Blog Traffic and Income Report – May 2014

Ok, deep breath…I am finally putting myself out there and am going to share with you my first month’s blog traffic and income report. I’m giving you real numbers and explanations on my almost one year old blog performance for the month of May 2014.  Yep you read right, my blog will be one year old next week!! That’s crazy and I really can’t believe that I have been blogging for a whole year.

When I think of all that I have learned in one year, it is astonishing!! Don’t get me wrong, I still have A LOT to learn!! I see that every month when I read the income report for Pinch of Yum! They made over $22,000 in April!! Just in one month! That is crazy, but in a good way They are definitely a blog that I really look up to and not just for the amount of money that they make…they give part of their earnings each month back to an orphanage in the Philippines. And then there is the food and the food photography, both amazing. Ok…yes, I am stalling so here we go with my blog traffic and income report.

Income

Beachbody - $72.97

Google Adsense – $7.76

Sovrn – $6.33

Swoop - $1.83

Share a Sale – $0

Total Income: $88.89

Thoughts on Income

I am actually quite shocked at this number!! This was the first month that I had monetized my blog and I really haven’t put the effort in that I really should. I have sort of been in the “blogging blues.” You know where you think about all the time and effort that you put into your blog and then you look at the traffic and it is dismal. I haven’t felt like putting in the work. Which is ironic because it was the same month that I decided to monetize. Weird!?!

I understand that the bulk on the income is through Beachbody, and yes, I am a beachbody coach. But I treat it like an affiliate program. I do NOT actively seek out new beachbody customers. I do love their products, especially Shakeology® (which is my breakfast just about every morning). So, I am what they call a “discount coach.” I am really only a coach for the discount on their products. I do have links to their sales pages on my site and ads, but that is it. This month (and it usually happens about once a month, someone bought product through one of my links and I get commission. Yay

On the ad networks (Adsense & Sovrn), I really need to increase my traffic to see any real money on that front….And they (I have no idea who “they” is) say that you shouldn’t even look at your traffic until the blog is over a year old. So hopefully after Becky’s Best Bites turns a year old, Google will start to recognize me more. Also I will be visiting blog linky parties daily, facebook groups and a lot more Pinterest.

I have signed up for the following affiliate programs:

• Help For Blogging Moms
• Food Blogger Pro
• PicMonkey
• Tasty Food Photography
• Everyday Healthy
• The Creamy Cauliflower Sauce Cookbook

So next month, I hope to see some income from them as well. We shall see…There are probably a few others that I should sign up for, but I am taking this one step at a time

Expenses

Well…here is the thing…I didn’t really track expenses this month. I have to do a better job of that in the future. I will begin to track those expense, so I have a clear picture of my true net income.

Traffic

• Visits: 5645
• Unique Visitors: 5156
• Total Page Views: 13,228
• Average Time on Site: 0.36
• Bounce Rate: 1.05%
• % New Visitors: 88.18%

Here are some screenshots from Google Analytics (click on the image to view a larger one)

Top 10 Referral Sources:

Mobile vs. Desktop

As you can see, I had a HUGE jump in traffic on May 18th and it was thanks to StumbleUpon!! I guess I was accidentally discovered on stumbleUpon and it got some traction. I need to learn more on how to leverage StumbleUpon. So if you have any suggestions of resources, I would love if you would share them. Let me know what you thought of this new addition to the blog. I am trying to be transparent and share what I am learning. I hope it is helpful

Until next time…

XO, Becky