Am I Doing OK? Am I Getting Anywhere?

[AdamMcDonald]

So I have a blog about music. Just general music-new releases, music reviews, music videos, artist news and the lot. I know this isn't a niche per say, but this is what I like to do. I do, however, focus on a handful of artists, so that could give me a little edge over time. Music is a HEAVILY competitive market on the Internet, so I know it will be uber difficult to get anywhere. So keeping all this in mind I give you the following stats:

1. I started the blog on October 2014 (first post made on that day on a brand new domain)

2. So far (in 6 months) I have posted 450+ articles (some have excellent SEO standing, some don't)

3. I get around 500 views per day on average. If I post a lot the day before it increases to 600-700, but generally ranges closer to 500.

4. Around 90% of the traffic is from Google search (image searches included), and other sources are Facebook and Pinterest.

5. I'm earning around $0.50 per day on average. CTR is less than 0.5%. RPM is less than $0.80.

If you want any more metrics do let me know.

But based on these stats and considering about my niche, do you think I have achieved something within these 6 months? Am I doing something wrong that hinders my performance? Will I get anywhere if I keep up this trend?

 

[Brad100]

CTR is way too low, you're doing great, if those 450+ articles are 100% hand-written and are of decent length, your website will go a long way. And 500+ views per day are great, try different ad positions to get your CTR to about 2-3%, if your RPM is near $1 already with just 0.5% CTR, it'll go way over $1 with a CTR of 3% or so, which will be way better.

 

[jexie]

General blog in music niche is just difficult, it's a dime a dozen. Having said that its awesome you stuck with it, while the stats you gave aren't that impressive, I would start finding a more specific niche or twist.. Like a genre or just something that other music blogs don't cover.

also, do you have a email list? 6-months Id say you should have solidified a small group of returning readers... Get to know your fans/readers and think about smart integration of products, services, sponsors etc. - THAT is where you can make some real profit.

 

[AdamMcDonald]

CTR is way too low, you're doing great, if those 450+ articles are 100% hand-written and are of decent length, your website will go a long way. And 500+ views per day are great, try different ad positions to get your CTR to about 2-3%, if your RPM is near $1 already with just 0.5% CTR, it'll go way over $1 with a CTR of 3% or so, which will be way better.

Is there any way to boost the CTR? What kind of ad placements are you talking about? Because I want to maintain a good flow of the article without being disturbed by ads. Can that be achieved still?

 

[AdamMcDonald]

General blog in music niche is just difficult, it's a dime a dozen. Having said that its awesome you stuck with it, while the stats you gave aren't that impressive, I would start finding a more specific niche or twist.. Like a genre or just something that other music blogs don't cover.

also, do you have a email list? 6-months Id say you should have solidified a small group of returning readers... Get to know your fans/readers and think about smart integration of products, services, sponsors etc. - THAT is where you can make some real profit.

I have tried to build an email list, but it's not happening.

The thing is I have a wide variety of taste in music-multi-genre. I write about what I listen to. So it's more genuine and satisfactory for me. And I want to turn that into an earning stream. I hope I can do that.

 

[Shaunm]

500 visitors is great for the age of the blog. In my oppinion the problem with music is there are too many different types so its hard for advertisers to laser target exactly what you are writing abotu so your CPC for ads isnt going to be too high. In addition to that your readers are on the blog for entertainment, not to fix a problem such as acne so are less enclined to click ads for a fast solution.

You are definitely onto something here though, to move forward with it as already suggested I would start to build an email list as this can be leveraged in a number of ways. I would also begin to go down the sponsored post route or selling adspace direct to people rather than going through google.

Say your blog features alot of dubstep articles, go to myspace and search for up and coming dubstep artists or people still at the garage level and email them saying you have a growing blog getting 15000 views a month and if they would be interested in sponsoring an article about their music for $xx. Going this route could help you out alot in the long run, for example you would ask the artists for the rights to give one of their songs away free to your readers. If they say yes this can be used as a lead magnet to build your email list too.

 

[Nut-Nights]

Its good you are doing something, But you need to scale up things. Just start changing ad placements or try other way to earn money from your traffic.

 

[AdamMcDonald]

500 visitors is great for the age of the blog. In my oppinion the problem with music is there are too many different types so its hard for advertisers to laser target exactly what you are writing abotu so your CPC for ads isnt going to be too high. In addition to that your readers are on the blog for entertainment, not to fix a problem such as acne so are less enclined to click ads for a fast solution.

You are definitely onto something here though, to move forward with it as already suggested I would start to build an email list as this can be leveraged in a number of ways. I would also begin to go down the sponsored post route or selling adspace direct to people rather than going through google.

Say your blog features alot of dubstep articles, go to myspace and search for up and coming dubstep artists or people still at the garage level and email them saying you have a growing blog getting 15000 views a month and if they would be interested in sponsoring an article about their music for $xx. Going this route could help you out alot in the long run, for example you would ask the artists for the rights to give one of their songs away free to your readers. If they say yes this can be used as a lead magnet to build your email list too.

Wow. That's some serious insight. Thanks.

How do I build an email list? I have placed a subscribe via email box on the side bar, but I don't think anyone would just subscribe. I guess I would have to use some tactic like promoting a new song via email?

 

[Shaunm]

Wow. That's some serious insight. Thanks.

How do I build an email list? I have placed a subscribe via email box on the side bar, but I don't think anyone would just subscribe. I guess I would have to use some tactic like promoting a new song via email?

Thats the tricky part mate, pop ups work best but they piss people off. Also a lead magnet of some sort helps a bunch too kind of like a bribe. Depending how much you need the current income of the site you could perhaps give it away as a lead magnet for your users. Its making like $15 a month right now right? Maybe run a monthly competition for your email list and the winner gets a $15 iTunes card or something.

This strategy with amazon gift cards rather than itunes has helped Emergancy Awsome grow very quickly on YouTube.

 

[MazzaFiveOneFour]

450+ articles is great stuff. There must be some great hidden content somewhere in there that definitely deserves to be seen by more sets of eyes.

I'm in no position to be giving you marketing advice but I want to congratulate you on your drive as you're six months in, and still producing content. At the same time, you must have learned a lot of things related to running a website/blog, and you can always transfer that experience onto something else.

It's important to do what you like, so if this is enjoyable for you, then continue to do it, and I wish you all the best in any attempt monetization!

 

[adultwebmasterdesign]

Yes I would say go after the emails and try to build a good targeted list.

 

[OsvaldoLRR]

Here are some ideas for you that might help you monetize your blog better:

*Change the position of your ads on your blog so you can increase your CTR.
*Create a email newsletter in which you send to your subscribers new famous artists songs, new interviews and perhaps new concerts/tours? Offer all this things to your blog readers and it might get them to subscribe to your list.
*Maybe create a forum in the future?

Also remember that if are going to make a article let's say about a famous pop star, try to make the title a little exaggerated and controversial since this gets fans attention quick. But without lying of course.

Hope this helps, good luck

 

[SEOking222]

Use Multiple ways to generate money

 

[onair]

How is your site monetized?

 

[THUNDERELVI]

450+ articles is pretty good. What I suggest is to go back in every article and do on-site SEO for those articles PROPERLY! Focus on 1 (maybe 2) keyword per article and start interlinking your articles, it will give you a nice boost since you have a lot of articles. Some off-site promotion too and your traffic should at least triple.

 

[AdamMcDonald]

How is your site monetized?

Google AdSense. I have placed a few Amazon links, but they are almost not converting.

 

[AdamMcDonald]

450+ articles is pretty good. What I suggest is to go back in every article and do on-site SEO for those articles PROPERLY! Focus on 1 (maybe 2) keyword per article and start interlinking your articles, it will give you a nice boost since you have a lot of articles. Some off-site promotion too and your traffic should at least triple.

From the very beginning I have been writing articles based on the guidelines of Yoast SEO tool in wordpress. Around 90% of the articles are marked green by Yoast. Is that enough?

 

[Mimissor]

With 450 articles, you can probably slow down on content a bit and spend more time generating traffic. Keep releasing content, of course, but probably focus on a max of an article each week day or something. Personally, I'd do less. Too many updates might actually turn people off and keep them from becoming more regular.

Identify several sub-niches that might be interested in the stuff you blog about. Find forums where they're active, get active in those forums and keep a link in your signature. Keep an eye out for threads relevant to things you've covered and share your article where appropriate.

I'm not as familiar with music niches but I know a large part of the audience for technology and gaming related niches spend their time on Twitter. You said you use Pinterest, but is the music crowd active on Pinterest? like I said, I'm not familiar with the niche, it just doesn't seem like a place they'd hang out to me.

Basically, find out where your audience lives and go there. You've got TONS of content for them. You just need to find a way to tell them about it.

 

[sakari]

Agree on the above, 450+ articles is impressive. You should continue adding more, focusing on quality over quantity obviously.