Blog Traffic Report - October 2017

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How is it already November? This year is seriously flying by!

October was another exciting month for me. In September I went to a mastermind retreat in San Francisco and last month I went to Amy Porterfield’s The Entrepreneur Experience in San Diego. It was so much fun! And definitely a step outside of my comfort zone because I went knowing absolutely no one and I even got up and asked the panel (Amy Porterfield, Devin Duncan and Rick Mulready) a question in front of everybody! I was SOOOO nervous.

And the excitement continues because this weekend I will be going to an Empowered Women’s conference!

While there was a lot of excitement in business, it was a stressful month personally so I did push out some plans and due dates. But on a more positive note, I think I have finally got my systems down to keep me organized and moving forward!

Now time for the October blog traffic report!

Blog Me Lovely originally launched in March 2015. I was not that active nor did I put much focus on the blog and growing it. So my highest traffic month between March 2015 and September 2015 was only about 300 pageviews, with an average of about 175 pageviews a month. In October I took a step back to focus on Peace Love Sequins so it is no surprise that my traffic plummeted!

I am sharing this because when I re-launched the blog in June 2016, I was basically receiving only 15 to 20 pageviews a month, essentially starting from scratch. I am going to share with you my traffic stats, social media counts, post overview, what I learned and my goals for the upcoming month.

October 2017 Traffic Report

October Traffic

Pageviews: 2,670 (+8.45%)
Sessions: 2,011 (+4.63%)
Users: 1,425 (+13.46%)
Pages / Session: 1.33 (+3.91%)
Average Session Duration: 4:32 (+13.33%)
Adjusted Bounce Rate: 10.94% (-6.97%)
New Sessions: 67.63% (+14.12%)
Highest Traffic Day: October 25 with 625 pageviews

I am very happy that my traffic stayed pretty consistent this month. I do have to say it was all because of the collaboration I did with 9 fellow boss babes! The landing page was hosted on my site so it can probably account for at least a third of my traffic in just 3 days. That being said, it is definitely a wake-up call that I need to get back to blogging and promoting my blog again. Otherwise, the traffic is going to slowly dip into non-existence!

October Traffic Sources

Social: 49.38%
- Facebook: 69.08%
- Pinterest: 29.51%
- StumbleUpon: 0.70%
- Twitter: 0.50%
- Instagram: 0.10%
- YouTube: 0.10%
Referral: 13.92%
Direct: 31.53%
Organic Search: 5.17%

Because of the freebie bundle collaboration, these numbers are definitely skewed. I hosted the landing page on my site so that is causing the huge increase in referral and direct traffic. Most of the direct traffic is most likely coming from emails. I need to get better at tagging the links properly so I know which is actually direct traffic and which is in fact from emails.

Social Media Report

October Social Media Stats

Facebook: 833 fans (+1.34%)
Facebook Group (The Lovely Entrepreneur Society): 1,317 members (+6.73%)
Twitter: 1,774 followers (-0.34%)
Pinterest: 1,158 followers (+1.31%)
Instagram: 973 followers (+1.14%)
Bloglovin’: 182 followers (+1.11%)
Google+: 52 followers (0.00%)
Email Subscribers: 1,266 subscribers (+41.93%)

I was pretty much non-existent on social media this past month. I popped up here and there (especially on Instagram while I was at the Amy Porterfield event) but nothing consistent. I wasn’t even that consistent in my own Facebook group (so I am SUPER thankful for the handful of ladies who continue to be super active!)

With that being said, I am excited to get back in there and start working on one platform at a time.

This past month I saw a huge jump in email subscribers, and that was without a doubt contributed to the freebie bundle. I love collaborating with fellow female entrepreneurs and it is always worthwhile for my business as well as for creating friendships!

Blog Post Report

Post Frequency

Number of New Posts: 1
Total Posts: 68
Post Frequency: Once a month

October Goals – Check In

- Traffic Goals – Didn’t quite reach these but I did see an increase in site traffic due to the collaboration I did
  - Reach 3,000 pageviews
  - Reach 2,250 sessions
  - Reach 1,500 users
- Social Media Goals
  - ~~Reach 1,300 Facebook Group (The Lovely Entrepreneur Society) members~~ – The group is not only growing in members but in engagement!
  - Reach 1,300 Pinterest followers – I didn’t see much growth this month, but I also didn’t realize that my Tailwind queue was empty.
  - Reach 950 email subscribers
- Post at least once a week – Nope, with everything going on this got pushed aside
- Update graphic design packages and sales pages – I have most of this written out but not yet visible on my site
- ~~Update portfolio and add in testimonials~~ – I am SOOOOO EXCITED that I finally got this updated. It was not as big of a deal as I was making it out to be. To see my newly updated portfolio, click here.
- Officially launch Photoshop Masterclass – I didn’t actually launch this yet. Holding off until the end of the month I think.
- Finish Brand Me Lovely – a DIY branding course – This also had to take a back seat with everything going on. I have pushed it out a few weeks and plan on a pre-launch to just my Facebook group and possibly challenge participates on November 17th!

What I Learned

While you can build a foundation, you can’t forget about it. The fact that I haven’t been blogging or promoting my old content has clearly started to show in my traffic stats. If it wasn’t for the collaboration, I would have had one of the smallest traffic numbers in a few months.
It is okay to push things back if you get overwhelmed or if things happen (or both). I noticed I have a tendency to put too much on my plate. While it might not look like a whole lot on my goals for the month, you (and I) have to remember that I also have client work! So I am working on balancing both and finding a rhythm on how to still get my own personal goals achieved while completing the client work. I tend to push my stuff aside *cough cough blogging* when I have client work to do. And I can’t do that anymore.
Another reminder that pageviews don’t always result in more income. At least not for a service-based business. I could see how that might affect affiliate income and ad revenue, but those are not a huge focus of mine right now and I probably will never have ads on my site. I am pretty sure this was my highest income month yet. I need to go through my books and see my exact income but I am absolutely thrilled.
Referrals are INCREDIBLY important, especially for service-based businesses. The majority of my clients come from referrals. In fact, most recently I started working with a client, who referred me to a friend who I started working for, who then also referred me to a friend that I will be working for shortly. And the thing is it feels amazing when that happens and even more than that if you get referrals from someone you like and enjoy working with most likely who they refer is similar. I am super excited about working with all 3 of these amazing ladies!

November Goals

Traffic Goals
- Reach 3,000 pageviews
- Reach 2,250 sessions
- Reach 1,500 users
Social Media Goals
- Reach 1,500 Facebook Group (The Lovely Entrepreneur Society) members
- Reach 1,300 Pinterest followers
- Reach 1,350 email subscribers
Post at least once a week
Update graphic design packages and sales pages
Officially launch Photoshop Masterclass
Finish Brand Me Lovely – a DIY branding course

Final Thoughts

Things tend to be most difficult right before you have a break through.

That is tough to hear but I truly believe that. Every time I am going through a struggle or things feel so hard that I want to give up, something happens and my business uplevels in one way or another.

So keep pushing on and don’t give up!

What is one goal you have for November? Let me know in the comments below!

Blog Traffic Report – October 2017