Month number 2: the month of all the problems and disappointments
It has now been 2 months that I started a blog.
The first month went really well. I started posting and getting some traffic to my blog. It felt like I was flying. And then the snap happened! I got hit from right, left and centre with all kind of different issues. In this post, I am going through the variety of problems I encountered and how I overcame some of them (and not some others).
- Google Search Console errors
- Google ads account
- Traffic
Google Search Console errors
On the 7th May 2021, I received 2 emails from Google Search Console with the following errors:
- Either 'offers', 'review' or 'aggregateRating' should be specified
- Missing field 'name'
- Missing reviewed item name
"What on earth is that?" I was thinking to myself. Little I knew back then that it would take me great effort to get it sorted.
I started by clicking on the link provided in the emails, searching for answers on how to fix that. I was expected a clear step by step guide, a few clicks and all done! Silly me! The link took me to some kind of random FAQ page with little information or answers to my question: HOW DO I FIX THIS?
I then turned to my best friend Google and asked the same question. Problem: I got the same response on every site I visited and it was not the answer I was looking for. Long story short, it seems you only get these error messages if you have a WooCommerce plugin (it's an e-commerce plugin) and therefore all the sites teach you how to fix the issue in that plugin. I don't have this plugin because I am not an e-commerce site. So I was back to square one.
I eventually turned to Yoast SEO support service (I use Yoast rather than All in one SEO) and for the first time started getting some sort of an answer to my problem. They sent me a piece of code that they identified as being the cause of the issue but told me they could not do anything about it and I needed to contact my Theme support to have it removed or remove it myself manually. I, of course, contacted the Theme support team (not that I did not want to remove the piece of code myself but had no idea how to do it). After something like 10 emails to the Theme support team without a single response, I was left with no other choice than to do it MYSELF!
I turned again to Google to find tutorials on how to remove code on Wordpress without success ... It is only when I went back to the original message from Yoast SEO support and typed the same wording as the one on their message on Google that I got the answer I was looking for. All I have done is replaced the word "code" in my research with "schema markup" and HALLELUJAH! This cannot stress enough the importance, especially if you are like me not really tech-savvy, to use the correct wording and not what makes sense to you. And guess what the answer was? Of course: a plugin!
I straight away downloaded the "Remove Schema" plugin, followed the step by step guide, went back to Google Search Console to run a test and got the magic "NO ERROR DETECTED" message.
Google Adsense
On the 6th May 2021, I started the application process for Google Adsense, following the step by step guide until I got to that one:
- Paste your code between the <head> and </head> tags
"Where do I find this head something on my site?". Same again: Google and same again the (quick) solution was a plugin: Google Site Kit! The plugin pastes the code for you so you get peace of mind everything is done the right way. Now it is just a matter of waiting.
Unfortunately, on the 13th May 2021, I received an email from Google Adsense advising me that I needed to fix the below issues:
- Low-value content
- Thin affiliate pages
- Google Search Console errors (which I later fixed as per above)
LOW-VALUE CONTENT.... 3 words that almost got me crying. All the time I spent writing my posts to teach people where they can go hiking on London's doorsteps, how much it cost, what they can see, how long it takes and the difficulty of the terrain... Add to that the time it takes to edit all the pictures to insert in the post. It hurts and hurts really badly.
I fixed the Google Search Console errors, removed some affiliate links I had that did not make really much sense and resubmitted my application.
A few days later, I received an email saying that my application has been declined and the reason stated this time was Low-Value Content only. It hurts but it shows me that I need to work harder on my content and produce posts of better quality. A lot of work (and re-work) coming ahead.
Traffic
Last but not least, and this is directly linked to the above I guess, I saw a massive drop in traffic this month.
Conclusion
I guess the takeaway of this month is DON'T GIVE UP. Some issues might just require a few hours of research to be fixed like the error messages on Google Search Console but some might require a few weeks even maybe months such as content. This being said, it's a busy new month that is starting for me now having to review my current posts but also produce new and better ones.
And what about you? What are the troubles and set back you experienced? Drop me a comment below, I would love to hear about your story.
Recent Comments
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Hi - as regards Google AdSense, low-value content can also mean that you simply don't have enough posts on your website. A typical figure would be 20 to 30 posts. Take a look at my blog on the subject. Are You Ready for AdSense
Thank you Diane for your message. I have read your post. I have 23 posts on my blog this is why I thought it would be enough and all the content is mine and the pictures are mine as well (no royalty-free website picture). I'll try again in the future.
Hmm, I would have thought that would be enough. Are all of your posts indexed? AdSense would only look at the ones that are indexed.
To be honest, unless you are getting a huge amount of daily traffic, you earn very little money anyway.
How do I know if all my posts are indexed? Sorry I have not been doing it for long so still learning...
Hi - if your website was hosted here, you would receive an email each time a post was indexed.
However, you can check yourself. Go to Google and type site:mydomain.com (obviously replacing my domain with your own website name). That will bring up every one of your posts that is indexed.
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I like your site... I would interlink more (I reviewed your site, so go check that out), also - add YT videos to your posts (best if you can make some, however any related to your subject matter will do).
Bill