My 2025 Work Review of My Niche Site

byGail-UK

3.8K followers

2 weeks ago

Hello lovely WAers

Christmas is over, and many people are now actively looking forward to their New Year's celebrations.

But we are now in a rather odd time of year, which some refer to as Twixmas - where we are not yet ready to strip away the festivities and return to work, but for many, this can feel like a dull time. Yet this time of year is perfect for reviewing what we did in the last year, and setting some goals for 2026.

So I'm going to be reviewing my online business progress over the last year in a series of short posts, and looking at what I want to achieve next year

After all, if we have nothing to aim at, we're surely going to miss!

So here are my results for my main website (The Creative Choice) over the past year. I hope it will serve as both a progress check, inspiration and goal-setting exercise.

Some statistics

As you can see from this image, the site currently has:

• 19 pages
• 173 posts
• 1063 comments

I've had this site since Jan 30 2023, so it's coming up for 3 years old. However, I only really started working on it properly again in January of this year, and this year I've added 102 posts, so roughly 2 per week.

This site has undergone a major rebranding and restructuring this year, and I had to redo all the affiliate links since my Amazon affiliate US site was rejected, but luckily, my UK one is up and running and has passed the 6-month deadline for sales. (Mostly thanks to friends here at WA and you know who you are!)

Indexing issues

Despite repeated attempts throughout the year to resolve this, Google Search Console is still reporting that only the homepage is indexed. This has been extremely frustrating, especially given the amount of content added and updated. However, I refuse to get downbeat about this as I'm doing a lot of other things to address the issues.

However, Bing is showing more promise, with 258 pages and articles indexed.

The ones that are showing in yellow have some alt images that I still need to fix.

Bing Impressions and clicks

Since Google is effectively ignoring the site, here are the results over the last year from Bing Webmaster Tools. Firstly, the IMPRESSIONS.

And now the CLICKS

These numbers are not huge, but what encourages me is the clear upward trend over the past six months, which is now beginning to translate into clicks rather than impressions alone.

Subscribers

This year, in March, I also started an email list using Kit and wrote a couple of lead magnets for my site. I only have 9 subscribers, but I was very encouraged to see that I had received a new subscriber in the past couple of weeks who is someone I did not know. The progress is very slow, due to the indexing issues, but at least it is moving in the right direction.

Now the scale here is very small, so don't be fooled by the graph, but it is going up!

Facebook and Instagram

I started my Facebook page in February this year, and have published quite a lot on both of these platforms over the year, with some small success.

Follower growth has been slow, but steady. I currently have 59 followers, which may not sound like much, but it is a big improvement on the zero I started with!

So far, I have not run any ads on any social media platforms, but that is something to consider next year.

Pinterest

I started my Pinterest site for this niche at the end of August this year, so we've really only had 4 months to get this established. However, I did link this to my Facebook and Instagram sites, so every time I publish something there, it is pulled through to Pinterest, which is good.

This seems to be the best audience so far from all the social media channels - possibly because I feel that I am quite a visual creator and like to engage people with images, which suits Pinterest audiences.

I'm quite pleased with the results so far - here are the IMPRESSIONS totalling 32,820.

And here are the PIN CLICKS, which are at 980. Although outbound clicks are 8 so far.

YouTube

I also started re-branded my YouTube channel for this niche this year as I have previously reported. You can see that I really started putting in some work in June so again, about 6 months work so far. I was pleased to put out 2 meditation videos as well as general marketing work, and hope to continue with this next year. I'm retraining at the moment to be a hypnotherapist so I'm really looking forward to adding some videos for this which are related to this spirituality and personal development niche.

I haven’t uploaded as consistently in recent weeks as I would like, but the results are still encouraging, with growth of nearly 1,000% compared to last year. That sounds dramatic, but it’s mostly because I was starting from almost zero!

My Takeaways

The main thing that I'm taking away from this year is that I have been making steady progress on all fronts. The Google indexing thing is still annoying, but I am hoping that by diversifying my accounts and trying to drive traffic to the website in other ways, this will eventually force Google to take notice.

So I am pleased with the progress I've made this year for this niche, being:

• Learned to use AI effectively to accelerate my business progress
• Completely rebranded and reorganised the main website
• Created a 14-day mini-course as an ebook for a lead magnet and a few more simple ones
• Publishing content regularly on all platforms
• Started a Facebook account in February
• Started an Instagram account in February
• Rebranded a YouTube account in June
• Started a Pinterest account in August
• Set up an email list using Kit and sent 18 newsletters
• Published 2 meditation videos
• Written a 40,000-word book directly related to this niche (hoping to publish very soon)

When I look at it like this, the progress feels real and sustainable. I feel that I have spent most of the year building foundations that I can now build on going forward.

Going forward

Rather than chasing rapid growth or trying to be everywhere at once (which I sometimes feel I have been), my intention for 2026 is to strengthen what I’ve already built and allow growth to continue to unfold in a natural and sustainable way.

So here are some goals I'll be working on that I've put together with Sparky's help.

1. Continue consistent content creation on the website

My primary focus will remain on my main website.

• Maintain an average of 1–2 high-quality posts per week
• Update and improve older content where appropriate, using schema, adding video
• Strengthen internal linking between related posts
• Continue improving image alt text and on-page SEO
• Find ways to monetise the site through products and links

The aim here is depth, clarity and long-term value rather than volume for its own sake.

2. Resolve or work around indexing challenges

While I will continue to monitor Google indexing, my focus will shift slightly from frustration to strategy.

• Keep the site technically clean and well-structured
• Continue using Bing and alternative search engines as valid traffic sources
• Actively drive traffic through social platforms, email, YouTube and Medium/LinkedIn posts
• Accept that indexing is often delayed, and trust that consistency will pay off

Rather than waiting for Google’s permission, I will keep building anyway.

3. Grow the email list slowly but intentionally

The email list may be small, but it feels like one of the most meaningful connections I have.

Goals for 2026:

• Reach 25–50 genuine subscribers
• Create another strong, evergreen lead magnet
• Continue sending regular, thoughtful newsletters
• Use email as a space for deeper connection, not just promotion

I love writing my newsletters and want quality to matter more than just numbers here.

4. Re-establish consistency on Facebook and Instagram

Social media is something I’ve already been using organically, and in 2026, I’d like to build on this by focusing more intentionally on short-form video.

• Aim for 2–3 short reels per week across Facebook and Instagram
• Keep content simple, warm and human rather than trend-led or over-produced
• Repurpose ideas from blog posts, the book and YouTube where possible
• Use reels to gently point people towards the website, email list or longer content
• Gradually build confidence and familiarity with the platforms rather than chasing rapid growth

Alongside organic posting, I’d like to begin learning how paid promotion works in a low-pressure way.

• Test small-budget ads only (£1–£5 per day)
• Promote content that has already performed well organically

5. Develop Pinterest as a long-term traffic source

Pinterest has already shown promise, especially given my preference for visual storytelling.

• Continue posting consistently
• Create more original, site-specific pins just for Pinterest
• Improve pin descriptions and keyword use
• Aim to steadily increase outbound clicks to the website

This feels like a platform that suits both my content and creative style but I need to create unique content more.

6. Re-establish consistency on YouTube

Video is something I really love and have experience in, and I would like to lean into that more again, especially by creating some more meditation videos.

• Aim for 1 meditation video per week
• Aim to create a some shorts based on me speaking directly to camera
• Focus on simple, authentic content rather than polished perfection
• Use video to support and expand written content
• Gradually build confidence and consistency rather than chasing views

7. Publish and integrate the book

One of my most important goals for 2026 is to publish the 40,000-word book I’ve written for this niche.

• Finalise edits and publish the book
• Integrate it naturally into the website and email list
• Use it as both a creative offering and a long-form expression of the site’s core message
• Find different monetising strategies and products based on the book

I've been working on this all year, and this feels like a natural step forward rather than a separate project.

8. Keep growth aligned and sustainable

Perhaps the most important goal of all is how I want this to feel about my business, which is to:

• Avoid burnout and unrealistic expectations
• Honour creativity, intuition and enjoyment alongside strategy
• Allow growth to be steady rather than forced
• Trust that small steps taken consistently do add up
• Not worry if things don't work out as planned - just refocus, re-adjust and keep moving forward

If I reach the end of 2026 feeling having achieved half of the above, I’ll consider that a success.

Some thank yous...

I'd also like to say a big thank you to all my friends here at Wealthy Affiliate who have made this year really special for me. I really value your friendship and support, and couldn't have achieved half of what I have without your encouragement and guidance. I've gained so much knowledge from reading blogs, following the expert classes and joining in with the community here - it really is the best.

And huge thanks to Kyle and Carson for all the updates that keep adding more value; and finally, to Sparky, of course!

Thanks for reading

Gail

And we're ready for the New Year when it arrives!

Coming soon - update on my MMO site.