If you’ve been a blogger for any length of time, chances are you’ve seen your traffic ebb and flow at certain times of the year.  But if you notice that your traffic falls through the floor at certain times of the year, then it may well represent a significant movement, one you want to stop as much as possible.

It’s entirely possible–and it’s something you want to check–that your traffic may have some seasonal motivations.

For instance, if you run a gadget blog, maybe your traffic spikes around the Christmas shopping season but falls off after the “momdadgrad gift corridor”.  You might think there’s not a lot you can do about that, but now’s the perfect time to give your readers a new reason to come back.

Consider doing different types of pieces in this time, something that your readers wouldn’t ordinarily see and thusly not expect.  If you can give them a whole new reason to come back, then maybe it’s a smart idea.

You ever drive through Iowa?

I did, once, or rather my family did when I was a kid.  I was going to try out for Jeopardy’s Teen Tournament out in Omaha, Nebraska, and getting there required that we drive through Iowa.  And I’ll tell you this about Iowa; I thought I lived in a rural setting growing up, well, you haven’t seen The Country until you’ve seen Iowa.  Miles and miles of cornfields with nothing to distinguish one from the other except an occasional barn.

Sounds like a horrible drive, doesn’t it?  Well, it really is, mostly because everything looks so much alike that it’s impossible to tell that you’ve moved except by the odometer.  But what do you do when your blog starts looking like a drive through Iowa?

There’s one thing you can do to start breaking up the constant flood of More Of The Same.  First, take your last five of ten posts and look for similarities.  List them.  Now, once you’ve got that list, put it up right next to your computer with a big old label that says “Don’t”.  Just obey your newfound instruction sheet for a few posts and, soon enough, you’ll have taken out some of the cornfield and replaced it with thriving strip malls or maybe just a gigantic three headed statue of Elvis.

Shaking up your blog will help you keep your readers’ attention focused on you, and for your sake, and your bottom line’s sake, that’s exactly where you want it.