Hello again and welcome to the final traffic and income report for my first year of blogging, covering months 10, 11 and 12 of the blog I started in November 2018.
It’s hard to believe a year has passed. It didn’t exactly fly by — balancing a full-time job, parenting and blogging burned me out at times — but overall I’m glad I stuck with it. This quarter brought several encouraging developments, and I can see positive results from the work I’ve put in.
I publish quarterly reports for a few reasons:
- I was inspired to start blogging by other traffic and income reports. Most reports you find begin after a blog is already successful, so I wanted to document the very beginning and share a realistic picture of the early stages.
- They help keep me accountable and track progress over time.
For previous reports see my Quarter 1, Quarter 2 and Quarter 3 posts in the traffic and income category. As you may know from earlier updates, my blog doesn’t generate income yet. I’m holding off on placing ads until I qualify for Mediavine, which requires 25,000 sessions in 30 days to apply.
Mediavine tends to pay well and prioritizes site speed. Ads from slower networks can harm performance and growth, so I prefer to wait for a high-quality network. I also haven’t pursued sponsored content or affiliates due to the extra paperwork, taxes and social security obligations involved with living in Spain — it’s not worth the administrative burden until I have a steady ad income.
Based on this quarter’s results, monetization looks likely next quarter. Read on to see what changed and how the blog progressed.
- Posts
- Traffic
- Subscribers
- What’s Next…
Posts
I published 12 posts this quarter. That’s one fewer than the previous quarter and below my target of 15; I’d like to publish a new post each week and update another. Four of these posts were older recipes I rewrote for better SEO and refreshed with new photos.
Considering nearly three weeks of holidays with the kids and some burnout, I’m satisfied with the output. Monthly breakdown:
- August – 4 posts
- September – 3 posts
- October – 5 posts
I’ll analyze my workflow to increase meaningful output. New content and updating old posts are both important: new posts add value and reach, while revamped posts with improved SEO and photos boost page and domain authority. My realistic goal is a minimum of four posts per month, aiming for up to eight when possible.
Traffic
- August: Page Views 10,441
- September: Page Views 14,798
- October: Page Views 27,881
- Average Monthly Views: 17,707
Traffic rose significantly this quarter. I suspect a combination of the blog approaching its first anniversary (domain age matters for search) and seasonal increases for food content heading into Q4. Average monthly views more than doubled and I expect to reach Mediavine’s session threshold in November (25,000 sessions ≈ 30,000 pageviews).
Pinterest and Google referral traffic increased notably. I’ve been testing Facebook more but still need a clearer strategy. October saw a big spike after being featured in a BuzzFeed roundup, which brought a temporary traffic boost.
In September I moved hosting from Bluehost to SiteGround (GoGeek) and immediately saw load times improve by about two seconds. Installing WP Rocket improved speed further by roughly 0.6 seconds, and I now use ShortPixel to compress images. The timing of these speed improvements coincided with the October traffic surge, so I believe site performance played a role.
Top sources remain Google, Pinterest and Facebook, with BuzzFeed appearing as a new temporary referrer. Recipe-sharing sites have declined, partly because I’ve missed sharing to some of them.
Subscribers
I reached 122 subscribers, up from 16 last quarter. Most of this growth came from a MailChimp pop-up sign-up form — about 76% of new subscribers. I haven’t built a lead magnet yet; for now I’m focusing on consistent content and list hygiene.
In September I set up MailChimp campaigns and prepared an email based on my RSS feed. Campaigns aren’t retroactive, so I delayed sending until more recipes populated the feed. The first campaign is scheduled for November. I’ll monitor engagement and prune inactive subscribers — MailChimp’s free plan covers up to 2,000 contacts, but it’s wise to remove inactive addresses early.
I expect some attrition in November as people who signed up months ago but never received emails may mark messages as spam or unsubscribe. I also plan to segment the list so subscribers can opt into topics that interest them — for example Whole30 recipes, income reports, or general recipes.
Facebook followers grew from 513 at the end of Q3 to 889 by the end of Q4. I’ve started giving Facebook more attention, but I need a better strategy, more sharing of other bloggers’ posts, and more consistent posting. I’ll test schedulers in November and report back.
Facebook has provided engaged traffic with relatively low effort compared to Pinterest, so it will be a focus next quarter. Some blogger peers reported a reach boost after hitting 2,000 followers, when Facebook flagged their pages as growing — that’s another milestone I’ll aim for.
Pinterest followers grew from 391 to 683, and monthly impressions rose from 145.8k to about 1.3 million. Impressions don’t directly equal traffic, but they indicate expanded reach.
I kept my Tailwind queue full with roughly 15 pins per day, predominantly my own content, and manually pinned most days. Pinterest growth is slower to convert into traffic than SEO but faster than search in some cases. I plan to try a Pinterest strategy course soon and evaluate its impact next quarter.
I’ve made very little effort on Instagram and mainly post when a new recipe goes live. Followers increased from 173 to 215. I expect to delegate Instagram tasks to a virtual assistant later — for now my priority remains driving traffic through Pinterest and Facebook.
What’s next
The main immediate goal is monetization. I expect to apply to Mediavine in November; acceptance can take up to a month and then they add ads, so January could be the first monetized month. I’m also considering switching to a faster theme like Genesis if needed after monetizing.
Reviewing the goals I set at the end of Q3:
- Double my traffic — achieved.
- Improve photography — achieved, though there’s ongoing room to grow and I need more props and backgrounds.
- Fix site speed issues from the audit — achieved.
- Grow and strategize Facebook — partially achieved.
- Create a lead magnet — not achieved; not a priority for now.
- Start sending subscription emails — nearly achieved; first campaign scheduled.
Goals for the next quarter:
- Monetize the website (apply to Mediavine in November, expect ads by January).
- Test social schedulers and develop a Facebook strategy.
- Improve Pinterest strategy, including taking an advanced course and implementing it.
- Continue refining photography and add a few more props and backgrounds.
- Double traffic again, targeting around 55,000 views by the end of January for the previous 30-day period.
- Plan time better to publish more posts and stay consistent using my blogging planner.
That wraps up my first year of blogging. I’m proud I persisted and excited for year two. Thanks for reading — feel free to leave questions or suggestions for future reports. Onwards and upwards!
- Easy Spicy Miso Sauce
- Quick Ensalada Mixta (Spanish Mixed Salad)
- Easy Garlic Salad (Toasted Garlic Dressing)
- Easy Frozen Vegetable Soup (No Tomatoes, Vegan)
- Quick Spicy Labneh Dip