Case Study: Hayley Lucero
Hayley more than doubled her monthly sessions and reduced her content creation time by 63% after implementing changes from her blog audit!
Meet Hayley
Hayley is the face behind Real Food with Altitude, a food blog she started in 2020. As a Nationally Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, she shares nutritious recipes on her blog and helps people struggling with autoimmune disorders, chronic diseases, and gut issues.
Hayley had been blogging for over 4 years before doing an audit+coaching call. She felt stuck and overwhelmed with the technical aspects of running her site. Despite putting in significant effort, she wasn’t seeing the growth she wanted.
The Challenge
Before the audit, Hayley faced several key challenges:
- Stagnant traffic around 2,000 monthly sessions with no breakthrough.
- Lack of understanding about SEO and ranking.
- Technical difficulties with site speed and plugin management.
- Overwhelming backend setup with too many unused and paid plugins.
- Decreasing motivation due to lack of progress.
- Inefficient content creation process taking 4+ hours to write 1 post.
- Disorganized homepage that wasn’t serving visitors effectively.
“I felt like I was spinning my wheels and not understanding any of my back end stuff. And then I would do one thing and it would kill the speed on my website. Then I would do something else and it would ruin something else.”
The Solution
The blog audit and coaching call provided Hayley with:
- A comprehensive checklist for systematic improvements.
- Guidance on streamlining plugins and backend setup.
- Templates and processes for efficient content creation.
- Homepage reorganization for better user experience.
- Strategy for balancing new content vs updates.
- Clear action items that could be tackled in small time blocks.
Hayley particularly appreciated the practical, actionable nature of the recommendations: “The checklist that you gave me of things to do was so helpful. I’m such a list person…It made it really easy to give me action items to go do if I had an hour after work.”
The Results
After implementing the audit recommendations, Hayley achieved:
- More than doubled monthly sessions from ~2,500 to 5,900.
- Reduced content creation time from 4+ hours to ~1.5 hours per post.
- A cleaner, faster-loading website.
- Monetization within the Journey ad network.
- Renewed motivation and confidence in blogging.
- More organized approach to content strategy.
- Better understanding of technical aspects.
On her progress, Hayley shares: “I’ve more than doubled my views. And like I said, we talked back in May so that I did a lot then. And then we got married and moved and bought and sold the house and honeymooned. And so there was a few months where I didn’t do anything. So really since September, I really feel like it’s when I’ve doubled in my sessions, which has been exciting.”
Please note that individual results may vary. Case study details shared with client permission. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Hayley’s Key Takeaways
Hayley shared several valuable insights from her audit experience:
- Simplify the Backend: “Simplifying the back end of everything and your processes will make life much easier.”
- Focus on Foundations: Getting the technical basics right created space for creativity and content creation.
- Systems Matter: Having templates and processes makes content creation more efficient and enjoyable.
- Quality Over Quantity: Using fewer, more effective plugins improved site performance and reduced costs.
“I feel like I have the confidence on my blog now that I didn’t. I just honestly didn’t know what I was doing. I felt like I kind of knew what I was doing. And after talking to you, I feel like I actually know what I’m doing on my blog.”
Is a Blog Audit Right For You?
Ideal Candidates Are:
- Bloggers with at least 20-30 published posts.
- Not complete beginners, but still early in their journey.
- Have some understanding of blogging fundamentals.
- Feel stuck with technical aspects.
- Want to improve but don’t know where to start.
- Ready to implement changes.
In Hayley’s words: “I feel like everyone could benefit, but you kind of have to understand blogging a little bit. Not super beginner, like, not helping build their blog, but also beginner-ish… having a good foundation that they can actually build on.”
Not Ideal For:
- Complete beginners just starting their blog.
- Those who need help with initial blog setup.
- Bloggers with hundreds of posts needing updates.
Hayley’s Advice
Before You Start
“Just do it. I was nervous because I’d taken courses before that weren’t useful. But this audit was different – it gave me practical steps I could actually implement.”
About the Investment
“Yes, it’s a significant investment, but I got the return so much quicker than with other courses I’ve tried. It made me a million steps closer to monetizing my blog where I wasn’t doing anything before.”
Making the Most of It
- Keep the checklist handy for quick wins during short work sessions.
- Watch the tutorial videos right before implementing changes.
- Take advantage of the templates provided.
- Start with the easiest changes to build momentum.
“You are so easy to talk to and so knowledgeable on blogging. I feel like that was very apparent right off the bat where previously it was like, hard to understand what was going on. And I feel like you just made it super simple.”
Hayley’s Audit Testimonial
Watch Hayley’s Full Interview
Ready to improve your blog & systems like Hayley did?
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