing your niche is essential. Because deeply understanding your niche is how you create compelling, original content.
Also, genuine experience is a priority for ranking in Google and supports brand authority and trust with your readers. Your niche selection should check of at least one of the following:
Something you’re passionate about
Something you have expertise in
So, become your audience — become one with your niche.
Explore more:
➤ How to Grow a Multi-Niche Blog
2. Learn Basic SEO
SEO (search engine optimization) is how you get your posts to rank, perform well and get discovered online.
For blogging, this is a primary source of traffic, so learning the basics is essential — and don’t worry, it’s pretty simple!
I won’t dive into all the nuts and bolts here, but if you’re ready to learn, check out my full guide on SEO for bloggers.
3. Build a Brand-Ready Site
This is one of my favorite parts about blogging – website tinkering. It’s creative and it’s fun.
Building and designing your site includes:
Choosing a blog platform — I use Squarespace
Designing to match your branding
Adding all relevant pages
Create a great bio page
Explore more:
➤ The Key Characteristics of A Great Blog
4. Create A List of 100 Keywords
Keywords are the backbone to your site. And it all starts with good keyword research (which is an ongoing thing).
I keep all of my keywords in a Google Doc for organization and I categorize everything by audience subsets and topic clusters.
Read how I do keyword research here.
5. Publish Your First Posts
Once you have your site all set up and a collection of keywords ready to go, it’s time to write.
Writing is something you’ll be doing a lot of. So for your first posts, I would recommend doing one long-form pillar post and a cluster of related topics. For example, here’s part of one of my clusters:
[PILLAR] Personal Blogging 101 (how to start)
[cluster] How Long Does it Take to Grow a Blog
[cluster] Best Blogging Tools for Beginners
[cluster] How to do SEO for Beginners
[cluster] Key Features of a Great Blog
[cluster] Keyword Research 101
Explore more:
➤ How Many Posts to Launch A New Blog With
Month 2 Blog Goals
Month 2 goals support habit formation and set you up for success.
These ideas are key for your blog’s growth.
6. Connect to Google Search Console + GA4
Google Search Console (GSC) is a free web service for tracking your keyword rankings and site performance. You can also request immediate indexing of new posts and pages (which can take Google a while to do).
If you’re growing a blog or website, you’ll be using GSC a lot.
GA4 (Google Analytics) is another free web tool from Google, but you get a lot more data and deeper insights into how your pages and posts are performing.
You get data like engagement, session times, views per user and a whole lot more. GA4 takes some time to learn how to use fully, but it’s worth connecting for important insights.
You can learn which pages and posts perform best and which are struggling (so you know what to fix and where).
7. Create Original Images / Graphics
Stock photos are easier and quicker. But custom images are way better for building brand, standing out and even SEO.
And you don’t need professional quality assets either. Sometimes, raw unfiltered photos sitting in your phone are better.
They show authenticity and relatability. This is gold for personal branding.
Whether you use AI, Canva or your smart phone, start incorporating original images and graphics into your blogs.
For example, Infography is an AI tools that automagically turns any blog into an infographic — perfect for sharing or a Pinterest strategy!
8. Adopt ‘New SEO’ Strategies
SEO has changed. AI disruption, Google algorithm updates, people changing how they search and use the internet — this is all affecting how we optimize our website, content and brand online.
Si Quan Ong wrote about some of these key changes in a recent Ahrefs post here.
But here are the key takeaways:
People are using TikTok more like a search engine
Experience-driven, authentic content is winning
Building brand matters more than ever
Writing for humans > writing for SEO
Month 3 Blog Goals
Month 3 goals help you solidify your brand image and your blog’s foundation.
These ideas represent a key milestone in your blogging path.
9. Improve Your Blog’s Accessibility
Blog accessibility is important. It ensures that your site is easy to use and navigate for anyone with disabilities.
Here are some ways to make sure your site is accessible:
Create alt text for all of your images
Make sure your font size is big enough
Have good UX
Be intentional
10. Submit an XML Sitemap
An XML sitemap is a file that lists your website’s essential pages, making it easier for Google to crawl and understand your site.
You can easily submit one using GSC (which you connected as a month two goal).
Once you’re connected, it’s smart to submit your site map, which is a list of pages on your website and their relationship to each other.
It helps Google better understand and crawl your blog, which (according to RankMath) helps with organization, clarifies your site’s structure and increases search engine visibility.
Luckily, it’s pretty simple to submit one. Here’s an article from Semrush that outlines the process.
11. Hone Your Blogger’s Mindset
By month 3, the honeymoon phase of blogging may be waning. So it’s time to double down on your mindset.
Blogging is a long game. So it’s important to embrace this. For example:
Stay patient — think in years, not in months
Have realistic expectations
Set realistic timelines
Exciting results probably aren’t happening yet and your motivation to continue at the same speed may feel weaker. If this is the case, then you’ll need to strengthen your blogger’s mindset.
12. Publish 30 Blog Posts
By the end of month 3, an awesome goal is to publish 30 posts.
The first few months of a new blog are the honeymoon phase, so it’s smart to capitalize on this motivation.
Just remember to prioritize quantity over quality and stay on-brand.
Month 4 Blog Goals
Month 4 is focused on promotion efforts and unlocking some initial opportunities.
These goals will improve your confidence and boost awareness for your site.
13. Invest In New Blogging Skills
As you start writing more and building out your blog, you’ll realize you’re good at some things — but bad at some others.
This is totally normal. We all have strengths and weaknesses. But any weakness can become a strength.
And since the blogging journey is never-ending, leveling up your skills is an awesome goal.
Here are some next-level blogging skills worth exploring:
AI integration
Blogging automation
Sharpen your writing skills
Learn how to use GA4 better
Learn to create your own course
Learn sales tactics and digital marketing
Advanced SEO tactics (more on this just later)
14. Create A Blogging Workflow
A blog workflow is a repeatable system for getting more done and staying consistent with your site.
It’s a set of processes or steps for researching, writing, publishing and optimizing your posts. This boosts your productivity and supports habit formation.
🎉
Check out my personal blogging workflow here.
15. Test Some AI
You’ll be using AI at some point sooner or later. But the trick is in learning how to use it correctly.
For example, telling ChatGPT to write a 1000-word blog on how to start a garden and then just copying it over to your site to publish is a terrible strategy.
But if you train an AI on your unique brand voice and get good at prompting, then the output is much better. Still, it’s a good idea to go back and add your unique experiences and nuances.
AI is one of those future creative skills I think will become increasingly necessary to know. So you may as well learn it now!
Explore more:
➤ The Future of Blogging
16. Monetize Your Blog
There are tons of ways to monetize a blog. And by the end of month 9, you may be in a better position to do that.
Most of my first blog income came from sponsored posts or small affiliate sales. But offering services or using ads are two other popular methods to start with.
Here are the most common blog monetization channels:
Offer services
Sponsored posts
Affiliate marketing
Sell digital products
Place ads on your blog
Create a paid membership
Find sponsored posts opportunities
At month 4, I wouldn’t expect any large amounts of money yet, but it can be encouraging (and exciting) to get a few balls rolling.
Month 5 Blog Goals
Month 5 goals focus on building out your infrastructure and exploring alternative traffic channels.
These goals will help increase your traffic, authority and clarity.
17. Create a Lead Magnet or Freebie
A lead magnet is a quick win for your audience — often in exchange for their email. For example, here are some common lead magnets or freebies you could offer as a blogger:
Cheat sheets or checklists
eBooks
Downloadable templates
A free quiz
Webinars
A free email course
18. Launch A Newsletter
If you’ve made a lead magnet, then this is the perfect time to get serious about launching a newsletter.
A newsletter can be an awesome supplement to your blog content, offering readers more in-depth information, case studies or value.
It’s also one of the best assets to build as a creator. An email list is a direct line of communication with people who know and trust you. It’s an “own” audience that no algorithm, trend or platform update can take away.
Some creators recommend starting a newsletter straight away — which you totally can — but I like to wait until I clarify my audience and brand.
I’m currently using both Beehiiv and Kit (previously ConvertKit) — but currently, I’m loving Kit more since they let you make free automated sequences.
19. Expand—Get Social
Love it or hate it, modern SEO is moving away from just blogging and Google. This is part of the new SEO model ( that I talked about above).
Social media is an awesome way to boost your brand, expand your reach and add more credibility to your blog. You can even turn your blogs into social posts automatically with tool like … or …
X is great for social blogging (what I use for this site), but Instagram, TikTok and YouTube are powerful options too (what I use for my other blogs).
But whatever platform you choose, just go where you can be your most authentic self and where your audience spends the most time.
Explore more:
➤ Vlogging vs. Blogging (+ social media)
20. Try Pinterest for More Traffic
Pinterest is super popular for bloggers. It’s an awesome way to get massive amounts of traffic outside of Google SEO.
Also, Pinterest results can be a lot quicker than traditional search engine ranking. While there’s a lot of skill overlap (such as SEO), Pinterest does require a slightly different approach.
So if you’re keen to know more, check out this post from Create And Go or Niche Website Management’s blog.
Month 6 Blog Goals
Month 6 is when things really start to heat up. You’ll be hitting important growth milestones.
These goals will improve your skills and set you up for the next 6 months.
21. Turn Your Blogs Into Video
Turning your blogs into video or short form content is a smart move. You could even start a whole YouTube channel for your blog (a smart move for traffic diversification, authority and building your brand).
Video content is a great way to increase your exposure and boost your site’s quality. Plus, it’s a valuable and in-demand creative skill to know.
You could definitely work towards this goal way earlier, but it’s best to focus on one channel at a time when starting out.
22. Find Guest Posting Opportunities
Guest posting is when you write for another publication. The content gets published on their site, but you get the byline (and the backlink).
Guest posting expands your reach, builds your network and improves your ranking and authority — all good stuff!
You can learn more about how to find guest posting opportunities here.
23. Make An eBook
By month 6, you’ve likely gathered some solid data for what’s working and what your audience wants. So now can be a great time to start creating your first ebook.
This can become a key asset as you grow. And if not, it’s a great learning experience.
My first ebook didn’t do well at all…but it taught me a lot!
24. Publish 50 Blog Posts
By month 6, a sweet goal is to publish 50 posts.
This is about the time I hit this milestone and it’s a great checkpoint to strive for.
Like above, still prioritize quality over quantity and make sure your topics stay relevant (i.e., don’t just publish for the sake of reaching some arbitrary number).
Month 7 Blog Goals
Month 7 will focus on creating more assets and taking care of some important housekeeping.
These goals will improve the quality and scope of your posts and your brand while opening up exciting new doors.
25. Try More Advanced SEO Tactics
I love a minimalist approach to blogging, but that doesn’t mean you can’t expand and level up.
So here are some advanced SEO moves you can try implementing:
Get more backlinks
Learn technical SEO
Optimize for Google Discover
26. Get Some Feedback
Getting outside feedback for your blog gives you objectivity and fresh insights. You might be surprised by which topics are resonating and which aren’t (so you can double down on what’s working).
It’s also smart to seek feedback from someone who’s actually in your target audience.
And of course listen to your intuition too — some advice just sucks.
27. Earn Consistent Monthly Income
Whether you’re making an extra $30 or an extra $300, earning a consistent income every month from your blog is an awesome milestone.
Being able to cover even just a few bills from your blog is exciting stuff!
So start working towards earning a consistent income. Try choosing one monetization channel to start with and double down on optimizing it.
28. Hit 10K Monthly Visitors
An existing milestone is hitting 10K monthly visits to your blog.
If you’ve been consistent and implemented good keyword research and SEO tactics, this is definitely doable — you could even surpass that number!
But of course, don’t stress if you’re not here yet. Remember, blogging is a long game. And more traffic doesn’t always equal more money or brand growth.
Month 8 Blog Goals
Month 8 is all about advanced optimization and becoming a data and productivity wizard.
These goals will enhance your blog’s performance and efficiency.
29. Forget SEO—Optimize for Discover
Google Discover works more like a social media feed. And it’s a great way to expand your blog’s reach and boost your traffic. It does however require a slightly different approach than traditional SEO.
Here are a few tips to start optimizing for Google Discover:
Don’t use SEO titles — capture attention and interest
Use compelling images that stand out
Publish fresh content that’s topical and relevant
30. Audit Your Site for Broken Links
Broken links are links that lead to nowhere (except a 404 page). This creates a terrible user experience and hurts your SEO and branding. So it’s smart to do a quick audit to make sure you don’t have any.
This includes checking your own links as well as external sites you link to in posts.
As you grow, there’s a chance you’ll run into this problem. But one way I avoid it is by always doing a 301 redirect whenever I change a URL or delete a page.
Also, when you actually monitor your data, you’re more likely to spot issues quicker. Check out Ahrefs Broken Link Checker for free.
Explore more:
➤ How to do 301s in Squarespace
31. Gather Original Data
Original data kicks ass. It’s hard to compete with, helps you stand out and makes your posts more share worthy (great for backlinks and more traffic).
Here are some ways to gather your own data:
Do a case study
Do a survey or a poll
Interview leaders in your space
Test strategies and share the results
Once you do have the data, you can put your findings into a long-form white paper for your audience and optimize it for a high-value keyword.
This can drive a lot of valuable traffic and increase your inbound links (since data-based posts tend to do well and are often linked to by other sites).
32. Try Out Some Pro Blogging Tools
You don’t need fancy tools, but they do help a lot. And as you grow, they can even become essential.
So here are some of my favorite tools for blogging:
Ahrefs — for keyword research and data
Spark Plugin — for Squarespace customizations
Hotjar — for heat maps and deeper engagement metrics
Infography — turn your blog posts into quality infographics
Semrush — for keyword research and their AI tool, ContentShake
Explore more:
➤ Best Blogging Tools for Beginners
Month 9 Blog Goals
Month 9 is money-focused (woo!).
These goals will help you increase your blog’s income potential.
33. Do a Content Gap Analysis
A content gap analysis is when you audit your website and/or your competitor’s website to look for gaps in content (i.e., topics not yet covered — or not covered well).
While identifying gaps in your own content is crucial (especially for building topical authority), finding gaps that your competitors are missing can be an awesome opportunity to capture extra traffic.
34. Create a Poll or a Survey
One of the best ways to better understand your niche is to go directly to the source — your audience.
Polls and surveys give you insightful data, help you create better offers and improve your audience’s engagement.
You can add a simple widget directly in a post, as a pop-up or in your newsletter. Luckily, they’re also pretty simple to make these days.
35. Review / Update Old Articles
Updating old posts is an important part of building a successful blog. I like to update mine at least once a year (especially my high-performing articles).
Not every post will need a full reno every year, but even making small tweaks i. Your branding may have evolved, your writing probably got better and information may have changed.
Plus, updating old articles helps to better optimize them for more keywords and keeps them fresh for better ranking.
36. Create a Blog Media Kit
A blog media kit is a document or landing page that outlines key metrics (such as traffic, subscriber count and audience demographics). This page is to help potential sponsors and brands better understand your site.
This makes getting partnership easier and more professional.
So once you have some data and more insights to share, creating a media kit for your blog can be an awesome goal and an exciting milestone.
Month 10 Blog Goals
Month 10 will focus on adding advanced features and more functionality to better wow your audience.
These goals will improve your blog’s professionalism, quality and trust.
37. Hire a Blog Consultant or Mentor
Consultants and mentors shortcut your success. After all, as the Chinese proverb goes, if you want to know the road ahead, ask the person coming back.
Just be sure to look for someone who actually has experience, offers great value and is someone you vibe with.
38. Improve Your Blog Metrics
Blog metrics are important data points that signal content quality and blog performance.
For example, a high bounce rate may indicate visitors are having a poor UX experience or your search intent is off. And a low number sessions per visit could indicate that your blogs aren’t good, captivating or optimized for well with recommended links for further reading.
Here are some tips for improving blog metrics:
Use emotion to draw readers in quickly
Use social proof to boost your conversions
Add an email popup when readers exit your site
Optimize your site’s CTAs for higher CTRs and conversions
Improve your session time by with a better site design and UX
Increase your sessions per visit by improving your internal linking
38. Create a Glossary
Glossaries are a collection of every relevant term in your niche — including separate pages with their definitions and possibly short guides with examples.
Creating a glossary for your website can end up giving you a lot of extra traffic. So if it makes sense for your niche, brand, audience and goals, you may consider this traffic method.
40. Create a Custom Tool or Chatbot
Custom tools are an amazing way to build your brand and boost your earnings as a blogger. For example, you could:
Create a Chrome extension
Create a chatbot or AI
Create a software
So what kind of tool should you make? This totally depends on you and your niche/audience, but here’s a simple strategy to follow:
Solve your own biggest problem — sell the solution.
Month 11 Blog Goals
Month 11 is focused on finding and plugging any leaking holes in your blog and the assets you’ve built out so far.
These goals should address technical issues and further optimize your site.
41. Publish 100+ Blog Posts
By the end of year 1, a great goal is to have published 100 blog posts.
This is an awesome milestone and this is when things really start to get exciting and grow.
But if you’re not there yet, just keep at it (remember, blogging is a long-game).
42. Create a Course
Courses are an amazing way to add epic value to your audience while generating passive(ish) income as a blogger or digital creator.
Although, it does take some finesse and strategy.
First, you need to know what your audience actually needs (not what you think they need). This is the value of gathering data and testing free or MVP products before investing in a full course.
So pay attention to your most common FAQs, best-performing posts and audience feedback.
Start with a freebie to test and learn. Expand into a course when it makes sense.
43. Get Featured as an Expert
Getting featured or interviewed as an expert is super exciting. After my first time getting featured in a major publication (see here, tip #7 on digital habits), m DA (domain authority) increased and I felt a renewed sense of value as a creator.
I didn’t even do any outreach. I just kept publishing blog and growing my site. Eventually, people will find you.
Otherwise, you can also try to reach out directly when you’ve built up enough content and established value in your niche.
44. Monetize Your Newsletter
A newsletter is an amazing asset to have as a creator. It’s an owned audience and direct line of communication with people who know and trust you.
No algorithm, platform update or industry change can take that from you.
Monetizing a newsletter is a popular way modern creators are making money online these days, so this is a great blogging goal to work towards for supplementing your blog income.
Here are some ways to monetize your newsletter:
Affiliate marketing
Ad or banner placements
Sponsors or brand partnerships
Selling services and/or your own products
Month 12 Blog Goals
By month 12, your blog is really starting to look like a fully-fledged business.
You’ve hit key milestones and developed a personal brand for yourself. These next goals reflect those achievements.
45. Get a DA of 30+
Domain authority (DA) is a metric that measures the authority of your website — I believe Moz originally came up with it. Now, many different sites (not including Google) provide scores.
But these scores can can vary a lot.
For example, my travel site has a DA of 48 on Ahrefs (which is pretty freaking good!). But on Moz, it’s only 10 and on Semrush, it’s 38.
So who’s right? Who knows.
DA is tied to many factors. But a few big ones are the age of your domain (older sites are better) and your backlink profile (the more backlinks from authoritative sites, the better).
So why bother with DA anyways? Well, there’s one big reason:
A higher DA make you more authoritative, meaning you can get better opportunities and rank for more competitive or profitable terms.
So if you haven’t thought about your DA before, this is a great blogging goal to work towards.
46. Join A Better Ad Network
If you’ve stayed diligent over the past 9 months, you may be able to start exploring some of these options.
A couple popular ad networks (that are more premium) include:
Mediavine (minimum traffic: 50,000 visitors/month)
AdThrive (minimum traffic: 100,000 visitors/month)
47. Go To A Blogging Conference
Nothing says I mean business like attending an industry conference.
This is an exciting blog goal to look forward to — even if you haven’t hit all of the milestones you were hoping for.
While these cost money, conferences are awesome places to learn new skills, network with other creators and promote your brand.
A quick Google search of “blogging conferences” should point you in the right direction.
48. Review the Year — Plan for the Next
Self reflection (while looking ahead and mapping out your next moves) is fun – and smart.
It’s a strategic way to remind yourself of what worked and what didn’t. This can guide you as you move into your second year.
You can plan out your next batches of content, spend time researching new sub-niches and set goals for the next year (hm, I may need to make another post…).
Month 12+ (looking ahead)
These last blogging goals are things I would focus on after meeting the majority of the goals above.
They may take some time, but they’re super exciting moments.
49. Become An Authority In Your Niche
Becoming an authority takes time. But rest assured, you can do it.
Sometimes, the thing that separates the niche leaders from everyone else is the leaders just never gave up and had a relentless hunger to keep moving forward.
Still, you don’t need to be the MVP or some top performer to be successful.
The tailend of success is long. And there’s always room for more than one leader.
50. Go Full-Time
Going full-time is the ultimate goal as a blogger.
This can absolutely happen in your first year – but it may take a few more.
It all depends on things like your niche competition, your posting consistency, the quality of your content and your keyword research.
But it’s definitely possible…nay, it’s inevitable if you stick with it.
Later ✌️
