Oops! Check Your Analytics.
I was feeling very discouraged over my site. I'd been writing for over 9 months and I still wasn't getting much, if any traffic
Or so I thought.
Don't get me wrong, I wasn't getting a lot of traffic, and the bounce rate hasn't come down much - I'm not great at meeting "search intent" - but I didn't think I was even getting 100 visitors/day!
This was deeply upsetting as I had been posting for about 9 months or more, and according to one of Jay's trainings, I should have been getting much more traffic, at least enough to justify putting ads on my site.
So, deeply discouraged, and having some big demands on my time in real life, I put my site and my writing on the back burner for a few months. I even let my WA membership lapse.
Then, I don't know why, I happened to check my Google Analytics. I was getting over 600 visitors/day!
Of course, I discovered this AFTER I had let my WA membership lapse and hadn't been posting to my site for a couple of months.
When I had been actively posting on my site, I had checked the SEO analytics on my dashboard on a regular basis, which kept me informed of my unpleasantly high bounce rate, but somehow didn't quantify how many visitors I was getting.
(I'm a little confused on this point. Why was the impression I was getting from my on site analytics so different from the Google analytics? Anyway...)
Regardless of the answer, it's obvious that I didn't put enough time and effort into understanding the various analytics tools. My mistake.
I'll be honest, I'm not sure what I want to do about my site. I let it go for a few months. If I choose to get back into it, I won't be starting where I left off. Because I ignored it for a few months, I've lost ground.
Getting into a writing habit has been a challenge for me. Around the time I quit writing, I was making some progress in writing longer posts - my biggest challenge when it comes to writing. Short & sweet is my natural style. But this is only one of the areas where I've lost ground.
The other area I've lost ground is with Google. I was just getting enough credibility with Google to get some decent organic search results, unbeknownst to me, when I quit. I'm expecting that it will take at least a few months to get back to where I was with Google. Sigh.
When I first started with WA, I had decided that if I hadn't earned enough to pay for my WA membership renewal, than I would quit. Since I hadn't thought I was getting enough traffic to justify putting ads on my site, I never did it. I missed out an opportunity to make some money, probably enough to keep my membership going.
All kinds of knock on effects because I didn't check my Google Analytics.
It's my mistake, my responsibility, which means I can fix it.
But do I want to?
I'm at a crossroads: I've learned an important lesson, but what do I want to do with it? What can I do with it? Writing posts that are long enough and meet search intent is still a struggle for me. I still have a lot to learn to become a wealthy affiliate.
Financially, things are a lot tougher for me now. Yes, I've paid renew my membership for another month, but I really do need my site to pay for my WA membership in the not so distant future. How long will it take to get my site even a little bit profitable? Hmm.
Think, think, think...
Recent Comments
7
I know that on June 6th there will be a flash sale where oyu can lock in Premium at $299/yr. That is a trememdous cost savings and will buy you time to get things going again, Karen. Just a thought!
Jeff
Hi - I am not sure what you mean by your "site analytics" as opposed to your Google Analytics. Do you want to send me a screenshot by Private Message, so I can see what you are looking at, and make sure you are reading your analytics correctly?
Hi Diane,
I was looking at Monster Insights Lite, which is currently telling me my site visits are down to one or two/day, at best. Until I get new content out, I'm not expecting any better, but I'll make a point of checking Google Analytics at least twice/week.
I've attached a screenshot of the graph for today, which is depressingly low. I've got a lot of re-building to do.
Thanks for your help!
Karen
Hi - Monster Insights isn't recommended by WA, although to be fair, it should reflect the information in Google Analytics.
It is even more puzzling that your visitors would drop from 600 to just one or two per day. Unfortunately, with so few visitors, it would not be worth putting ads on your website, even assuming your application is approved.
I am a bit confused how many organic visitors is your site getting a day now? Are you sure the 600 in a day wasn't a one-off and bots? If you are regularly getting 600 visitors a day, then you could easily make enough from an ad network to cover your monthly cost and much more!
Also a high bounce rate isn't necessarily a bad thing, it could mean your site is giving your visitors exactly what they need immediately.
Honestly, I don't know how many visitors I'm getting now. I haven't checked in a few weeks, so I'll have to go back & do that. As I recall, even when I checked, I didn't get the most recent figures for some reason.
Thanks for the info on bounce rates. I'll take another look at it.
Karen
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This is just one of those bumps in the road and really you have had a nice break.
Remember why you started this journey and you'll find that your reason hasn't changed.
Learning anything new is hard work but it does get easier and soon you can monetize.
Can you honestly say that you have loved everything you have done to earn a living to date?
You can do this and succeed!
Do a little today.
Warm regards,
Lily 😁🎶