We are now into month 3 of this blog! I’m proud of my consistency and growing this site. As someone who usually starts a project hot and then gives up, sticking with this blog is all the more rewarding. With 90 days behind me, I wanted to take the time to write up some new blog analytics.
Before I delve into my month 3 stats, I just wanted to give a little background this past month. I spent 2.5 weeks on the east coast to prep for my upcoming wedding. With the traveling and preparations, I didn’t have as much time to write this month.
It is something I am disappointed in. But that is life. I have to give myself some slack. Wedding planning is tough work, and I am happy with how that’s coming together.
There will be consistency sometimes, and sometimes you’ll fail. How you keep going will separate you from those who quit. I have every intention of catching back up in month 4 with this blog!
New Blog Analytics: Month 3
If you are new here, 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. I found myself creating separate Instagram accounts and Etsy stores for things I enjoyed, and I wanted to funnel it all into one place. Hence By Bindi was born!
After the first-month learning curve, I have done things 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 new blog analytics for month 3.
Things I Have Learned in 3 Months of Blogging
Blog Research
As I navigate this new blogging world, I am continuing to research how to blog successfully. This means something different for everyone.
For me, making this blog, success looks like seeing good and engaged traffic and being able to share what I love to a community of like-minded people.
How to implement SEO to blog posts has been a huge focus area for me. I want to learn all I can about SEO as everything I read says that investing time up front will pay off down the road. It is definitely a slow burn, but I’m hopeful all the effort will pay off by 6 months.
Another big area I focused on was Keyword Research. Previously, I was writing about things I enjoyed and had only done the minimal keyword research. I realized that longtail keywords really are the jackpot.
Here are some great articles and websites that I found useful this month.
I found this beginner’s guide to keyword research by ahrefs.com pretty helpful this month. I do use their research tool, though I have not paid for the premium. It does help to see what users are searching for and what keywords are difficult to rank for. While I believe you should write things you want to write, if you are trying to rank, you have to be strategic about it.
How to Create a Round-Up Blog Post
I love round-up posts and wanted to write one for a while. Creating a round-up post is on my to-do list for month 4. Round-up posts can increase traffic when done well and also are a great way to promote yourself without being spammy. I’m going to try my hand at it and see how it goes!
Website Updates:
One major change I made this month is implementing the Easy Table of Contents plugin. This plugin is super easy to use and has helped me tailor my posts in a more digestible way. I’m always looking to improve my writing, and have a table of contents was a great addition.
Month 3 Review
Let’s break down the new blog analytics. Last month I made a goal to aim for 11 blog posts a month. I was on track the first half of the month. However, I got too busy with wedding planning in the last two weeks of the month. I traveled to the east coast, and while I accomplished a lot for the upcoming wedding (got all my outfits, yay!), I didn’t have as much time to write.
I wrote 7 blog posts my first month and 11 in my second month.
In my third month, I wrote. 6 blog posts. I am disappointed with my number. But, next month, I’m aiming for 11 again.
While I did not meet my goal, I did try to continue to hit higher word count posts and have been doing well. I still need to write a post that is 3k words. This is more of a long-term goal at the moment. Hoping to hit this in the next couple of months.
These 6 blog posts break down as follows:
March 11, 2021: New Blog Traffic Analysis: 2 Month Review
March 15, 2021: Striped Crochet Wash Cloth Pattern
March 19, 2021: Powerful Daily Affirmations for Self Love
March 24, 2021: DIY Lavender Vanilla Lip Balm Sticks (Non-Toxic Recipe)
March 31, 2021: Bertello Pizza Oven Review (With Recipes and Photos)
April 11, 2021: Easy Textured Crochet Dish Scrubbies Pattern (Reusable)
Despite my uneven publishing schedule, I did get a post out at least once a week. This is the bare minimum I want for my blog. I am definitely hitting that point where I tend to quit due to other priorities. But, I want to keep pushing through, so I need to keep myself on track.
Month 3 New Blog Traffic Analysis
My blog traffic is growing consistently, and that does motivate me to keep going. As long as my traffic grows, I know I’m doing something right!
This was the first month I decided to share an article on my personal Facebook page. I usually only use Instagram and Pinterest to promote the blog under a specific business account. I feel weird spamming my friends on my personal pages. However, the post I did share (The Pizza Oven Review) was a huge hit! It was really well received and shared. This brought a lot of traffic to my blog.
I even got a writing gig out of it. Win!
So what did my 3-month blog traffic look like?
Here is the overview of blog traffic 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
Here are my Month 2 Stats (Mar 9 – April 9)
- 231 first time visitors – 56% increase
- 3.4k monthly page views – 54% increase
- 1.9k user engagement events – 48% increase
Month 3 didn’t have the dramatic increase between months 1-2, but that’s okay! I am still on an upward trajectory, and I’m happy with that. Last month I mentioned my goal was to hit 3,000 page views a month or 100 page views a day. I thought it would take me 5-6 months to hit that number, but I accomplished it in 3 months.
I am happy with how that turned out.
Page Views and Blog Post Word Counts
I’m always interested in seeing how word counts correlate to page views. Last month I mentioned that longer blog posts rank higher on Google as you are covering more information. I love data, so I’ve been tracking my word counts monthly, and it’s a good one to track for new blog analytics.
This month I managed to write one article over 2k, which I’m really proud of. This article was a super fun one to write.
Here are the word counts for my 6 blog posts for March 2021:
New Blog Traffic Analysis: 2 Month Review(1,765 words)
Striped Crochet Washcloth Pattern (461 words)
Powerful Daily Affirmations for Self Love (1,058 words)
DIY Lavender Vanilla Sticks (non-toxic recipe) (1,298 words)
Bertello Pizza Oven Review (with recipes and photos) (2,116 words)
Easy Textured Crochet Dish Scrubbies Pattern (Reusable) (769 words)
Blog Posts under 1Kwords: 2/6 (33%) | Blog Posts Over 1k words: 4/6 (66%) | Blog Posts Over 2k words: 1/6 (16%)
My most viewed article in month 2 was Daily Affirmations for Self Love with 288 monthly views. Previously my most viewed post was Want Long, Thick and Luxurious Hair? Try these Natural Indian Hair Masks! with 91 monthly views.
It will still some time to see how on-page SEO and long-word posts help drive traffic. I should have more data on this after six months of consistent blogging.
Blog Revenue and Monthly Cost Breakdown
Cost and revenue are a big part of new blog analytics. In month 1-2 of my blog, I made $0 in revenue. In month 3, I am starting to make money, but it is pennies. Since this blog is still new, I don’t expect to monetize until 3-6 months. Probably closer to 6 months.
In month 3, I joined two ad networks:
Skimlinks is an affiliate marketing network that adds code to your site to turn links you write into affiliate links. It’s a good way for beginners to start making money as you don’t have to apply to individual affiliate networks. However, you do need to have some traffic as you make money with clicks.
I did not make any money using Skimlinks this month.
Infolinks is an ad platform that is easy to access for beginner bloggers. I was able to get accepted within a day of applying on their site.
With Infolinks, I made a whopping $0.86. It’s not much, but it’s a start! I’m curious how the next month will look.
Here are my monthly costs to run the blog:
- Dreamhost $7.99
- Adobe Stock Photos ($29.99)
Total cost for Month 3: $37.98
Overall Total cost for 3 months: $119.96
Revenue Month 3: $0.86
Profit/Loss: $119.10
I want to keep track of how much I spend each month, so once I can monetize, I have a better picture of where I stand.
Blog Marketing Breakdown
My goal for this blog is to use synergistic platforms to promote my posts. Right now, my two big marketing platforms are Pinterest and Youtube.
This month I made one Youtube video to go with my post:
What’s next for this blog?
Based on my new blog analytics, I have learned some things that I want to implement for month 4.
Month 4 Goals:
- Post 3-4 times a week (Try adding Sunday to the mix)
- Have a minimum of 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 4 has in store for me! Have any tips or guidance for a new blogger? Comment below!
