May was such a busy month for us, incase you missed it we bought a house and are in the middle of home renovations. So needless to say I didn’t get as much blogging done as I was hoping to but oh well. Let’s take a look at my May lifestyle blog income report.
Before I started writing these income reports I was a little bit hesitant. A couple of things concerned me about writing these reports.
First, this is a family lifestyle blog not a blog about blogging. Yes, I write a few posts about blogging here and there but that is not my main focus.
Second, I’m still small beans. I’m not making as much money with my blog as other bloggers. (comparing myself to other bigger bloggers not the best idea I know).
Even though I was worried about writing these because I sometimes get in my own head and think I don’t measure up to other bloggers. I have loved seeing my goals, income and blog traffic broken down each month this year.
I hope you have enjoyed these income reports and they are motivating to you. (Other bloggers income reports have been very motivating to me and helped me stick with this blogging gig when I feel burnt out!)
— Previous Income Reports if you Missed Them —
If this blog income report does nothing else I hope it helps you realize that not all bloggers are making a ton of money. (not everyone is blogging to make money!)
Remember there will always be someone more successful, but don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle or your middle to someone else’s end.
We all have to start somewhere and getting started and sticking with it is the hardest part. So many bloggers fail because they aren’t consistent, they don’t stick with it or they expect it to be fast and easy.
While I would love to be making more money with my blog when I compare it to what I was making last year it’s crazy to see how much my blog income has improved. (Even in the last few months it’s improved a ton!)
I started this blog 6 years ago (my first post was published in January 2015, though I celebrate my blogging anniversary in May since that’s when I went to my official domain instead of my Blogspot blog).
it took almost 4 years before I made any money with my blog. Then I finally got so that the blog was paying for its own hosting and other expenses.
And now it is actually starting to feel like all the hard work is paying off and I’m making some money. I can’t wait to see where this blog is in another 6 years. (Hopefully making a full-time income before then!)
Why I’m Writing this Lifestyle Blog Income Report
After getting accepted into Mediavine last summer (I applied Memorial day weekend in 2020), I decided I wanted to do an income report each month of my first full year in Mediavine (Hello 2021!).
I want to write this monthly income report as a way for me to track my progress as well as encourage others who are trying to make money blogging.
I also thought it would be fun to see how much I could make in a year with Mediavine ads as the only income.
If you’re looking for an income report that will tell you how they made $10,000 by month 6 of blogging, you’re going to be disappointed.
In my income reports, you will find how I have slowly over time built my page views and income. While I’m not at 5 or 6 figure months yet, I’m hopeful that I will be able to make that kind of money someday (sooner than later).
The numbers in my income report may not be as exciting as making $10,000 a month, but they prove that making money on a blog is possible.
This income report also shows that by consistently showing up and working you can make money from a blog even if you aren’t blogging in a specific niche. (I would say my website niche is a family lifestyle blog– which means I can write about pretty much anything I want).
If you missed it you can see my income report for April here.
A Few Things to Know
Before getting into my goals and income for May let me just clarify a few things.
#1 I will only be sharing my income from Mediavine. (Remember this is only 1 of the income streams I have for this blog) Some months it’s my highest income source but most of the time it’s the second.
#2 The income amount I share is the income before I take out expenses or pay taxes.
#3 Each blog will make a different amount of money with ads even if they have similar topics and traffic.
#4 I was accepted into Mediavine before the traffic requirements changed to 50,000 sessions.
May Goals
Okay, let’s take a look at the goals I had for May (yes my goals include blog income). I had several goals including the number of sessions I wanted to hit, the amount of ad income I wanted to make, and tasks I wanted to complete.
Traffic Goal
My goal was to hit 25,000 sessions on my website in May. This is an increase of 5,000 sessions from my goal for April 2021.
While I would love to see my traffic increase even more I’m trying to keep my goals somewhat realistic.
Note: When planning goals it’s good to know the seasonality of your blog so you aren’t comparing high traffic months with low traffic months. Because trust me it’s hard to go from really high traffic to low traffic.
I personally like to set my google analytics to compare the current sessions/pageviews with the same month last year. This helps me have a better perspective of how my blog is growing year over year.
Last year in May I had 28,687 sessions so hitting 25,000 sessions this year seemed like a super conservative goal. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do a lot in May so I was just hoping for the best.
Goal Met? YES!
My goal was 25,000 sessions and I got 30,115 sessions, which was an improvement from the number of sessions I had in April and last year in May. It was also the highest traffic month so far this year, let’s hope I can keep this trend going!
While I wish I was reporting much bigger numbers for my traffic, I am excited by the growth. The number of sessions in May 2021 is a 4.98% increase from last May. While not as impressive as the increases I have seen in other months it is still an improvement.
Content Goals
As I have mentioned before, there are many different types of content for a blog, including blog posts, Pinterest graphics, and videos. This month I only had a goal for writing blog posts.
In May I set goals to publish 4 new blog posts. I didn’t have a goal for creating videos, new pins, etc. (maybe after we move!)
Goal Met? Kind Of?
In May I published 5 blog posts but only 2 of them were new. So yes I met the goal of publishing 4 blog posts but 3 of them were older posts I updated with new images and more content. So I guess I’ll give myself half credit for this one.
I’m hoping to have some bigger writing months later this year and scheduling posts ahead of time will make that a lot easier.
Last year, I did a couple of 30-day blog post challenges, which helped my blog traffic grow. So I’m hoping I can do a couple of these again this year (most likely later this summer or fall)
May Income Goal
Reminder – for my May income, I’m only sharing the income I made with Mediavine ads. You can read about all the different ways I make money on this blog here.
Since this was my first May with Mediavine I wasn’t sure what to expect as far as income so I didn’t have a very educated goal. I set the goal of making $500 from Mediavine ads on my lifestyle blog since I made over $400 last month.
Goal Met? YES
Goal $500 from ads and I made $729.24 from ads with Mediavine. This was my biggest Mediavine month yet and a big improvement from May 2020 when I made $65.45 from AdSense for the whole month (it was one of my biggest months with AdSense). I can’t wait to see what my lifestyle blog income reports look like for the rest of the year.
Send 2 Email Newsletters
I have been really wanting to do better at sending emails to my newsletter subscribers so for May I set the goal to send 2 newsletters.
Goal Met? Yes
I sent 2 emails to my subscribers one on the first week and one on the third week of May.
Goals for June
For June I have a few goals for the blog but they aren’t very big since we are in the middle of renovating a house and we will be moving this month. So I’m keeping it pretty simple.
– 35,000 Sessions
– Publish 4 Blog Posts
– $800 Mediavine Ad income
– 2 Email Newsletters sent
Well that’s all I have to share about last month’s lifestyle blog income report and my blogging goals. Keep an eye out to see what my income is this month in my next income report.
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