From 100 to 10K: My Expectations vs. Reality Blogger Journey
- November & December 2021
This monthly update is part of an ongoing series —“My Blogging Journey: From 100 To 10K.”
November & December Update
How did 2021 wrap up? During November and December, my high expectations met blog performance reality.
I cannot help it. I am a hopeful person. Optimistic. Glass is half full. Because of this, I always think serious blog growth is just around the corner. And maybe it is. Though, unfortunately not these last two months.
Table Of Contents
The most important thing I learned? Something every other blogger out there will want to know.
Were results abysmal? No. They were perfectly respectable. Just not staggeringly explosive.
Below, I recap my big wins. I cover my newest content, my performance data (fist bump to the analytic geeks reading this), and the most important thing I learned—that every other blogger out there will want to know.
Big Wins
My two biggest blogging wins for November and December were exposure and affiliate sales. I share detail for why below.
Winning With Exposure
In the last two months of 2021, I had several things happen that helped build exposure for my blog.
- A weeklong Bookshop.org homepage feature
- A 24-hour “takeover” of the Nomadic Network Instagram account
- My first news media published backlink
Bookshop.org Homepage
In November, Bookshop.org featured my “Read These Books for Small Business Success” book list for a week on their homepage.
I created this book list as a tribute to my all-lady business book group. And I was convinced the feature would generate hundreds of dollars in commissions.
My goal for all the money? To throw a blowout party for my group.
Despite high hopes, things did not work out as I planned in my head.
Despite high hopes, things did not work out as I planned in my head.
First, placement for my list was far down on the homepage. Which meant only dedicated scrollers would stumble on it.
After a week and some early December social shares from the ladies in my group, the list generated less revenue than I thought. Instead of hundreds, it brought in $33 in commissions. Sadly, not enough to throw a party. Though, just enough to buy thank-you treats.
Although the results yielded a smaller return than I hoped, I deeply appreciated the opportunity and was grateful for any growth.
Nomadic Network Instagram Account Takeover
The Nomadic Network is a “global community of travel enthusiasts who support and inspire one another.” I am a member of the network and a follower of their popular Instagram account.
Staff at the network generously invited me to “take over” their Instagram account for 24-hours on a Friday in December. I was thrilled. It was a fantastic opportunity for a new blogger like me to meet others and gain exposure.
And I was convinced the takeover would grow my Instagram following by at least 100. Once again, my expectations outpaced reality.
Once again, my expectations outpaced reality.
Even though the experience did not deliver on growth, it did gain me a handful of new followers. And I was grateful for it, as an opportunity to meet and learn from others—as well as build my skills—is always a worthwhile one.
My First Media Backlink
One of my strategies to grow my blog business is through gaining backlinks through submissions to Help a Reporter Out (HARO) requests.
Backlinks are mentions and links to my site by other websites that help boost the domain authority of my website. I discuss HARO, why I am pursuing backlinks, and why domain authority is important in my October 2021 update.
And in November, I had my first success! A language learning site called Think In Italian published one of my quotes in their article “12 Experts Share Their Time Management Tips For Self-Study.”
Although my quote is at the bottom, I will take it. Things can only look up from here!
Winning With Affiliate Sales
In the last two months of 2021, my October affiliate sales drip ($.61) turned into a trickle.
In the last two months of 2021, my affiliate sales drip turned into a trickle.
My affiliate revenue from Bookshop.org and Amazon.com increased in November to $15. And then, nearly doubled in December to $28. View the data in the Tracking Monthly Performance section below.
For more background on affiliate sales and what they are, read more in my October 2021 update.
What I Published & Best Performing Articles
In November and December, I published six new articles. And I updated the content of two older pieces. My goal is to write and publish one article per week. Although I fell slightly short of my writing goal, I came close.
My top-performing NEW articles include:
My OVERALL top three performing articles—in terms of generating traffic to my site—during the last two months of 2021 are listed below.
Of the three articles above, I updated two of them. I added ten additional books that I hope to read next to the Hawaii article. And I edited the “How to Stay Healthy” piece to reflect current health concerns.
Tracking Monthly Performance
When I first launched, I began tracking key data metrics weekly. Then starting in September 2021, I began tracking monthly.
Click the spreadsheet below to view performance metrics. Expect to see slow and steady growth.
Biggest Learning: Is Google Indexing My Site Pages?
For any blogger or website, no matter the subject or industry, the holy grail of growth is getting Google to rank your website and its content on its first page. Ideally, Google even has the goodness to list you in the top three search results.
When this happens, you get to reap the rewards of what is called “organic search traffic”—this is when people surfing the internet find your site listed near the top of search results and click on it. No paid advertising required.
However, getting on the first page of Google, much less in the top three, is difficult.
To be ranked high, your content must be excellent. People who click on it must spend time browsing, reading, and interacting with it. Plus, it helps if your website domain authority score is high.
Though—and this is critical—for any of this to work, Google must first be indexing, or crawling, your site regularly for new pages.
For a website that posts irregularly—read, not daily, or even weekly at the same time—like mine, Google does not regularly index new pages.
And guess what? For a website that posts irregularly—read, not daily, or even weekly at the same time—like mine, Google does not regularly index new pages.
In early December, I discovered Google had not indexed over half (20+) of my website pages, which were months old. Which meant Google thought they did not exist.
So how did I fix it? Read on below.
Making Sure Google Is Indexing Your Website
To ensure Google is indexing your website, follow the steps below.
Go to your Google Search Console homepage. Or go to the Google Search Console welcome page to verify and claim your URL (your website address). See the screenshot below.
Once your ownership of the URL is verified, continue to your URL main insight page.
There are two places from your main Google Search Console insight page you can use to inspect any URL to see if Google has indexed it. This is also where you submit the URL of any new page you published and would like to request indexing. I show where to find them in the screenshot below.
Copy and paste the URL of the page you would like to check for indexing. If Google has not indexed it, click Request Indexing.
Does it Work?
1000% yes (spoiler alert: January 2022 blog performance!).
SEO experts claim it takes 30 to 60 days for Google to rank your new pages in their search results. However, after submitting a page for indexing, I have seen organic search traffic trickle in as soon as three weeks—especially when the page is for a non-competitive keyword topic.
Bottom line, if you are a blogger or run any website, add requesting Google to index your new URL as your number one to-do as soon as you publish.
Bottom line, if you are a blogger or run any website, add requesting Google to index your new URL as your number one to-do as soon as you publish.
If this helps you at all, drop me a line in the comments below, or contact me on social media @gatherandgotravel, Twitter @gatherngotravel. I would love to hear about it.
What’s Next?
In January, my goal is to drive more traffic to the website.
My plan to accomplish this includes writing new blog posts weekly, steady social media posting, generating more backlinks, and sending one e-newsletter. I will employ SEO best writing practices in all I can.
I am looking forward to sharing the results.
Find all new monthly updates on “My Blogger Journey From 100 to 10K.”
Don’t want to miss a monthly update? Then sign up to receive my Discovery e-newsletter. I will send you a free trip budget calculator as a thank you.
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I recommend only products and companies I use, and the income goes to keeping the site community-supported and ads minimal.
Hi, I am Janice and and I run the Gather and Go Travel blog. I am a travel writer, blogger, and bookhound, specializing in family and group travel. I have traveled extensively domestically and internationally to 40+ countries. I am fascinated by other cultures, religions, and languages—and love to share what I have learned in my writing. For more on my background, read my bio, our story, and how to work with me.
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6 Responses
Chelsea, you are welcome! I am so glad you found this helpful. And congrats on the first-page ranking—learning that is the best!!
Thank you so much for this very helpful post, Janice! I had no idea that Google wasn’t indexing all my pages and posts either. Your step-by-step visuals helped me figure it out really easily. I did a quick search of one of my posts after reading this post and found that I’m ranked #5 on the first page!!! I keep looking for tips on your website to help me out 🙂 I remember reading about HARO and then forgot about it (thanks for reminding me). Thanks for the tips 🙂
Hi Susan, Thanks so much for the reply. I am so glad you found value from reading this update! And I appreciate the kind words. I just checked out your IG account in return, happy to follow along!
I am on a similar journey, Julie. I launched a travel and lifestyle blog for midlife women in July 2020 (unfortunate timing). Your strategy and spreadsheets etc. are really interesting, and your content is terrific. Best wishes on your blogging journey! Susan
btw – I followed you on Instagram as well – I’m @midlife.globetrotter
Juli! I LOVE hearing this! I’m thrilled to hear that the info on Google Search Console indexing helped you! Hopefully, you will start to see some positive impact on your organic search traffic in just a few weeks!
Thank you Janice! I had Search Console set up but didn’t know what to do with it! About 1/3 my blog posts were not indexed so hopefully this helps. You’ve inspired me to take the time to learn more about the features and services of Google! I tend to procrastinate it b/c it can get so overwhelming!