My Second Month Blogging Report

Hey babes!!! I’m back with my second month blogging report & I’m kinda excited this time, ngl!

If you missed my previous one here’s my first month blogging report!

SO!!!! Before we dive into the numbers: I HAVE NEWS ⏤ I finally decided to take the leap & enroll in Foodtography School by Sarah Crawford!

Their Black Friday sale was POPPIN + a mini mental breakdown followed by a mini epiphany & a super positive dm interaction/exchange with Emma from Emma Duckworth Bakes finally pushed me enough to jump. And as NF says: if they ever push me I’m gonna SWING.

I just finished watching the intro + bonuses so I haven’t even started yet but I’m already in love with the course & the Lightroom bonus was a game changer!

Now let me shut the f*ck up & move onto the actual report lol.

Let’s start with a review:

🗒 NOVEMBER BLOGGING GOALS REVIEW

1. 1000 pageviews/month (I’M SHAKING.) ✓SUCCESS: I reached 1073 pageviews.
2. Get to 20k Pinterest monthly viewers while keeping my current CTR. X FAIL *BUT* I’m sitting at 16K (up by 40%) & my CTR is 0.95%!!! The average CTR for the food industry seems to be around 0.2% and last month mine was 0.45% so a 123% increase! My monhtly viewers didn’t go up because I slacked A LOT this month & that happened because I wasn’t happy with my strategy.
3. 4 more links published. ✓SUCCESS: I got 7 new links published and that was a great boost!!
4. Focus on building some relationships. ✓SORTA (lol): I mean I can’t say I have friends but I had really nice dm interactions with a few bloggers & they were SO sweet & helpful!
5. Get accepted into 3-4 more group boards. X FAIL! My fault, I didn’t even try lol.
6. Publish at least 2 new recipes every week (the Holiday season is in full swing!!). X FAIL I MISSED 1!!!!!! I’m SO frustrated because I only missed 1 post last week & that’s because I didn’t follow my editorial calendar.

Overall, I’m happy with my results but I really have to focus on my email list & come up with a better Pinterest strategy (sorry Carly). Instagram is on the backburner as well. No bueno.

Yea… there’s SO much to do!

📊 GOOGLE ANALYTICS

The numbers are in!!! 🥁

Okay SO ⏤ Sessions per User, Avg Session Duration & Bounce Rate are RED like Santa, they’re down (or up when it comes to bounce rate) BUT LOOK…

Pageviews are up 90%, Users are up 158% & Sessions are up 135%. Just gimme the Moscato & let me celebrate that.

Why this month I’m not so “eh” about my pageviews: I spent a ton of time researching case studies & realized that the majority of people that start a blog (aka randos) don’t get CRAZY results like those 1 in a million case studies where people get 10K overnight.

I mean, i KNEW that but I was still bummed out because I thought my numbers weren’t really that good. Doing more research (thank u reddit) helped me understand that my numbers are actually good.

I found case studies with numbers that were super similar to mine & people got a ton of compliments & great predictions so… thank you internet strangers that don’t even know I exist because all I do is lurk like a psycho, you just gave me a great mood boost.

Next.

📊 GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE

Here are some extra numbers from GSC ⏤ these prompted a mini epiphany/slight change of strategy so hear me out:

I’m loving my CTR but my impressions are LOW.

This made me understand that I’m targeting keywords that don’t have enough traffic to boost my impressions. The thing is: if I target keywords with better traffic I have less chance of getting my recipe in Google’s Top 10 (this happened btw, so I know it’s possible & it’s crazy af because I’m SO new to the game).

But if I target keywords with better traffic & somehow get enough backlinks to get a solid boost, I could technically skyrocket to Google’s Top 10 & *IF* I keep the same CTR but double/triple/whatever my impressions… I’LL (sorta) FLY lol.

The problem with that is: skyrocketing like that isn’t an exact science, you need quality backlinks, & my blog is super new so all my recipes are still dancing around quite a bit. In other words, there’s no guarantee.

On the other hand, if I keep targeting low traffic keywords I’ll get way less impressions BUT I know I’ll be featured in Google’s Top 10 just easy. Less risky but less rewarding.

I think this month I might change my strategy a bit & go a bit more risque (ay) & target keywords with higher traffic. You guys, it’s all trial & error.

📊 TRAFFIC

Anyone wants some pie charts??? Look at that pumpkin pie slice getting wider… love that.

I wanted to share these two pie charts because I wanted to show you how my organic traffic doubled & went from 9.7% to 18.9% in just 30 days. I’m SO grateful.

And it’s going really fast too!!! Just a few days ago on November 24 I posted my Healthy Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal recipe & on November 29 I started getting organic clicks ⏤ WHAT?!

🤍 YOUR NOVEMBER FAVORITES

I love seeing which posts get attention (aka what sticks) so, here are your November favorites! Keep in mind that some results are slightly “altered” by the boost I got from huge referrals:

1. Chinese Eggplants With Spicy Garlic Sauce
2. Chocolate Pretzel Tart
3. Russian Chocolate Salami Dessert (Shokoladnaya Kolbasa)
4. Autumn Corn Chowder With Roasted Pumpkin
5. Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls With Dipping Sauce (these are #1 on my Pinterest, people love them!!!)
6. Best Apple Slab Pie With Icing
7. Homemade Pumpkin Pie For Two (hello small gatherings <3)
8. Savory Pumpkin Twists With Puff Pastry
9. Spicy Honey Garlic Glazed Carrots
10. Spicy Lebanese Potatoes (Batata Harra Recipe)

💰INCOME

Still nothing to see here. No I didn’t start monetizing. No ads, no affiliate links, yes I know I missed out on Black Friday deals & omg Christmas is literally around the corner.

I don’t wanna wait too long but I also feel like it’s still early for me to pump out affiliate links & display ads. Especially ads.

Sorry to disappoint. I still don’t have a 12 car garage & not even 6 cars, imagine that.

👆🏻DECEMBER BLOGGING GOALS

Accountability is great btw, I kinda love it, so here are my December goals:

1. 1600 pageviews (I know, it might be too safe or oddly specific but I’m trying to do something, bear w me)
2. 10 new posts.
3. 10 links published.
4. 20k monthly viewers on Pinterest.
5. Join 3-4 group boards.
6. Post every day on IG (stories/feed posts).
7. Target high(er) traffic keywords.
8. Complete Unit 01 & Unit 02 of Foodtography School & up my photography + editing game.
9. Update my opt-in.
10. Work on my email list (sequences).
11. Try not to lose my sh*t.

I think that’s it.

That’s a LOT of stuff.

LET’S GET TO WORK!!!!! 💘

Ps: If you’re a fellow blogger, let me what are your blogging goals for next month OR let me know if I’m playing too safe with my blogging goals!

x Bianka