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Happy blogiversary!

This blog, Happier Freelancing is officially 1 year old. Woohoo!

I started this site on January 1st, 2020 in order to create an online library for freelancers and side hustlers.

In summary, my website traffic was very little. However, I still made over $900 a year from this site. I know, it’s not a lot of money but enough to cover all of my blog expenses. I’m happy!

In this post, I’ll share all the stats and blog income from the first year of my blogging journey.

DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no additional cost to you. Please read my full disclaimer here for more info.

First Year of Blogging Report 2021 Click To Tweet

First, Why Monetize the Blog?

Because running a blog is not free.

Some blog is free, but these types of blog usually contain display ads that you can’t remove. If you want to customize your blog or have more control of your blog, you’ll need to pay some money.

Here are Blog Expenses in 2020

WordPress hosting $22.88
Domain registration $9.06
Canva $119.40
Adobe Bundle $38.12
Email domain $8.32
Procreate $10.59
Test site $18.95
Kaspersky Internet Security $67.56
Buffer $144

TOTAL: $438.89

WordPress Hosting

This site, Happier Freelancing uses Managed WordPress Hosting EasyWP.

WordPress is an excellent platform to create a variety of websites like online stores, blogs, business sites, portfolios, web magazines, etc. So, I chose WordPress for my blogging platform. If you want to know more about WordPress, please check the previous post Everything You Need to Know About WordPress. I explained WordPress step by step and also the difference between WordPress com vs. WordPress org.

Domain Registration

I registered the site domain name on Namecheap.

A domain name is an address where Internet users can access your blog. Your blog name and domain name don’t have to be the same. But most bloggers register domain name = blog name for marketing purposes. Every domain name is unique. Two blogs can have the same domain name. Make sure your ideal domain name is not taken by someone.

Canva

Canva is a graphic design platform. You can use it for FREE, but I purchased a subscription to have more choices. I use Canva to create bar charts, pie charts, banners, Pinterest images, graphics for this site. Some people create Pinterest image templates on Canva and sell them for profit.

So far, Canva is my favorite graphics tool on the internet.

Adobe Bundle

Before signing up for Canva, I used Adobe Bundle to create graphics for the site. Adobe is an amazing graphic design tool, but $38.12 per month…. that’s too expensive for me. I canceled after a month.

Email domain

I used Namecheap Private Email Hosting.

I was planning to do email marketing with a free email marketing tool called Convertkit. (unfortunately, I haven’t started it) To use Convertkit, you need to have Private Email Hosting. You can’t use free emails like Gmail and Yahoo mail.

On the other hand, a free email marketing tool called MailChimp does not require your own email domain. Instead of that, MailChimp requires a physical address. If you don’t want to display your home address in your email newsletter, you can also register a PO box address.

Procreate

Procreate is an illustration app available for iPad. I purchased this app to create graphics for the site. Usually, apps are subscriptions which means you need to pay a renewal fee every month. But Procreate is a one-time payment. There’s no subscription or renewal fee. I like it a lot!

Test site

I created a test site on Namecheap before launching this site.

Kaspersky Internet Security

I purchased Kaspersky Internet Security to protect my personal information. If you know better alternatives, please comment below. I would like to know your recommendation (:

Buffer

Buffer is a social media management app on the web. It allows you to schedule your social media posts.

Total 91 Blog Posts

My blogging goal in 2020 was to create 12 posts a month! Well, I couldn’t reach the goal. Writing 3 blogs a week was difficult for me…

Related Post: Roundup: Top 10 Blog Posts of 2020

Total 1253 Users

“Users” is the number of actual people that have visited the website.

An anonymous person on a digital marketing forum wrote:

“I have 10 – 20 WordPress blogs most of them are 2 – 5 months old at the moment and each of them gets traffic around 150 -1500 Users per day.”

WOW. That are crazy numbers to me. lol

January 2020: 52
February 2020: 20
March 2020: 45
April 2020: 46
May 2020: 7
June 2020: 34
July 2020: 64
August 2020: 67
September 2020: 67
October 2020: 167
November 2020: 194
December 2020: 530

TOTAL: 1,253 Users

Total 10,467 Pageviews

“Pageviews” is the number of pages that people have viewed in total.

According to a study by Blogelina, 20 bloggers found the average number of monthly Pageviews to be around 4000.

4000 Pageviews in a month!?!? Ok, I need 5 more years. haha

January 2020: 1483
February 2020: 423
March 2020: 677
April 2020: 781
May 2020: 163
June 2020: 514
July 2020: 1319
August 2020: 1044
September 2020: 797
October 2020: 890
November 2020: 806
December 2020: 1570

TOTAL: 10,467 Pageviews

SEO Tips: The Difference Between Users and Pageviews

Say I visited your site on January 1. While I’m there, I visit the homepage, about page, and contact page. If I’m the only one who visited your site on January 8, here’s what your analytics looks like:

Users: 1
Pageviews 3

The next day on January 2, I visit the homepage, about page, and contact page again. Now here’s what your analytics looks like:

Users: 2
Pageviews 6

Traffic sources mean where site visitors came from.

Organic is my biggest traffic source and Facebook is my biggest source of social traffic. This is a very interesting result to me because I only have 1 LIKE on my Facebook page…

Organic (search engines like Google, and Yahoo) 623 traffic
Facebook: 156 traffic / 1 Like
Twitter: 132 traffic / 1022 followers
Instagram: 3 traffic / 120 followers
Pinterest: 48 traffic / 125 followers

TOTAL: 962 Traffic / 1,268 audience

The blog title is very important to drive traffic from the search engine. I think MonsterInsights helped to boost my organic traffic! MonsterInsights is a WordPress plugin that allows you to easily add, customize, and manage Google Analytics on your WordPress site. And also, it’s helped me to create SEO-friendly blog titles. MonsterInsights is free to download, the paid plan provides more features, and always a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Blog title store and suggestion look like this:

Try MonsterInsights

Blogging Income $940.43

As you see it, my website traffic was very little. However, I still made enough money to cover all the expenses to run this site.

In 2020, I had 31 sponsored post opportunities from the ShareASale affiliate network. (I think I was very lucky. I hope the luck will keep continuing) If you want to make money through affiliate marketing and blogging, I highly recommend signing up for ShareASale.

Sponsored Posts $767.35
Affiliate Marketing $173.08 (I signed up for 8 different affiliate networks/programs. ShareASale is the only one that generated the money in 2020)

Total: $940.43

Net Income: $501.55 = $940.43 (total income) – $438.88 (blogging expenses)

Blogging Goals for 2021

In 2020, I posted the blog randomly and shared it on social media sometimes. I want to create a blogging routine in 2021.

In 2021 I will:

create 12 posts a month
1000 followers on Instagram
3000 followers on Twitter
1000 followers on Pinterest
100 followers on Facebook
signed up for the Influencer Marketing network
make $100 a month from the blog
Collaborate with other bloggers
5000 pageviews a month

Wrapping Up

How was your blogging journey in 2020? Comment below or mention me on Twitter. I would like to know your story!

First Year of Blogging Report