WA Promotional Website - Progress Report - Month 3
Intro
Why am I Doing This?
It's that time of the month again when I bring you the latest on the progress of my new website, promoting Wealthy Affiliate.
As you know, I decided to do these updates for 2 main reasons. Firstly to help anyone who may be at the same stage as me, in the early stages of building their site. Secondly, to act as accountability for me, something I need on occasion.
I am following the training provided in the "Hubs" section.
I decided to follow the training to a 'T' because I thought that would provide the best indication to those new to WA what can be achieved.
Anyway, everyone is welcome and I hope you find this information interesting. You can even laugh at my efforts if you like, I don't care. I'm doing it anyway.
Getting My Excuses in Early!
Ok, I'm not going to lie. I promised at the outset that this would be a warts and all report. So here is my excuse for the month.
You will see below I didn't manage to keep up with the number of blog posts I wanted. So, my excuse is I needed some recovery time from an operation. I was all bravado and thought I would be able to plow on regardless but didn't imagine it would be as difficult as it turned out.
Enough of that, it is an excuse but I forgive myself.
So let's get on with it.
Report:
What were My Plans?
- To continue publishing once a day.
- Learn how to write a good 'Review' post.
- Continue the internal and affiliate linking and image work including more images in each post.
- Continue the bulk writing/preparation of blog posts.
- Start to learn and implement the promotion of the website, using other platforms/social media, etc.
What Happened?
- My blog post output dropped. Still not bad, as you will see but it was significant.
- I did not make progress on the review posts.
- I now have internal links to most of my blog posts, including affiliate links to WA.
- I did use the Bulk Writing Tool, but as mentioned, not often enough.
- The promotional side was delayed due to the reason given.
Conclusion
Given the circumstances, I will give myself a C+. Could do better. It reminds me of one of my old school reports.
Results
Impressions = 738 (down from 967)
Clicks = 2 (down from 3)
Sales = 0 (Up from 0!!!)
Comment
You can clearly see a drop off, albeit slightly.
This may or may not be a result of my actions but remember, this is a very new site and there will be variations.
The good news is that despite all I have said, the results are showing a sharp rise in the last few days. So next month should be more encouraging. You will have to check to find out.
If you remember from last month, I said that all of this early work is laying the foundations or sowing seeds. Some will grow, some won't. However, the more we sow, the greater the chance of growth.
The Month Ahead
- I will continue my aim to publish once a day.
- I will include review posts at the rate of about 1 in 5 compared to informational posts, so hopefully 5 or 6 by this time next month.
- Choose a Social Media platform and begin the process of promoting the website.
My 2nd Website
Nothing to report here yet.
The only thing decided is to start with a very narrow niche so as to reduce the competition in the early days.
I have an idea of the niche but will make more decisions ready to get started. You're going to have to wait for this one!!!
Conclusion
That's it for another month.
So, it wasn't the month I had planned but the lesson is, we will all have setbacks at some point in our journey. We need to ride them out get back on the horse as quickly as possible and keep moving forward.
I hope this is helpful. By all means, leave your comments below. I would love to hear about your efforts to build your websites.
If I can help I will. If I can't you will find many who can. You can always use the live chat or post a question to the community. Someone will pick it up.
If it is motivation you need, I'm full of that. Just drop me a note.
See you on the next one.
Richard
Recent Comments
10
Hi Richard!
Maybe try setting a more realistic goal of 3-4 posts a week, and if achieved and can do more, do so.
That way you can give yourself an A+!
Hi, Howard,
Yes, I know what you mean and I can see how that would work. The trouble is I need a tough target to motivate me. By setting a target of a post a day I do manage about 4 per week. I fear if I set my target at 4 per week I would only do 2!!!
Maybe I was a bit harsh on myself with a C+, given the circumstances but it leaves room for improvement. Maybe a B- then.
I hope all is going well with your business.
Thanks for reading.
Richard
Hi Richard
Keep on keeping on. Hope you have recovered well from your surgery.
I'm doing okay, my bugbear is getting bogged down with editing and deciding which tasks to implement first from the many trainings and classes I am catching up on and following. Have decided my 1st priority is to write the content and then ummmmm...I need to make a list
Cheers
Michelle :)
Hi, Michelle,
Many thanks for taking the time to read.
Yes, things are improving on the surgery front, thank you. No excuses for this month!
I know what you mean about getting bogged down with all the available training. There is so much good stuff but it can be overwhelming as well.
That is why I decided to follow the core training in the "hubs" for this new website and not spend too much time on all the other excellent training available from the experts. It will only confuse me.
I also wanted to show what is possible by following the training, so anyone new can see exactly what it takes to make progress.
I will look at all the other training once I have some momentum in my business and I have more experience in the basics.
My advice to you would be to go back to the basic core training in the "Hubs" and follow it step by step without missing anything and ignore all the rest for now.
You know what they say? 'Keep it simple.'
If you need any help or motivation don't hesitate to drop me a line. I will follow you so you can find me if needed.
I hope that helps.
Richard
See more comments
Hey Richard, it seems that you're performing well with your new site. How long has it been running? What SEO tools do you use to get your traffic and is it only to your website directly or do you also get traffic via SM?
Hi, Hein,
Many thanks for taking the time to read.
The website has been running for 3 months. I set myself a target of a post a day, which I have not kept to. However, setting a high target means I have managed about 20/month. That has given the site a good foundation which appears to now be bearing fruit with an upturn in impressions. Fingers crossed it continues in the same way.
Concerning SEO, I have just been following the training. The main things I have been doing are as follows:
- Using Jaaxy to do my keyword research.
- Include internal links to take visitors to other relevant posts on the site.
- Using alt text for my images.
- Connecting to Google Search Console.
- Connecting to Microsoft Bing Webmaster Tools.
- Whenever I publish a post I ask Search Console and Bing Webmasters to index the post rather than just wait.
I haven't yet started work on Social Media for promotion but that is definitely on my list.
The other thing I need to do is include more Review posts. They perform better on search engines, so it makes sense to do so.
Anyway, lots to do and it is all about getting through this frustrating period of no apparent progress as Google decides to recognise our very existence. I hope I am getting through that now.
Nevertheless, we crack on.
How are you getting on, Hein? Do you have your site/s up and running?
All the best and thanks again.
Richard
Thanks for the elaborate response, that is great progress. I would not post so frequently, especially if it's connected to an email list. Some people, including me, would easily unsubscribe if I got too many emails in my inbox. The key is PPP = Patience, Perseverance, and Persistence.
I have a few websites and YouTube channels, but my YouTube channels, Skool community, and other projects take preference so I don't spend much time on the websites. I am going to upgrade here soon and start another three websites for my three publications on Substack. Have you read my profile yet?
You're welcome. I have just had a look at your profile, Hein and you certainly are very busy with all your projects. You obviously love what you do and it seems you have built a successful business.
Are you managing all of this yourself or do you have help?
Many thanks again for taking the time to read and comment.