My Blogger Journey from 100 to 10K: Real Growth Has Arrived
- Updated: 05/16/2022
This update is part of an ongoing series—“My Blogging Journey: From 100 To 10K.”
Spring 2022 Update
“Celebrate what you’ve accomplished, but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed.” This quote from soccer legend Mia Hamm resonates with me.
Not knowing any better, in December 2021, I set my end of 2022 monthly blog traffic goal at 1,000 page views. The number seemed reasonable since I had only launched the blog in March 2021 and had 500 page views in December.
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But then, I hit my goal by the end of the first month of 2022. And since that first month, my blog traffic and social media numbers have slowly climbed higher, with traffic doubling from March to April.
Celebrate what you’ve accomplished, but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed.
Anyone who knows my hard-working and goal-oriented side well would not be surprised to learn that this was not enough. I rarely (never) rest on my laurels.
This is why the quote from Mia Hamm sticks with me. It is a reminder to appreciate where I have come from and what I have achieved. And it gives me both license and encouragement to keep aiming higher.
For the Data Lovers: Tracking Monthly Data
I love a good spreadsheet, and I am not exaggerating. Find the monthly data tracker I created below. I use it to capture my growth over time and record monthly metrics for blog traffic, affiliate sales, social media, and other measures.
When I first launched the blog in March 2021, I tracked key data metrics weekly. Then starting last September, I switched to more sensible monthly tracking.
Click the spreadsheet below to view my Gather and Go Travel performance metrics. You can see how my traffic, followers, and reach, have grown slowly over time.
Why the Increase in Blog Traffic?
Four main factors drove my 400% increase in blog traffic during the first four months of 2022 (from 516 sessions at the end of December 2021 to 2,121 sessions at the end of April 2022).
These factors were:
1. Having Google index all my site pages. In December 2021, I discovered Google had not indexed about half of my website. Not being indexed means Google has not crawled the page and does not realize it exists. Therefore, anyone searching for the topic I wrote about on those non-indexed pages will never find my articles.
To fix the problem, I learned to use Google Search Console to request URL indexing for these pages and for any new post or page I create. I detail how to do this in my November/December blog update.
Since I began submitting all pages for indexing, I see more of my new articles ranking more quickly on Google and driving more traffic to my site.
2. Building my library of blog content. At the end of December 2021, I had 34 blog posts and nine static blog pages (e.g., my “Who We Are” page). By the end of April 2022, I added 14 new blog posts and five additional static pages (e.g., “Conversations with Travel Industry Pros”).
More content means more chances for visitors to read and more opportunities for people to find my blog in search engine results.
3. Becoming a better content creator and writer. In the four months between January and April, I had a lot of practice. In addition to writing my own articles and social media posts, I wrote this article about Costco Travel for Scott’s Cheap Flights.
Plus, I discovered Microsoft Word has a read-aloud feature that was a game-changer for me. And so I started using it regularly.
Now, after editing an article in Grammarly, I regularly dump the text into a Microsoft Word doc where I have the mechanical monotone computer voice read it back to me. Hearing my own words read aloud allows me to more easily catch errors, avoid repetition, eliminate inconsistencies, and tweak awkward phrasing.
4. Growing my marketing base via social media. Over the four months from January through April, I grew my social media following by 10 to 50% for most accounts. Although my follower numbers are modest, any increase in audience helps me promote my blog content across all social channels.
Sources of My Traffic
Reviewing the graph above shows over 50% of my blog traffic from January through April is due to organic search.
Organic search traffic represents site visitors who discover my blog by searching for travel-related topics on search engines, such as Google and clicking my Gather and Go Travel article links displayed in the search results.
This means for the work social media requires—which is a lot—it only drives a fraction of my traffic compared to organic search.
Interestingly, the data shows social media links drove 14% of my overall blog traffic. This means for the work social media requires—which is a lot—it only drives a fraction of my traffic compared to organic search.
However, I presume social media is likely a significant driver behind the 30.5% of traffic coming from direct entry, which captures visitors who type my website URL (e.g., “gatherandgotravel.com”) directly into the address bar at the top of any webpage.
Top Performing Articles
My top five performing articles driving the most traffic to my site, from January through April 2022, are below.
My #1 article drove nearly 20% of my blog traffic. And my top five articles drove over 50% of my traffic.
1. “How to Best Use Google Flights Explore” drove 17.3% of my total blog traffic.
2. “Ixtapa Island: How to Enjoy a Perfect Day at Isla Ixtapa” drove 11.5% of traffic.
3. “Google Flights Price Tracker: It Saves You Time and Money” drove 10.3% of traffic.
4. The “20 Best Books to Read Before a Hawaii Trip” drove 8.2% of traffic.
5. “The Top 10 Reasons Parents Will Love Club Med Ixtapa (And Five They Won’t)” drove 6.9% my traffic.
These articles performed well because I did keyword and content research prior to writing them.
Ubersuggest, my SEO tool of choice, helped me identify less competitive article topics. And it also helped me figure out which words to use in my article titles that would help give me the best chance to rank highly in search results.
Once I pinned down my topic, I used Ubersuggest to drill down to see which five to six articles already ranked highest for my chosen term and reviewed them to understand what they did well and where they lacked.
For example, when researching my Ixtapa Island article, I realized the information found in ranking articles was fragmented, partial, and not well-presented. So, I set out to create a more comprehensive blog post with more useful visitor information. And after publishing it in mid-March 2022, it was already my #2 traffic driver by the end of April.
Although this pre-writing research takes time, it pays off by helping me create quality articles that have a better chance of ranking in search results.
Affiliate Sales: The Trickle Stays the Course
Avoid being fooled by my higher affiliate revenue in April at $240.11 versus $7.81 the month before. The increase is due to my own “test” of my InsureMyTrip.com affiliate links. I bought two insurance policies for summer travel through links in my “Travel Insurance Simplified: 4 Reasons You Need It” article. I got paid commissions on my own policy purchases.
So, disregarding this affiliate windfall—I continue to stay the course at just under $10 per month in affiliate revenue. Over time, this number will climb as I develop more affiliate partnerships and grow my blog traffic.
Other Big Wins in Early 2022
My two biggest wins over the last four months, beyond the traffic increase, include:
Getting quoted in Capital One’s Learn & Grow blog article, “10 Insider Travel Packing Tips.” Although I have not seen a domain authority boost from this article yet, it is a high-quality backlink, and hopefully, I will see a positive impact soon.
To understand why a domain authority score is important for a blog, check out my October 2021 update for an explanation and more background.
Attending TravelCon at the end of April in Memphis. Hosted by Nomadic Matt and The Nomadic Network (TNN), TravelCon is—or was—an annual conference for travel creators. Sadly, Matt and TNN do not plan to host another TravelCon. (Though networking opportunities continue to exist through TNN.)
TravelCon is where I made excellent connections with other bloggers (featured in the Instagram post above) and travel brands. And I learned a great deal about topics including SEO, better writing techniques, brand proposals, and affiliate marketing during conference breakout sessions.
What I am Focusing on Next
My continuing focus for my blog is to create weekly content. My goal is to generate four blog posts a month.
In the first four months of 2022, I hit this goal every month except for April, when I published only two articles. In April, I used time to create my “Conversations with Travel Industry Pros” page and overhaul a few of my other static pages, such as my “Work with Me” page, which links to this media kit, also created in April.
I also plan to return to resending my newsletter monthly.
I look forward to sharing the results!
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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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2 Responses
Tammi, that is so kind! The process of learning all the specifics of how to grow a blog can be so murky. I love sharing what I have learned along the way. If it can help someone else to get where they want to go easier, then…success!!
Stunning, how every word you write is golden! I so appreciate your transparency and attention to detail. It makes everything seem doable, if not exactly easy : ) Congratulations on your well-deserved growth!