Niche Site Project #1 (Month 35 Update)

November 2022 Niche Site Summary

I’m forever the optimist, so let’s start this thing off on a few positive notes.

Yes, traffic is down this month vs last, but the reality is October has 31 days. November only has 30.

Add another day to my November site metrics and traffic is down less than 5% (not 7.8%). Add another day of display ads and earnings are down around 6% (not 9%).

And, just take a look at the bigger picture. Over the last 6 months, the site has averaged $35,700 a month. Creeping closer to a half a million dollar a year site. Almost all profit.

Oh, and I was still able to publish 10 new pieces of content in November, even with the Holidays slowing me down.

But that’s about as far as the good news takes me this month.

Here’s the not so great news:

• Traffic is down month over month
• Earnings are down month over month
• The request for review I submitted early in November to get the manual penalty Google hit me with removed still hasn’t be reviewed. It’s been over a month.
• Ad rates in November ($58.90), historically the highest ad rate month of the year, were DOWN vs October ($59.43), September ($59.42) and even August ($59.79)!

The key to all of this is to focus on what I can control. I can’t control the economy and its impact on display ad rates. I can’t control Google and their response time to a manual action.

But I can control content creation.

So that’s where I’ll continue to spend my time and energy – publishing new content, updating old content, and managing the site.

My bet is that once this manual action is lifted, my site will slowly start taking off again.

Below are the terms of my deal with Ezoic. Others have similar, if not identical terms. Do your own due diligence.

1. A guaranteed revenue floor based on my time with AdThrive (8 months, starting back in October last year) 
2. A guarantee that I’ll make 15% more with Ezoic (and a sizable payout if I don’t)
3. Access to their premium ads at zero additional cost
4. A separate, additional financial incentive after 6 months, paid monthly so long as my traffic continues to grow month-over-month 
5. Direct access to account management, support, direct brand sales etc. 
6. 30 day notice to cancel this contract at any time

Traffic

From October (709,705) to November (653,706) to the site had a 7.8% decrease in pageviews.

Google Analytics – November 2022

• Users: 494,504
• Sessions: 570,569
• Avg. Session Duration: 00:53
• Pageviews: 653,706
• Avg. Time on Page: 06:06

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Google Search Console – November 2022

• Total Clicks: 477,000
• Total Impressions: 12.1MM
• Avg. CTR: 3.9%
• Average Position: 12.7

Earnings

From October ($39,807.97) to November ($36,143.42) to the site had a 9.2% decrease in earnings.

Ezoic Display Ad Earnings – November 2022

• Total Ad Earnings: $35,684.49
• ePMV: $58.90

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Amazon Associate Affiliate Earnings – November 2022

• Total Affiliate Earnings: $458.93 (previous $659.69)
• Clicks: 3,463 (previous 3,922 )
• Conversion: 13.72% (previous 12.77%)

Historical Data

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Always Be Publishing #ABP

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