We are now into month 2 of this blog! I’m proud of my consistency and growing this site. With 60 days behind me, I wanted to take the time to write up some new blog traffic analysis.
Creating this blog has been a long dream in the making. I just tend to get excited at the beginning of new goals and then it fizzes away. So many ideas sit untouched or discarded. This blog is different. So far I’ve made it to 2 months! This is the most consistent I’ve been with any of the blogs I’ve created in the past. I’m really enjoying this process.
New Blog Traffic Analysis: Month 2
I started this blog in January 2021 with my first blog post on Jan 9 (How to Make Reusable Crochet Face Scrubbies in 10 minutes).
I created this blog to comprise everything mind, body, and soul. This is a place for creative tutorials, positive guidance for self-improvement, and healthy DIY recipes.
After the first-month learning curve, there are things I have done to help build this blog and key learnings I came across to improve my goals. You can take a peek at my 1 month blog review here.
Let’s take a look at my month two analytics.
Things I Have Learned in 2 Months of Blogging
Blog Research
It’s important to stay updated on blog research. I continued to read more about improving on-page SEO and how to create a better user experience.
Here are some great articles and websites that I found useful this month.
I stumbled upon this site recently. This site aggregates what people search for online to help you find keywords for your articles. For example, let’s say my keyword is crochet pattern. I type it into their search box and it gives me different questions such as “How to read a crochet pattern.” I can then use this specific topic for my next blog article as I know people want answers to these questions. This site is super helpful, though you do need to sign up for their premium package if you want more than 3 searches a day. I have not done this yet, but might in the future.
How to Add Table of Contents to WordPress
As I focus on quality blog posts that are more in depth, adding a table of contents to help users navigate the page has been on my to do list. This article from Hubspot details how to add a table of contents to your WordPress either manually or through plugins. I have not used any plugins on the list, but I will try Easy Table of Contents plugin and see how that works.
The Definitive Guide to On-Page SEO
This on page SEO guide from Backlinko has 7 chapters that walk you through optimization processes and tips.
Website Updates:
In creating a better user experience, I aimed to make sure my site looked clean and was organized properly. I also added social media buttons through Sassy Social Share Word Press plugin to further my blog post marketing. Now it’s super easy for my readers to share my content!
I also added Yoast SEO plugin to improve my keyword optimization. I’m still learning about the best practices, but I do like working at it until the SEO icon turns green! It feels like quite an accomplishment.
I am considering updating my blog theme to something else next month. I am a little vary of overhauling the blog as I’m worried about errors, but this would be a good time to do it. My blog is still new.
Month 2 Review
I wrote 7 blog posts my first month.
In month 2, my goals were to write more posts (at least 11) and to write longer-worded blog posts. I wrote 11 blog posts this month – I hit my goal! I also kept a consistent publishing goal of one blog post per theme (mind, body, soul) a week so that I would have at least 3 posts within my niche every week.
These 11 blog posts break down as follows:
February 15, 2021: Beginner’s Guide to Crocheting: How to Make a Slipknot
February 16, 2021: Easy Beginner’s Crochet Washcloth Pattern
February 18, 2021: 17 Inspirational Self-Love Quotes for Mental Clarity
February 20, 2021: How to Lose Weight and Keep it Off
February 23, 2021: New Blog Traffic Analysis: 1 Month Review
February 24, 2021: How to Make Personalized Vinyl Decals With Cricut
February 25, 2021: Dealing with Long Term Grief
March 2, 2021: Want Long, Thick and Luxurious Hair? Try these Indian recipes
March 4, 2021: How to Single Crochet for Beginners
March 5, 2021: Micro-Goals are the Key to Success
March 9, 2021: Best Natural Acne Remedies that Actually Work
Aside from the 10 days that I took off at the beginning of February for my wedding, I wrote 3-4 posts a week. I took off on the weekends.
I’ve always had a hard time staying consistent with my goals and I know the #1 reason why new blogs fail is giving up. I want to keep a consistent schedule without being overwhelmed.
Month 2 New Blog Traffic Analysis
This month, I saw a rise in traffic from my last month’s numbers. This is mainly due to some marketing tactics I undertook.
The number one reason for the improved traffic is social media and blog engagement groups. I joined a small group on Facebook that helps provide views, comments, and marketing strategies. Because the group is on the smaller side, it is genuine and like-minded individuals.
If you’re just starting a blog, I suggest looking into these Facebook groups for blog engagement. You will start to receive global views in a short amount of time. It’s a great way to jumpstart traffic to your blog.
Here is the overview from Jan 9 – Feb 9 (Month 1)
- 28 first time visitors
- 270 monthly page views
- 130 user engagement events
Here are my Month 2 Stats (Feb 9 – March 9)
- 83 first time visitors – 196% increase
- 1.2k monthly page views – 344% increase
- 617 user engagement events – 374% increase
It’s exciting to see this upward increase! Baby steps will lead to great things.
I am trying to get up to a goal of 100 page views per day, or approximately 3,000 page views a month. In my second month of blogging, I’m at 1/3 of my goal. I may be able to reach this milestone hopefully in month 5 or 6.
Page Views and Blog Post Word Counts
Last month, I discussed how I came across a lot of advice suggesting to write 1,500 to 2,000 words for blog posts. And Neil Patel suggests 2,500 to 3,000 words ! Longer blog posts have a better chance of appearing higher in Google searches because the posts are better optimized and give the user all they need in one place.
This also increases the time spent on your site!
Knowing this information, I went into month two with the mindset of aiming for at least 1k words and 1 post that is over 2k. While not every post met these requirements, I did a pretty good job overall.
Here are the word counts for my 11 blog posts for February 2021:
Beginner’s Guide to Crocheting: How to Make a Slipknot (428 words)
Easy Beginner’s Crochet Washcloth Pattern (650 words)
17 Inspirational Self-Love Quotes for Mental Clarity (1,339 words)
How to Lose Weight and Keep it Off (2,484 words)
New Blog Traffic Analysis: 1 Month Review (1,254 words)
How to Make Personalized Vinyl Decals With Cricut (1,114 words)
Dealing with Long Term Grief (1,316 words)
Want Long, Thick and Luxurious Hair? Try these Indian recipes (1,239 words)
How to Single Crochet for Beginners (452 words)
Micro-Goals are the Key to Success (1,044 words)
Best Natural Acne Remedies that Actually Work (1,598 words)
Blog Posts under 1Kwords: 3/11 (27%) | Blog Posts Over 1k words: 7/11 (64%) | Blog Posts Over 2k words: 1/11 (9%)
My most viewed article in month 2 was Want Long, Thick and Luxurious Hair? Try These Indian recipes with 91 monthly views. Previously my most viewed post was 5 DIY Lip Scrubs with Essential Oils with 36 monthly views.
It will still some time to see how on-page SEO and long-word posts help drive traffic. I believe I should have more data on this after six months of consistent blogging.
Blog Revenue and Monthly Cost Breakdown
In month 1 of my blog, I made $0 in revenue. Month 2, I still have not made any revenue. Since this blog is still new, I don’t expect to be able to monetize until 3-6 months. Probably closer to 6 months.
Here are my monthly costs to run the blog:
- Dreamhost $7.99
- Adobe Stock Photos ($29.99)
Total for Month 2: $37.98
Overall Total for 2 months: $81.98
I want to keep track of how much I spend each month so once I am able to monetize I have a better picture of where I stand.
Blog Marketing Breakdown
As I got more comfortable with my blog, I branched out and looked at different ways to market this blog.
Here are some things I added to my marketing plan:
- By Bindi Youtube channel (post videos directly related to blog posts at least once a week)
- Started using Twitter to promote the blog within writing communities.
- Joined a blog engagement group on Facebook.
My goal for Youtube is to post 1-2 videos a week that directly correlate to my blog posts. Then I can cross-promote these videos within blog posts as well as Pinterest. Plus videos are great additions to my creative tutorials.
Here are the videos I created in month 2 along with stats. Nothing to rave home about yet. It’ll be interesting to see when/if traffic goes up with this channel.
31 views
9 views
13 views
20 views
33 views
What’s next for this blog?
Based on month 2 new blog traffic analysis, I have learned some things that I want to implement for month 3.
Month 3 Goals:
- Continue to post 3-4 times a week (Try adding Sunday to the mix)
- Have minimum 11 posts for the month
- Stay consistent with marketing on Pinterest, Twitter and Youtube.
- Write a 3k word blog post (this may be a reach, but I want to continue to push myself)
I’m excited to see what month 3 has in store for me! Have any tips or guidance for a new blogger? Comment below!
