There’s been a few conversations floating around recently about blogs, affiliate links, being open, money being made and how many people read said blogs. It’s a pretty interesting topic as we all like to know the stuff that goes on “Behind The Screen” especially as we know how much life can be curated on social media.
So, I decided I would share my statistics around traffic and income maybe on a monthly or quarterly basis.
{Check out April’s Report here}ย
Just to clarify, I never started a blog to make money; but if I’m going to stick at it, it feels like a natural progression. It would be amazing to fully support myself via the blog as it would give me all the time in the world to focus on the blog and get creative. However, the money I have made in the past usually goes back into the blog (e.g I paid for the new blog design through earnings from the blog).
Statistics; May 2015ย
Google Analytics
May 1st – May 31stย
Google Analytics (GA) statistics seem to be the benchmark for blog statistics so I’m moving away from trusting what Blogger says and using these statistics going forward.
April vs May
Users 1,931 vs 2,109 (+178)ย
Page Views 3,812 vs 4,385 (+573)ย
FB page likesย – 534 vs 560 (+26)
IG followersย – 844 vs 894 (+50)
Pinterest followersย – 485 vs 503 (+18)
Twitter followersย – 2147 vs 2226 (+79)
Amazon Associates
– 1st May to 31st May
– ยฃ0.25
– unpaid
I signed up to Amazon Affiliates (AF) around the middle of April. I’m still getting to grips with it and how it will work best. This month I removed the sidebar advert that I had and it seems (possibly) to have made a difference. I’m only promoting things that I would have shared anyway and affiliate links don’t cost the buyer anything!
Affiliate Windows
– ยฃ0
Currently I’m signed up to MyProtein, Planet Organic, Simply Supplements and LessBounce affiliate schemes. I still haven’t had the time to effectively share affiliate links and I think the brands could do more to work with their affiliates. I get a weekly email from MyProtein with all the weeks offers but it’s a little overwhelming and I haven’t thought of a good way to share the plethora of deals and discounts on offer!
Other Advertising
– last 28 days
– ยฃ1.93
– unpaid
Kayla Itsines Affiliate Program
– $0
I’ve not shared this link at all this month and hence have had no click throughs. Kayla is due to be in London later this month so maybe this will be an opportunity to raise awareness about her products. I also plan (maybe) on completing a full week of her programme and blogging about it so I will be able to share a full experience. I’ve done some of her sessions on and off but never as my sole / main programme of training.
Sponsored Posts
– ยฃ50
– unpaid
I posted one blog for which I charged. Initially, I declined the opportunity as it wasn’t quite a good fit and I didn’t have the time. The boundaries were then widened and timeline extended which allowed me to take part.
I also got recontacted after 3 months of nothing about a sponsored blog post. There was no dialogue about the post and what I was sent was a bad fit, grammatically painful and the representative was extremely pushy. I kindly declined on that occasion.
Other work and consulting
– ยฃ650
– paid
I’ve had one external project to complete in May which was pretty darned hard work and time consuming. Once the entire project is put together I will be able to share it with my readers too! I think I’m gonna be proud of my contribution ๐
Having a blog gets my profile out there, raises awareness of my skills and what I can do for others.
Costs / Outgoings
– iCloud storage upgrade; ยฃ0.79
With all the photos I take, I had to increase myย iCloud storage limit last month. At just 79p per month it’s notย breaking the bank.
What Worked Well Last Month
Havingย the London Bloggers group has been amazing – nearly 200 local bloggers to bounce ideas off, share ideas,ย opportunities and discussions. It’s through themย that I found most of the useful links shared below.
I’ve had so much fun creating images with picmonkey! They’re useful for posts such as ‘Elle Loves…May 2015’ so I can share multiple things quickly and beautifully!
What I Did New This Month
– Reduced the use of labels on blog posts
– Checked for broken links and began to clear them up
– Added Facebook Page link to email signature
– Started using no-follow links more often
Check Out These Awesome Posts For Blog Inspiration
– Geek guide to removing referrer spam in Google Analytics
– How much do real bloggers earn?
– How to create, delete and change labels on Blogger
– Broken link checker
What I Will Try Next Month
– Utilising StumbleUpon more for relevant posts
– Actively pin to pinterest from my blog more
Goals For Next Month
GOALย – create a media kit
GOALย – clean up labels on blog posts (complete 2015 at a minimum)
So… anything I’ve missed that you’d be interested to know?!ย
Do you have blog goals that you are working towards?! Have you blogged about blogging?! Share your posts with me too!ย
Elle ๐ย
Oh this was really interesting to read, thanks for sharing! I've been thinking about trying google adsense and other affiliate programs but just haven't had the time to look into them properly!
Thanks Katie Louise! …I know right, we all just need an extra day in a week! Like I said, you have nothing to lose so even if you set it up and don't get round to utilising it fully at least it will be there ready to go when you find time!
I always find it interesting to read posts from bloggers with Al, the stats included. I keep meaning to try Affiliate Window but haven't been brave enough to make the leap yet. Maybe it's something I'll look into this weekend.How do you use no-follow links?
From what I've read, you shouldn't be paid for using follow links and not disclose. So I allow one follow link for paid posts (max of one or two posts per month). Using follow links for genuine links (unpaid) is fine. I use my discretion; you also don't want millions of links from your site as that affects all sorts of ratings! And then broken links (when the external site changes the location) is even worse. So, I'm actively and generally trying to use less links. Hope that helps?! And let me know, if I've got any of that wrong as far as you know! As for Affiliate Window, you have nothing to lose right?! Worse case scenario, you don't use the links and make no money (kinda like what I am doing, lol)?! Defo look into it!
I'm loving this Elle, really interesting and really appreciate your transparency! Just wondering, how have you decided when to use no follow links rather than follow?
From what I've read, you shouldn't be paid for using follow links and not disclose. So I allow one follow link for paid posts (max of one or two posts per month). Using follow links for genuine links (unpaid) is fine. I use my discretion; you also don't want millions of links from your site as that affects all sorts of ratings! And then broken links (when the external site changes the location) is even worse. So, I'm actively and generally trying to use less links. Hope that helps?! And let me know, if I've got any of that wrong as far as you know!
Thanks Elle ๐ I thought I'd read somewhere that sponsored posts shouldn't contain follow links at all, but then obviously that goes against the purpose of sponsored posts because ultimately they're paying for the back links aren't they! I wish the UK regulation was more clear.
I figured the reason you have to disclose is cos you get paid?! I will defo look into this more when I have time though! But I know you can do follow links when not getting paid (by choice) so then if you get paid you just have to be transparent.
This is awesome, thanks for sharing!! Love that you shared what you did and plan to do in terms of blog maintenance and promotion this month.
Thanks Bri! …Think its great for me to stop and actually think about what I am doing rather than just mindlessly blogging! Puts things into perspective!