5th Month Income Report for my 2020 blog

May was a very interesting month for me. I made a BIG change that I knew was necessary. Without this change I probably would not be very successful in the long run. It is crazy that I only finished my 5th month of blogging and already had to make difficult decisions.

This month I decided to rebrand. For me this really only meant changing my domain name. I went from The Modern Midwest Momma to Mommy Explained. I’ll talk about why shortly but first I want to tell you the steps I had to take to make the switch.

This post contains affiliate links which means if you purchase a product through my link I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. For more information you can read my disclosure here.

In the grand scheme of things that does not seem too bad except it took A LOT of time. I spent countless hours creating new graphics and making sure everything was switched.

Also I want to note I was not able to create the 301 Redirect myself. I actually had to hire someone to do it for me because if you do not do it right then your site will have all sorts of issues which I won’t go into.

Before I paid someone to do it for me I did reach out to my host for them to complete the redirect but unfortunately they were not able to help me too much. I also want to point out that there are plugins which allow you to create redirects but this is NOT a good idea because plugins slow down your site and there can be bugs with plugins which can cause your site to crash and so forth.

Anyways if you want to read a more in depth post on rebranding check out this excellent article here.

So why did I change my domain name? Unfortunately someone had a similar name as mine and I never realized it when I purchased the domain. Their site is older so they would get priority, therefore, I knew I needed to change mine. Also I really did not care for “The Modern Midwest Momma.” As much as I wanted “Modern” in my blog name it was just too long and limited me to being in the “Midwest” so I came up with a short and sweet name of Mommy Explained.

I really think the best names are ones that stick two catchy words together even if they don’t necessary make sense. Take the baby brand Copper Pearl for example.

So that was my big change this month. I did not get to do much of my “normal” tasks and to my surprise the month of May turned out pretty well!

Before I go into my stats for my 5th month I want to disclose why I am writing this post. Blog income reports are what got me here today. They have inspired me and keep my motivation going so I want to do the same for you! It also holds me accountable and allows me to track my progress.

So I hope you find this report helpful.

If you are wondering the steps I took to start my blog you can check that out here.

Month number 5 blog results

Goals

Fifth month goals:

• 10,000 page views
• 8000 sessions
• Increased Link Click Rate
• Make $200 Affiliate Income
• Continue learning SEO & update old posts

I based these goals off my fourth month results which you can read here.

So how did I do?

Goal	Actual	Met (Y/N)?
10,000 Monthly Page Views	5,403 (2,817)	N
8000 Sessions	3,689 (1,899)	N
Increased Link Click Rate	4.11% (1.68%)	Y
Make $200 Affiliate Income	$91.57 ($41.97)	N
Continue learning SEO & update old posts	–	Y

I met 2 goals this month which does not sound that great, however, I made HUGE improvements from last month. I am very happy with how May turned out for me especially with everything I have changed.

Here is what my 5th month blogging looked like:

Although I did not get the 10k pageviews I was looking for I am very happy that I had steady growth. Back in March I had over 7k pageviews but I only got there because I had 3-4 days of really good traffic. Now I am getting more reliable traffic and hope to see it gradually increase from here.

Where am I getting my Traffic from?

95.9% of my traffic came from social media with Pinterest accounting for 99.81%.

Also notice how I am getting a few hits from Organic Search (Aka Google)! This is very exciting because it typically takes 6-12 months to rank on Google and therefore get any SEO traffic. I am looking forward to finally seeing this number increase as my blog ages.

Now lets talk about Pinterest

My monthly viewers went down to about 99k and now is floating around this number. I was wondering if it ever would stop going down and it finally slowed. I am not at all concerned with this number however instead I am focusing on link clicks. This month my link click rate increased from 1.68% to 4.11%. I have also been gradually getting more clicks every day.

This is exactly what you want from Pinterest. You want Pinterest to send you reoccurring traffic.

As far as my current strategy, I am focusing on only pinning to 4-5 boards to make them stronger. Furthermore, I am scheduling 2-3 new pins a day and 1-2 repins. I do randomly manually pin others peoples content throughout the day as well.

I would not be able to do this without Tailwind. It is seriously a lifesaver. You can get a free trial here!

Now onto Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

I decided to take the plunge and purchase an SEO course! I am so glad I did too because I no longer have to guess at whether I am doing something right.

The two ebooks I purchased was from a very successful blogger, Debbie Gartner, who has been blogging for over 10 years and making over 20k per month for awhile now. Both books are very affordable which is why I decided to go for it.

You can check out her ebooks here:

• Easy On Page SEO
• Easy Backlinks for SEO

Additionally, you can buy both books here for a discounted price which is what I did.

Now I feel confident when I publish my posts and know they will have a good chance in ranking on google 4-6 months down the road.

How did I make money this month?

With the best converting affiliate out there.

Amazon – $91.57

Definitely not the $200 I was shooting for but I am happy with this amount based on my 5k traffic.

I am a part of several other affiliate programs but I feel there is no need to list those in my income reports until I actual make a sale.

Related: How I made my first affiliate sale only 1 week after launch

I could not have made money through affiliate income without my own domain and web hosting. You can sign up using my link here for only $3.95 per month!

Expenses

I did have an expense this month and knew it was coming. After my free trial ended I purchased the pro version of Canva. Ultimately you need to use paid stock photos for Pinterest and it is really convenient to use the photos in Canva since I am making my pins using this platform already.

Last but not least…

I will continue to focus on creating quality content, posting consistently (once per week), growing my Pinterest and SEO.

Here are a round up of my posts:

1. 10 Tips to Save your Sanity as a Stay at Home Mom
2. 4th Month Income Report for my 2020 Blog
3. Adorable Bedroom for your Toddler Girl

Goals for next month (June 2020):

• 10,000 page views
• 8000 sessions
• Increased Link Click Rate
• Make $200 Affiliate Income
• Continue learning SEO & update old posts

Note: I am keeping my goals the same as last month until I achieve them.

Well I hope you enjoyed reading my 5th month results! Don’t forget to check back for next months report!

Blog Income Reports

• January 2020 – $3.95
• February 2020 – $48.28
• March 2020 – $126.96
• April 2020 – $41.97
• May 2020 – $91.57
• June 2020 – $24.36
• July 2020 – $1.96
• August 2020 – $0.73
• September 2020 – $1.07
• October 2020 – $7.69
• November – $7.46
• December – $20.61

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