Welcome to my May traffic and income report. This is the 19th month I’ve been tracking the progress of my food blog, which I started in November 2018.
If you want to read earlier updates or later reports, check the reports section on the blog. This month brought steady traffic but was challenging overall, so I took a more relaxed approach to blogging while juggling full-time telework and childcare.
Working from home with the kids around has meant I’ve reduced my publishing expectations. I usually aim for eight posts a month, but for May I prioritized consistency over volume and focused on one main post per week. That lighter pressure actually helped me feel more productive.
Below are the sections in this report. Click any item to jump to that part of the page:
- Posts
- Traffic
- Email Subscribers
- Push Notifications
- Income
- Review and Goals
Posts
Posts this month: 5
I published five new posts in May. Given the current circumstances I’m content with that output. My priority right now is maintaining quality and keeping a steady cadence rather than forcing a higher quantity.
Traffic
May 2020 Page Views: 88,474 (compared to 85,461 last month and 6,023 in May 2019)
Overall traffic held up well, although the month shows some volatility. At one point I saw a 30-day peak near 94,000 pageviews and even upgraded hosting in anticipation of reaching 100,000 soon. Unfortunately, traffic trended down toward the end of May, which could impact June figures.
Many bloggers reported sudden drops across Pinterest, Facebook and Google during the second half of May. In my case the most likely explanation is that readers are returning to life outside lockdown — less cooking at home means fewer searches and recipe clicks.
I did see a new referral source enter my top ten this month thanks to a lentil recipe featured on a popular site. Apart from that, traffic sources remained mostly consistent.
Email Subscribers
237 subscribers (versus 217 in April)
Growth here is slow. I keep postponing a switch from Mailchimp to a paid provider that supports a pop-up compatible with Mediavine ads. It’s mostly procrastination — Mailchimp works and it’s free — but switching would likely improve conversions.
Push Notifications
803 subscribers (versus 592 in April)
OneSignal continues to perform well. I like that new posts trigger immediate push sends and that I get an instant traffic bump without having to send emails, which I tend to dread.
Followers: 3,603 (compared to 3,402 in April)
I haven’t been very active on Facebook this month, and it’s clear I need to devote more attention or get help to grow this channel consistently.
Followers: 1,671 (compared to 1,500 in April)
Pinterest management has been exhausting since the “Fresh Pins” changes. I created ten new templates to speed up pin creation, but the process remains time-consuming. I also tested turning rich pins off and, while impressions dropped, my traffic from Pinterest appeared to improve with rich pins disabled. That said, I was making other changes at the same time, so more controlled testing is required.
For May I earned roughly 27,138 pageviews from Pinterest (down from 29,645 in April). I’m leaning toward keeping rich pins off for now while I plan more thorough experiments when traffic stabilizes.
Followers: 403 (up from 370 in April)
Growth remains slow. Instagram isn’t my top priority for now: I’m based in Spain while many sponsors focus on U.S. audiences, and I prefer to keep my account less personal. My VA handled regular posting this month.
Income
May Income: $903.20 (compared to $743.42 in April)
RPMs rose in May, so even with similar traffic I earned more than in April. I published around 25 short videos produced by my VA this month, and that contributed positively to RPM. My average RPM for May was $12.46 per 1,000 pageviews, up from $8.70 in April.
I’m pleased to be working with Mediavine; they’ve provided helpful guidance on realistic income expectations during this period. This situation is also a reminder that relying on a single income source is risky — diversification will be important as the blog grows.
All income mentioned is gross and does not account for taxes, social security, accounting fees, or other expenses.
Review and Goals
My goals for May were:
- Train my VA to handle videos.
- Scale back Instagram to one or two posts per week.
- Focus on increasing RPMs.
- Publish at least some new content.
- Research hosting options beyond my current plan.
I achieved those goals, but my working relationship with the VA ended due to unexpected billing changes and local bureaucracy. We parted on good terms, and she’s excited to start her own blog.
I won’t set strict goals for June because I expect increased responsibilities at work and want to be flexible. That said, June’s report should be interesting — some notable changes are coming next month.
I hope this report was helpful. If you have questions or suggestions for future reports, leave a comment below.
Stay happy and keep blogging!