by Kimberly Gauthier, Dog Nutrition Blogger for Keep the Tail Wagging and WordCamp Seattle 2016 Speaker

How many times have you sat staring at your blog’s analytics, wondering what you could do to make the numbers finally start ticking skyward? I was told not to obsess about my blog’s analytics. “Just produce quality content,” they’d say. I’ve learned that publishing blog posts isn’t enough and I’m sure you’ve figured this out as well.

In 10 Blogging Habits that Kill the Competition, I will be sharing the 10 things I did to help me take Keep the Tail Wagging from a small blog in a big pond into one of the leading dog nutrition blogs on the Internet in less than three years.

Today, I’m going to share the principal change that made the biggest impact.

Niche Blogging

When I narrowed my blog’s focus to raw feeding, I left an ocean of pet bloggers and found myself in a small pond. Within a year, my traffic increased 500% and I was labeled an authority in raw feeding.

Sounds simple, right?

Looking back, it was the simplest thing in the world. It was also a complete accident. I stumbled upon this good fortune, because I had a dog with allergies and a reader who wanted to know more about what I was feeding him.

After my accidental fortune, I began to pay more attention to what was working for my blog.

Create a Unique Voice

Although I was in a small niche, I wasn’t the first person to blog about raw feeding; not by a long shot. I was, however, the first person to approach the topic as a novice who was learning alongside her readers. I’m not a veterinarian or a canine nutritionist and never felt comfortable telling others what to feed their dogs. As a result, my blog became a place where people could get information and ask question without feeling the pressure to transition their dogs to raw.

Without realizing it, I had created a unique voice.

Promote What’s Working for You

When the traffic began to grow, I saw more monetization opportunities. It was tempting to throw every banner ad in the pet sphere on my blog, but I’ve learned from past blogging experience that this rarely works.

Instead, I promoted what was working for me and my dogs. I began addressing problems and offering the solution that worked for my dogs and sprinkled affiliate links throughout.

I had integrity and the audience that followed me because I didn’t judge them, added my recommendations to their shopping carts.

Becoming a Big Fish in a Small Pond

None of this happened overnight. It takes a tremendous amount of focus, passion, and discipline to build a successful blog. And for me, it took a bit of luck as well. At WordCamp Seattle, I plan to share everything that I’ve learned and that I’m doing that has landed me on the first page Google results for “dog nutrition blogger.”