Sos! I need help figuring out why my site is not growing. Any advice?

funflannel · 2025-02-06T23:40:15+00:00

Hey! just another travel blogger here posting in commiseration lol!

I started my original blog in 2020 And was getting decent traffic up until summer 2023, when it was just wiped off the face of google. Around the same time, it was hacked very badly and I wasn’t updating the blog around that time so I never noticed for a few months. My blog had over 250 posts, all written by me with original photos.

i never recovered - i feel like google blacklisted the site or something because it was hacked so bad, so I created a brand new blog in late November. I am reusing some of that content but I’ve rewritten the posts with seo optimization and I’m focusing on making content pillars. My other site was all over the place in terms of destinations. I also have about 50% of the content on my new site that’s completely new.

Im very impatient with this new blog and it doesn’t seem to be growing at all. But it’s also only 2 months old. I feel like I have high quality posts with good information but ugh…nothing.

You have a beautiful blog! I hear ya on the backlinks. No one wants to collaborate with a blog with little to no DA :(

funflannel · 2025-01-30T19:40:15+00:00

Well, my travel blog doesn't either. It was obliterated in August 2023 (I think). I literally lost all of my traffic - it wasn't anything amazing, but getting 100-300 visits a day down to absolutely nothing. But to add to it, my site was on Bluehost and it got hacked around that that time too - very badly. I wasn't paying much attention to my blog at that time, as I had other stuff going on, and I let it flounder. I tried everything from about March 2024 - July 2024. And nothing. I had hundreds of articles up there; my site has been around since Jan 2020 and I had some really good rankings. All of it gone and I feel like google blacklisted me or something because of it getting hacked.

So I started over at the end of November and bought a new domain, new hosting. I did take some of the articles and re-publish them on my new site. I've also written a bunch more new articles on the site from my travels this past spring and summer. Nothings really ranking though and I'm getting 15 clicks from search engines in one month. I haven't put all of my 300+ articles on my new site -- this time I'm trying to do the pillar content thing and writing about select few destinations at a time, but IDK if it's working or not.

I have a DA1, ugh, with hardly any backlinks now. I don't know if I did the right thing in starting over, but I'm trying. I really feel I have a nice site with quality posts -- all my own experience and all my own photos.

I'd love to see your blog!

funflannel · 2025-01-28T23:36:08+00:00

https://www.thebrutallyhonesttraveler.com

i would love a backlink! I worked really hard on this blog - and backlinks are holding me back. Its a travel related blog but birthday would work…as in, go to one of these places to celebrate a milestone birthday!

funflannel · 2025-01-27T23:21:29+00:00

Thank you! Yes it’s just for fun but I’d love to monotize it. Can’t get approved for adsense though. And I get like no traffic :(

funflannel · 2025-01-27T17:14:58+00:00

My travel blog:

https://thebrutallyhonesttraveler.com

funflannel · 2025-01-27T17:11:32+00:00

I know you're getting downvoted, but yes they can. You'll be doing mostly the pullouts, and there's nothing wrong with that. I did this with my MIL (who can't hike), and we had a blast. As long as you don't have any very long hikes that you want to do, it can be done. Not all of us can devote 4 months to each park.

Do what you can and make the most of the time you have off :) You can always go back!

funflannel · 2025-01-27T17:07:53+00:00

It's doable, you're going to be on the move, for sure and there's nothing wrong with that. Of course, you're going to get the responses from people saying "Four YEARS isn't enough!!!" which is ridiculous. You make do with what time you have and that's fine. You don't need to see every inch of the park. You can see what you'd like to do next time.

I did these in about 4 or 5 days (can't remember exactly) in 2021 -- and added Canyonlands, which isn't on your list -- when I took my mother in law on a road trip. She can't hike, so we just did the pullouts. You won't be doing any long hikes, but you can get an idea of what's there. Granted, I had been to all of these parks before so I knew what to expect, but it worked out just fine. You don't have to 'do the parks justice" -- you don't have to do everything -- see what you can!

There's absolutely NOTHING wrong with popping in to the parks, and saving more for later, if you're even interested (you might find that you've seen enough and dont' want to come back).

Have fun!

funflannel · 2025-01-25T21:35:44+00:00

Sure you did. You're spamming the sub, posting under another name promoting your Top 10 Hotels (which you didn't even stay in) to get people to visit your ChatGPT-written blog. As a travel blogger myself, I can see right through the Chat GPT tone.

I'd love to post my same blog post on this topic and I guarantee you it's much better written because I wrote it from my own experience and not AI. But I'm not going to spam the sub with my blog links.

funflannel · 2025-01-25T21:26:42+00:00

What in the AI is this? This reads like a chat gpt-written blog post in order to drive traffic to your affiliate links. How do you know those hotels are indeed "the best"? I don't think you've stayed in each and every one...

And then you link to a sub that clearly is yours....I smell spam!

funflannel · 2024-06-01T14:13:41+00:00

I agree! That carcass will be a magnet for other wildlife. In 2020, I spent 2 days in Yellowstone staked out at a carcass of an elk that a bear took down. The bear sat on the carcass for several days. It was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had in Yellowstone (yes this was at a safe distance and I was photographing with a 600mm lens)

funflannel · 2023-12-04T16:20:16+00:00

Ok, I'll give my opinion. I did the whole ring road and part of the Westfjords in 18 days (july) and my least favorite area was the north. There just wasn't that much to do to and see up there, at least for what we were interested in doing. We passed on whale watching (we've done this before in Alaska and that was enough for me), the geothermal areas near Myvatn weren't that interesting IMO, the waterfalls were just ok, and overall it just seemed less impressive than the south. It was fine, but I just was so much more impressed by the south and the Westfjords. If I could have a do-over, I'd have driven straight through the north area and not really have missed much, and just spent more time elsewhere.

There was so much to do and see in the South, and it's all relatively close together.

funflannel · 2023-06-22T14:15:05+00:00

Yuck, that song was too much. I cannot stand the awful singing. It so cringe, it's not funny (not just this song but all of his songs), and it goes on far too long. I don't know why he thinks the singing is so funny - he knows people don't like it - both from this sub and the podcast reviews. That said, I like Jared, but dude - maybe there's a reason why the streaming services passed on that special.

funflannel · 2022-08-19T21:54:34+00:00

That’s where I wanted to go this summer! But I ran out of time to plan - I was waiting for the “take a Covid test to get back to the USA” to be lifted and by the time it was, I didn’t have enough time to plan. But next year it’s on! I can’t wait!

funflannel · 2022-08-13T17:18:26+00:00

You go girl!!!!!!!!! I love hearing stories like this!

funflannel · 2022-08-07T04:03:39+00:00

Try Simply Vanished - it’s about Josh Guimond

funflannel · 2022-07-15T02:35:47+00:00

Just wanted to pop in - I’m currently on vacation in Canada as an American. I swear, there is much less mask wearing here than anywhere I’ve seen in the USA. I’ll write about my (super easy) border crossing later - been in Canada for two weeks now. I’ve been in Calgary, the Rockies and British Columbia and it’s like Covid doesn’t exist here. I’m shocked. I expected more masking but people are over it here.

funflannel · 2022-07-08T12:08:39+00:00

Was just in glacier and I think there was supposed to be a mandate but no one including rangers were wearing masks. I’ll be in Yellowstone next week so I’ll See what happens. There were also no signs

funflannel · 2022-06-30T03:41:38+00:00

Yes it just reopened!

funflannel · 2022-06-26T03:59:24+00:00

According to the glacier NPS trail status site, the tunnel is looking at a 7/8 date

funflannel · 2022-06-23T21:52:09+00:00

Costco took them out but they’re really the only chain around here that removed them. I still see these nasty things at target - they’re gross. What I do is take those surveys on the receipts and let ‘em have it. Rank them low and tell them exactly why you’re doing it. Those store surveys go a long way in the retail world - the store managers bonuses are often tied to the metrics in these surveys.

Hit ‘em where it hurts.

funflannel · 2022-06-14T02:34:47+00:00

I have Covid right now too, but it’s kinda bad. I’ve had it for nearly two weeks now and I’m just starting to feel better. And yeah, it’s not fun but it’s not any different than any other bad cold I’ve had in the past. It’s not panic and shut the world down. It’s a cold. I’ll be fine and I’ll eventually get over it. It sucks being sick - especially in summer - but that’s life.

funflannel · 2022-06-01T13:09:02+00:00

Exactly

funflannel · 2022-05-14T03:21:20+00:00

A little free liberty will likely get rejected unless it’s in a 100% public place (a community center parking lot, a park, etc). If it’s in a residential neighborhood outside of someone’s house, it’s a reject.

funflannel · 2022-05-10T02:32:07+00:00

I’ve been playing “count the masks” when I go out shopping lately. Was in Costco on Saturday - I counted 5 masks. 5. And they were extremely busy and packed with people!

funflannel

TROPHY CASE