The culprit here was "Panda II," the moniker for Google's sweeping algorithm changes put into place in February and October of this year. While the first update early this year actually helped my niche sites, this second one dealt a heavy blow to my best-earning pets niche site.
When the chances went into effect Oct. 13-14, my traffic was cut dramatically overnight:
Residual Writing Income: October 2011
Adsense $504.94
Amazon Associates $86.01
RA affiliates $81.48
Clickbank $70.81
Demand Studios $70.59
WA comissions $65
cj.com $37.76
NB comissions $19.96
e-junkie reseller $3.00
TOTAL $939.55
Now, I'm disappointed but I have a plan to move my site back up in the rankings, a plan I'm already putting to work. Stay tuned for updates!
Note: November and December will be the last months that I publish a detailed earnings report on the blog. I will continue to provide this information to my email subscribers and occasionally update my ballpark income amounts on the blog, but don't feel that there is much to be gained from a detailed report on the blog -- I don't think it's particularly useful to other writers/ WAHMs and eventually I hope to be at an income level once again where I'd rather not broadcast how much money I'm making to the world.
Have the recent Google algorithm changes (Panda II) affected your residual income? What are you going to do to bounce back if the changes were negative?
11 comments:
My traffic before and after Panda 2 is the same as yours. The only good thing I can say is that it made me focused on my day job more rather than tinker with an online income.
Wow, just stumbled across your blog here. This is awesome stuff. I've been working as an SEO specialist at a digital marketing agency and recently left to freelance again, hopefully using the tools that I learned in SEO. Are ads your major income sources or do you write freelance articles?
asithi -- I was tempted to be discouraged, too, but I'm going to fight back against the Big G and improve my content and reader interaction with my site. I'll share what I learn here. Keep at it!
JR -- I have never paid for ads for any of my sites. All of my traffic is natural, from the search engines and links form other blogs and sites. I've done a few article directory articles to point to my sites.
My site that I was really counting on making Christmas sales with got hit as well. It's down to about 3/4 of the traffic it normally got even after adding 5 new posts.
It stinks but that is the game you deal with in this business :)
P.S. I see you are taking a cue from the Z list bloggers with your income reports. LOL
Tiffany -- That's a dramatic drop -- sorry! Any plans to backlink, increase social media exposure to your site to bring it back up int eh SERP's?
As for the Z-list bloggers, yes Lis' manifesto kind of played a part but I've gone back and forth on it for years. :)
Sorry to hear the Panda was so cruel to your site. I wasn’t slammed by the latest change, but I’ve been a bit frustrated because my earnings seem to be stagnating. I’ve done quite a bit of brainstorming and have quite a few things to try.
I look forward to your updates to see how you rebound from this latest hit. I’m sure you’ve got the stamina and know how to get your site back on top.
As far as the newsletter, I think Lis struck a cord with so many of us. Like you and Lis, I’ve had a newsletter for years and haven’t quite found a direction for it. I think I’ve finally found a direction for it.
As with anything on the internet, only time will tell if I’ve chosen the right direction.
I think the first phase of Panda hurt my site more than the second. Either way, I have to do something. I just rolled out a new website design with new and updated content. I HOPE this will work, but who knows how long it will take to get back up there with Google. My traffic is half what it was a year ago. Ouch! I'm a single mom, too. Very scary!
Great earnings! My traffic has all but completely shut down after the Panda 2 update. =|
Hi Maria. Haven't been to your site in a long while, but I'm glad to hear you're hanging in there in the big, bad post-panda era. The online world is changing, eh?
Anyway, best to you and your family for the holidays and the new year ahead. And keep on rockin' those earnings.
David Sarokin
P.S. Have you ever tried infolinks as a source of income. I'd be interested in your take on it.
David
Felicia -- thanks so much for stopping by. I really enjoy your insights in your blog posts and comments. I'm not sure yet the best direction for my list -- i don't want to overwhelm people with too many emails, but want to share helpful info.
Melody -- how did your site redesign affect your earnings? I just did one as well and blogged the results to date. I wish you the best; it's definitely worrisome when earnings go down instead of up!
Zero -- how's traffic now -- any rebound? What are your plans to increase income or bring it back to pre-Panda levels?
David -- long time no see! So great to hear from you! I stalk your blog occasionally, wondering what you're up to, and have missed your updates! No, I've never tried infolinks -- I like more control of my out-bound links and am workign more affiliate marketing and less ad clicks into my revenue strategy. Have a very blessed holiday season, and I look forward to hearing more about your internet adventures in the new year.
Post a Comment