Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.
This post contains affiliate links.
Welcome to my 5th month blog traffic report!
I’m happy to report that traffic slump didn’t happen this summer although I was mentally bracing myself for it. But it doesn’t mean that it won’t happen in the future.
Blogging has brought me so many pleasant surprises, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a period of slow progress happened one day. There are ups and downs to every journey.
In terms of blog expenses, I have spent a total of $222.96 since the launch of my blog on March 21, 2017.
— $106.20 for Account Plan (36 months)
— $11.88 for Domain Privacy Protection (12 months)
— $105 for an annual Tailwind subscription (12 months)
If you missed the previous reports, you can check them out below.
July 2017 Blog Traffic (4th Month) – 16,600 Views (+25.6%)
June 2017 Blog Traffic (3rd Month) – 13,242 Views (+20.2%)
May 2017 Blog Traffic (2nd Month) – 11,014 Views (+97.7%)
April 2017 Blog Traffic (1st Month) – 5,572 Views
Overview
Pageviews: 20,378 (+22.8%)
Pageviews/day: 657 (+27.3%)
Users: 5,316 (+79.8%)
Bounce rate: 56.92% (+17.3%)
Returning visitors: 19.9% (-65.67%)
New visitors: 80.1% (+90.7%)
There were two pronounced spikes in August. The first spike happened on August 25 when my post How I Lost 36 Lbs In 7 Months was shared on Reddit and went viral for two days.
The second sharp increase on August 31 was thanks to a shout-out from Joe at Retire By 40 (an awesome blog you need to check out if you’re interested in personal finance and early retirement).
Top 10 posts
When You Are Embarrassed About Being Poor
A Landlord’s Worst Nightmare Comes True
List of Asian Personal Finance Bloggers – Part 3
Interview With Mr. FAF – Husband Of A Personal Finance Blogger
July 2017 Food Expense Report – $511.93
When Marrying For Love (And Not Money) Just Isn’t Enough
3 Frugal Wins & 2 Frugal Fails – Aug 23
July 2017 Blog Traffic Report (4th Month) – 16,600 Views
Top 10 countries (# of users)
Blogging schedule
In August, I spent 25-30 hours a week blogging as opposed to 30-35 hours in July. I continued to publish three times a week (MWF) at 7:45 AM. Mailchimp sends out a notification about a new post at noon on the same day.
I almost caught up with my posting schedule of three months in advice. I currently have 32 posts and 4 drafts scheduled until November 27.
Guest posts
August marked my first month of having guest posts:
— When Marrying For Love (And Not Money) Just Isn’t Enough by Stacy at Kiss Your Money
— A Landlord’s Worst Nightmare Comes True by The Side Gig Guru
If you are interested in guest posting on my blog, you can see more details below. I’m always open to new ideas and proposals.
Length: 1,000 – 3,000 words. My posts are usually roughly 1,500 words or longer.
Topics: Anything related to personal finance. I’m particularly interested in Marriage/Relationships & Finance and Real Estate Investment (i.e. landlording, house-hacking, AirBnB)
Style: The post usually starts out with a personal story and then offers lessons learned. You can read more about my blogging style here.
Others:
1. Willing to revise the post based on my suggestions.
Sometimes it can take 4-5 rounds of revision to change anything from the wording to the structure of the post.
My main goal is to explore different aspects of the guest post from my perspective as a reader. If I have questions or am interested in certain details, I think others might also feel the same way.
2. No plagiarism.
3. Please send your FINAL version only. No first draft please.
My 1st Podcast
I had my first podcast interview on Do You Even Blog with Pete (host) and Lily at The Frugal Gene. Mrs. Adventure Rich kindly helped make the connection and create one of my most favorite blogging memories so far.
I spent the whole week leading up to the interview feeling nervous. Fortunately, all of us had a great time talking about blogging tips, Pinterest, and what it’s like being a personal finance blogger.
You can check out more details about my experience below:
My 1st Podcast – Behind The Scene Story & 4 Lessons
An inside look at 2 new bloggers who are crushing it – Lily and Ms. FAF
Marketing strategies
1. Comment on other blogs
I continued to comment on my favorite blogs and have really enjoyed interacting with other bloggers. If you want to network with other bloggers and establish a good relationship with them, I highly recommend you follow their blogs and leave constructive, meaningful feedback.
I know this strategy takes a lot of time, but there’s no short-cut to starting and maintaining a friendship with someone other than to show them that you care.
I can speak from experience that I have built great connections with other bloggers through commenting on their blogs and having them leaving feedback on mine.
2. Respond to comments on my blog
August marked the first month I didn’t respond to every single comment on my blog. I have been so overwhelmingly happy with all the feedback I’ve gotten.
I felt bad for not replying to all of you. Just know that I read every single one of your comments, and I remember who frequently contribute to the discussion. Thank you all for the love!
Social media
Twitter: 1,127 followers (+28.1%)
Pinterest: 170 followers (+50.4%)
Facebook: 23 likes (+53.3%) & 29 follows (+52.6%)
Instagram: 359 followers
Subscribers: 68 (+30.8%)
1. Pinterest
After two months, Pinterest has become my #6 source of traffic (up from #7 in July) and #2 referrer (the same as in July).
In August, I invested more time in requesting to join group boards and making pinnable images for my posts. I went back to my old posts and made Pinterest images for them to increase the presence of my blog on the platform. Pinning the same things will only get me so far.
Repinning other people’s work has also helped me develop and refine my own style. If you check out my Pinterest profile, you will see the progression of my design. I get free stock photos from Pixabay and make the images on Canva. I use Tailwind to schedule all of my pins.
You can see more details about my Pinterest strategy in the July blog traffic report.
2. Twitter
I set up a Twitter account in mid May. Since then, Twitter has become my #3 source of traffic (up from #4 in July) and #1 referrer (the same as in July).
I am glad to see the number of my followers surpassing 1,000. Below are the four main strategies I implement on this platform:
– Retweeting other bloggers’ posts.
– Leaving thoughtful comments on others’ tweets.
– Liking others’ content.
– Retweeting my old posts.
3. Facebook
I am not as active on Facebook as on Pinterest and Twitter since I blog anonymously and don’t want to use my personal profile to join Facebook groups. I’m trying to find a way to work around this limitation. Facebook was my #21 source of traffic and #19 referrer.
4. Instagram
Due to my limited photography skills and unphotogenic nature, I usually don’t take a lot of pictures.
I’ve been having an internal conflict about publishing my food expense reports just because I have to take so many photos of our food and groceries.
I decided to upload my Pinterest images onto Instagram and have gotten some positive feedback so far. In August, Instagram was my #18 source of traffic and # 12 referrer. Lily at The Frugal Gene has been giving me a nudge to be more active on Instagram. That will be my next step.
Challenges
1. Explore more social media platforms
Whenever I felt stuck with my blog traffic, I’d feel the urge to be more aggressive on the social media platforms that I’m already on or exploring new ones. I’m experimenting with a couple of new social media platforms such as Reddit and StumbleUpon.
Google has become my #1 mentor when it comes to learning new blogging tips and tricks. I feel like I’m walking in the dark trying to navigate social media and hoping to find the light at the end of the tunnel. It can be fun and adventurous, but frustration does occur from time to time.
2. Sleep schedule
My main challenge in August was go to to bed before 12. In July, I went to bed at 1 or even later and got up at 6:15 every day (sometimes even on the weekends).
I was trying to learn more about Pinterest, research automated schedulers, and pick one that would work best for me.
After overcoming the Pinterest ordeal in July, I went to bed earlier in August but still stayed up past midnight. In September, I want to have a more balanced and healthier sleep schedule, so I’ll try to go to bed before 11:30 PM.
Conclusion
August marked the end of my 5th month of blogging. I’ve been generally happy with my blog progress so far.
In September, I will try to focus more on the social media platforms I’m already on (i.e. Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook) to explore their full potential.
I will also try to go to bed earlier because staying up late affects not only my mood during the day (i.e. me being cranky with Mr. FAF) but also my long-term health.
Blogging should be fun, not a stressor. I will need to keep that in mind from now on.
Util next time!
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Dang, congratulations on another fantastic month! 20,000 page views, many of which are organic is extremely impressive. Looking forward to seeing how things go in the future, I’m hoping that you hit 100,000 page views / month by the end of the year 🙂
Thanks, David! I’d be over the moon if I hit 100k views by the end of this year. 😀
That’s a super awesome month!! Congrats!
Oh man, I’m with you on the dark tunnel of social media. You’re further along on your blog, but I feel overwhelmed by many aspects of social media. I agree it should be a fun activity to blog, not a stressor. But I also think when you love and enjoy something, it’s easy to push yourself and forget to enjoy it.
You are such an inspiration on your blog Growth!! You are doing an amazing job!!
Thanks, Ember! I’ve been loving blogging so far, but sometimes it stresses me out a bit. Happy Labor Day!
I’m so impressed with how hard you work! Keep up the inspiring stuff. The numbers you get from referrals and direct traffic is amazing. Regarding referrals from MMM, are you typically the first commenter on those posts?
Thank you! MMM is very popular, so I’m not the first commenter for sure. But I check his blog pretty often to make sure that I’m among the first 10 or so to leave feedback 🙂
Congrats that’s amazing! You are blowing up the PF blogosphere. Yes blogging can be very time consuming especially when starting out. I agree Pinterest is confusing, I have sort of given up trying to figure it out as well 🙂
CONGRATS on your 5th month. You are officially kicking ass and taking names!! Summer slow down didn’t even slow you down!!!!
“so I’ll try to go to bed before 11:30 PM.”
Lol we’ll see…we’ll see xD although I’ve noticed you have been sleeping earlier.
Thank YOU, Lily! xoxo
I am slowing down because I’m getting tired lol. Yes, I’ve been going to bed early recently because staying up until 1 turned me into a zombie during the day. >_<
You are doing so well Ms.FAF. I have met some amazing bloggers through your blog.
I noticed your site is still http, you may want to start making plans to switch it to https. I heard Google would start showing security warning on sites with http. You can contact your hosting company for more info, most hosting companies offer free SSL certificate for Shared servers.
Also, you could join Tailwind Tribes so your pins could reach a larger number of people. Facebook is another platform you should look into. There are various Facebook groups you could join to promote your content. I get around 100 extra page views a day by posting to Facebook groups. I should let you know that it’s time consuming to keep up with each promo threads though.
You inspire me every day. Trying to get my stuffs together and start sticking to a schedule
Those are GREAT suggestions. Thank you, Anne! I saw that Sam @ Financial Samurai recently switched to https. I will contact Bluehost to inquire about the switch. Your Facebook advice is invaluable! I’ve been postponing promoting on Facebook for the longest time ever. I need to get more aggressive on this platform soon. I feel like I’m missing out. Thanks again! <3
Crushing it – pretty sure your monthly views are about what my lifetime views are, haha. I’m sticking with it but it can be tough sometimes to see traffic stagnating. I need to change some things up, but right now I am enjoying the writing part of it and getting better.
I’m excited to see how September works out for you. Particularly interested if you do anything with Facebook how that shakes out. I get some okay traction from it, but find that it’s difficult to expand reach without paying for ads, at least initially. But I’m probably not doing it right anyway. 🙂
Thank you, Dave! I’m trying to explore Facebook too and definitely don’t want to pay for ads >_< I'm glad you're enjoying writing posts since content is the soul of our blogs 🙂 Best of luck in September!
I am so happy for your success mrs.faf…20k pageviews is not a small feat, congrats. I discovered your post through reddit and I am so happy I did, I am loving your blog. I especially love the food reports and the weight loss related posts. Do have some measurable goals for the rest of the year…like double your pageviews every month, increase facebook likes to 500…and so on. I am sure you will reach 100k+ views by end of year if you put your mind to it. I would have liked to see a family picture of yours in the about me page as it somehow makes the bloggers more relatable to me but I completely understand that it is not everyone’s cup of tea. I look forward to more posts from you.
Thank you, Pooja! I have to thank Reddit for referring you 😉 I usually don’t set goals for my blog as you can see in my blog traffic reports. I just know I have to do everything I can to make faster progress with my blog. Goals can motivate or discourage me. I don’t want to get stressed out because I can’t reach a certain number. Blogging should be fun for now. 😉
I blog anonymously, so it’ll be a while before I reveal my identify. 🙂 Thanks for your support!
Amazing results, Ms. FAF. You clearly work hard and your results reflect that. Don’t feel bad about not answering every single comment. You do have a life outside of blogging! 😉
Thank you, Tina! It’s always great to hear from you! ^.^
You’re killing it Ms. FAF! Great to see that you didn’t experience the summer slump! So in many ways, it’s a double-win the fact that it grew at all, and by a good clip too. Awesome! I really enjoy our (you, lily, and me) group conversations on twitter!
Thank you, Tim! I enjoy our conversations on Twitter too! It’s always great to pick your brain! ^.^
Wow, super impressive. Keep up the great work, people are loving your content.
Thank you! 🙂
Well done! Good move on blog commenting and guest posting. Both strategies helped me triple my subscriber base over the past 4 months. I love building genuine friendships thru blog commenting. Easy way to build bonds, to drive traffic, to grow business and to have fun in the process.
Great job of getting the 1000 followers on twitter. I find it to be one of my favourite social media platforms. I have gained more than 2000 followers in four months. Keep up the great work. You’re on a great trajectory.
Thanks, Leo!
Truly inspiring. I also recently listened to your podcast interview and really enjoyed it. Please keep doing the food reports and photos! I really enjoy them.
Thank you! 🙂
Man, after hearing you and Lily talk on DYEB, I was floored by the Pinterest numbers — but that’s pretty amazing. I’m more impressed that you’re not doing more things automated — aside from tailwind. I like the idea of creating graphics for all previous posts and getting those up on Pinterest boards though — that’s one on my list to try.
Thank you, Adam! I blog on a budget, so I can’t afford to purchase a lot of automated schedulers although I really want to. 🙁
Excellent work and fantastic results. As you mentioned in your post you are basically working a full time schedule on your blog. Do you intend to keep this up for the foreseeable future or was this just to get enough posts in the queue?
Thanks, Jeff! I want to keep this up in the foreseeable future. But I’m trying to find ways to be more efficient with the tasks I need to do so that I won’t have to spend as much time anymore. ^.^
Wow. Congrats!
I’m about 5 months in and no where near your levels . . . I’ll sulk for a bit and then get back to work. 😉 .
I really enjoy your stuff. Keep it going!
Thanks for your encouragement and for dropping by! I’m sure you will make great progress with your blog. Keep it up! 😉
Nice work. You really are doing great in such a short period of time! Keep up the good work and I hope that the numbers keep growing!
I have yet to have something go viral. Did you post it to Redit or it just was naturally picked up?
Thank you! Someone posted it on Reddit. I found out by following the referral link in Jetpack 🙂
You are killing it – as usual 🙂 All the hard work is paying off – congrats and keep it up!
Great job! And in just five short months. Very impressive!
Amazing work! It’s so interesting to see how everyone has a different path to getting traffic. I wish commenting on blogs yielded more for me!
I found your blog on Reddit, while working to drive traffic to my own blog that has articles for living a satisfying life. Your comments and suggestions are most helpful. Thanks so much!
Thank you! 🙂
Great job Ms. FAF!! You don’t have to worry about replying to every single comment. It already shows you that you have a whole lot of readers that are intrigued by your blog and want to chime in.
Yes I agree the best way to approach blogging is to have fun with it. Make it enjoyable and do not stress so much about it.
Also get some sleep, lol!! The earlier you get to bed the better.
Wow! You’ve got it and are only getting better. Congrats and happy blogging, Ms. FAF!
Congrats on your progress! I just read your earlier blog traffic reports. As a new PF blogger, Pinterest is a HUGE struggle for me right now, especially since I also have never really used it before. My problem was similar to yours – I tried to join collab boards but don’t have enough followers. I’m glad you found a way to persevere through that hurdle. I’m more motivated to stay the course and try out different strategies there!
Awesome stuff Ms. FAF!!
Now start imagining when you start killing it on Pinterest. Your pageviews are gonna skyrocket.
I just have a feeling that me, you and Lily are going to crack that code soon.
Congrats again!
Thank you, Cory! I’ve been waiting to have one of my posts going viral on Pinterest, but it hasn’t happened yet. :”> And yes, hopefully we will be able to crack the Pinterest code soon!
Congrats on a great month. I love reading different bloggers marketing strategies. Some things are similar, while others are not. There’s always a few good takeaways.
With all the hard work that you are clearly putting in you completely deserve this success and all the massive future success that will be coming. Great appearance on the podcast BTW.
Thank you so much for the kind comment! ^.^
I give kudos to you for this outstanding performance. If not that I read it from this post, it would have been very hard for me that you still keep full time job. I know many people will desire this type of website traffic growth. But they should be ready to brace up to the demands of blogging.
Incredible results, Ms. FAF! Thanks for sharing. I tried out the free trial of Tailwind in August and it seemed to be helpful. This month I’m trying to pin myself to see how much of a difference it made before deciding on the Tailwind subscription. Seriously, though, I’m astonished at what you’ve been able to accomplish, especially while working a full-time job. It’s not easy to put 25 to 35 hours a week into blogging while working too. Your hard work and effort is clearly paying off. I’m looking forward to watching your blog grow and seeing how Tailwind impacts your traffic. Keep it up! 🙂
Thank you, Graham! 🙂
Excellent write up. Simple, neat and to the point. Loved your blogging style. Will keep visiting for sure. Lots to learn from you on the writing style. Thanks!
Great post! Really appreciate you taking the time to do these monthly blog traffic reports. There incredibly insightful and encouraging. Looking forward to reading more. I love the podcast you did with Pete on Do You Even Blog!! Wishing you all the best.
Thank you, Richard! 🙂
Well as someone who just started my own blog, I’m definately gonna make stickies out of this post! So much valuable advice!
Keep up the good work!
Amazing blog, I have just discovered it while contemplating creating my own personal finance/financial independent blog.
Just noticed a small typo in this sentence “I almost caught up with my posting schedule of three months in advice. I currently have 32 posts and 4 drafts scheduled until November 27.”
Think you want advice to say advance. 🙂
Keep up the great work!
Oh my thank you for pointing that out! 🙂