Should I Just Give Up?
Hi everyone,
I'm feeling a bit down about my site. I've done quite a lot of work since the start of the year.
- Extended word count on old posts.
- Optimized pictures
- Added Meta titles and descriptions
- Added a ton of new reviews
- Added tables to reviews showing specifics of product/service
- Added internal, external links and YouTube videos to posts
- Totally redesigned the home page
- Recently added star ratings to reviews
I have seen a marked increase in visitors, but this is mostly for informative posts. There's only one review, a best of, that is getting attention.
My site is nearly 23 months old, creating it back in June 2016. I think though that my apparent lack of major success is due to the Google update in March 2017.
I was silly and added too many affiliate links to reviews that didn't have a great word count. Maybe that is my undoing.
I get between 400 and 600 visitors a day now. But I feel that I should be getting more what with reviews that have at least 2,500words and upwards to 4,500 words.
Maybe I still need to gain the trust of Google. I feel though that I do have a site that can offer people help and guidance. I just wish Google would see that.
I am tired of fixing up anything that I think needs fixing with the site. I think I will just continue writing my reviews and hopefully one day my visitors will sky rocket.
Sorry for the moan. I have had some success lately but it's just I feel that I should have progressed much more by now.
Recent Comments
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Thanks Happy. Yeah got email sign up, getting close to 500.
Sounds like I’m complaining about nothing now, lol.
Got concentrate more on social media I think but that is time consuming.
Hi Owain. I also need to ramp up my social media. Anyway, I don't know the specifics of your niche, but it sounds like you 500 odd visitors per day and have an email list of 500 people. That sounds pretty good to me. Have you ever sent your email is an offer? They say that an email list is worth $1 per name per month. Could be worth thinking about for May. Good luck with it.
I haven’t done an email offer yet although I was thinking of enticing people to join by sending them a PDF full of free resources. Need to get round to that.
It can be a bummer to work so hard and not have $$$$$ to show for it.
That's a lot of visitors you are getting each day for a lot of posts and a lot of hard work. I agree with KD below )or is that above?) that maybe up those calls to action.
I wouldn't give up on it though - if your product sells you must surely be close to success.
BTW I am much in the same boat of content writing and hoping that one day the visitors will call and buy. I was also wondering if I added affiliate links too soon.
Only Google knows the answer.
Chin up mate
Thanks Bald Eagle. Most of the people are going to informative posts. I am getting sales but not what I was expecting.
I think my writing is good, but maybe I’ll taoe another look.
I wasn’t penalized in Search Console by Google. There’s no penalty there but I believe that is where my problem lies. Just got to gain the trust of Google.
Hey Owain, Keep up the good work, it's easy to burn yourself out working on a site. I have been working on my store www.viptopcats.com since Oct of 2017 and, not getting half as much visitors.
Bottom Line Keep Pushing!
Thanks, I’ll keep pushing.
I did burn myself out a few months ago when doing reviews. That’s why I mixed up my work by updating the site in whatever way I could.
Ok that is quite a lot google should be very happy with you by now. Are you getting many click throughs to the merchant sites?
Sounds like you are on the right track with all the optimization of your site, so maybe now focus on your call to actions and list building? How well are those visitors converting etc. Best wishes, Karen
Most visitors are going to informative posts. I’ve tried to monetize them however I can.
Right now I’m concentrating on reviews. I’m doing 1-2 a week.
I’ll focus on those areas. One positive is that bounce rate is down and session time is on the up. So that must look good to Google.
Most of my visitors are checking out informative posts, my reviews aren’t getting noticed yet.
Is there anyway that you can add internal links to those pages and beef up the content to encourage click throughs to your review pages?
Yeah I’ve added internal links. I know what I need to do. I need to ilmprove the user experience and I AM GOING TO DO IT!
Hi Omain,
You are really doing great with 400 to 600 visitors per day. You are almost at the range of 1,000 visit per day. You ought to be with Google Adsense now. There are better add Network than Google Adsense when you hit your 25, 000 a month.
You are doing better than many people here, just continue with what you are doing that has earned you the result you have.
In a year time you will be telling another stories.
Regards
John
Thanks John for your support.
I do have more than 200 posts so I was expecting more than that. It’s taken a bit of a slump the last few days.
Most visitors are going to informative posts, which I’ve added Adsense to them. I was getting $10 a month, last month was $17 and this month has started off strong.
It’s just that I thought I’d be making it big by now.
Seriously, you are doing great. Please don’t stop keep moving. The last time I took a look at your page you were number 21 in your niche. That is something.
Can you imagine if you were on more competitive niche like MMO? It is so very competative that 200 post may not earn you 100 visit per day!
Cheers.
John
Thanks. I didn’t want to go into something like MMO because I knew that that would be competitive. My genealogy niche seems to be competitive but not nearly as that.
I’ll just plugging away at my site, writing reviews and become an authority :-)
Hey, just so you know. I was in a similar boat until recently. I still don't get nearly as many visitors as you. My sales have picked up greatly though and my ranking in Google is headed up. I have always had a few posts ranked #1 and in the top 10 but I had many that were languishing well down. Now most of them are moving up. I think the top ones are pulling the lower ones up with them as I gain traction.
I have been here over 2 years as well. I hope you don't give up.
Jessica
That’s great that things are on the up for you. My visitors have increased over the last few months. I just hoped that it would have been more though.
I’ll keep plugging away. I’ve put in too much work to give up but it is frustrating.
Hi Owain, one thing for sure is that you are not alone in what you are feeling right now. I felt exactly that last year and I decided to take a break. After 3 months I was able to refocus myself with totally new strength. I suggest that you take a good break as you give your website time. Don't give up!
Thanks mate for your support.
I think I have been working too hard lately on my site. I have tried so many things to improve it that I have run out of ideas, lol.
But that's ok. I'll just get back to writing my reviews. I still have a few that I want to get out before I think what next direction I want to take with my site.
You have nothing to be down about. 400-600 visitors per day is great! Keep building new content consistently and that traffic will turn to conversions. You're doing great!
Hi Owain, it's OK to have a moan and you don't need to feel sorry about that. I think it's very natural to have doubts. I know that I often question if I will ever get out of this what I'm putting in, and I'm still not sure. I'm doing what everyone is saying and hoping that in time I will start to see some rewards.
It does sound like you are on an upwards trajectory. I think your daily visitor numbers are very impressive. I've seen your site and I think it's great. We are always our own toughest critics.
Thanks Mia. I can be tough on myself, very tough sometimes. But I just want to succeed.
In the beginning I had my doubts but continued to work on my site. Then after a while I began to think I will just push on, my day will come.
It's just lately what with all this recent hard work I've done I have my doubts again.
I'll just continue writing my reviews. It's all I can do really.
IMO they are pretty solid reviews so hopefully Google will appreciate it.
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That’s a lot of visitors! I get 30-40 per day. I’m only 8 months in though. It’s tough!
Yeah it’s tough. I was frustrated for the first year. Then I just bided my time. But now I’m getting frustrated again.