This little side project is long overdue for an update.
Before we dig into what’s been going on with this site, I do want to give the disclaimer that I think of this as an experimental site and not a main site.
That means I’m not putting a lot of focus on it, but just enjoying seeing what happens with it.
As you may have guessed, that means I haven’t done much since the previous update.
If you missed how this one got started, then go here first.
Ready? Let’s go!
**And as always, I’m an affiliate marketer and this post contains affiliate links, meaning I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links
Quick Recap
The tl;dr is that this is aged domain from Odys Global that I bought not really certain what I would do with it, but it was cheap and I wanted to test things.
I added just 15 posts to the site in November 2021 using keywords I found with the LowFruits keyword tool and then I just left the site to sit while I worked on other sites in my portfolio.
Fast forward to January 2022 and the site was ranking and bringing in a surprising amount of traffic for so few posts.
Now, let’s jump into how things went for the site this past month.
What Happened In June 2022 For This Site
It pains me to say that I did zero work on this site in June.
That’s a result of me doing triage for the three sites I had that got hit by the May core update.
Content
Yeah, there was no new content added to this site in June.
I wish I’d had the focus to put up new stuff, but it didn’t happen.
Monetization
I was still struggling to get Ezoic live on this site.
The site was approved by AdSense, but continued getting denied by Google Ad Manager.
I later learned from my Ezoic contact that Google wants to see at least 10 posts per category…which I did not have at the time.
Here’s the June income:
- Amazon: $0.57
- AdSense: $61.21
So, pretty stagnant in terms of revenue.
Traffic
Remember that nifty traffic forecasting that I shared in the last update?
That shit only works if you keep up with the fresh content.
Here’s what the June traffic looked like for the site –
Yeah, it sucks that I wasn’t able to keep up with that I’d forecast, but it is what it is.
What Happened In July 2022 For This Site
So, I left for a 5-week vacation in the middle of July.
I really expected to have some downtime to do some work.
I did not, so still nothing was done to this site.
Content
Yeah, still no new content added to this site in July.
I wish I’d had the time to put up new stuff, but it didn’t happen.
Monetization
I was still didn’t get Ezoic live on this site.
But, at least I knew what steps to take to get it solved.
Here’s the July income:
- Amazon: $0.20
- AdSense: $56.04
Note that this is a revenue drop. I think one of those updates may have dinged this site.
Traffic
Yup, that’s a traffic drop – even with the referral spam traffic from the Seychelles and Czechia.
This seriously sucks, but nothing that can’t be fixed with a batch of fresh content.
What Happened In August 2022 For This Site
Okay, so I got back home from vacation a little more than half way into the month.
But then I got covid, which knocked me on my ass for more than a week.
I’m talking serious brain fog lasting around two full weeks, or the majority of the time I was back at home.
That being said, I did manage to get up five short posts at the end of the month.
Content
Hooray, fresh content for the site!
Yes, the posts are short, but almost all of the posts on this site are short.
What’s different though is original images.
That’s right, while I was on vacation I was able to snap some real world photos to include in future articles.
Monetization
I was finally got Ezoic live on this site! Though only for the last two days of the month.
All I did was put all of the existing posts into a single category. That’s literally all it took.
Here’s the August income:
- Amazon: $3.82
- AdSense: $43.37
- Ezoic: $1.02 (EPMV $5.55)
Note that this is another revenue drop. But, I’m not worried about it yet since I know the site was neglected for a few months.
Traffic
The traffic looks really good in this screenshot –
But that screenshot is a lie. It includes referral spam traffic from the Seychelles and Czechia.
When I filter out that bad traffic, the true traffic is 7,277 sessions for August.
Not great, but not as terrible as I’d feared. I can work with that.
What’s Next?
I have a lot more original photos that I took for this site, as well as the content ideas to go with them.
So, it’s just a matter of me finding the time to crank out some more posts in September to see if I can get back to growing the traffic of this site some.
Oh, and hoping that no updates come along and wipe it out before I get the chance!
I hope you continue to find this case study interesting, and in the interim I highly recommend signing up for LowFruits to find some easy keywords for your own sites.
Related –> How I Use LowFruits To Find Crazy Low Competition Keywords
And if you want to get an email when the next update comes out, get your booty on my email list.
Hey, I’m Shawna. I make a living working from my laptop in places like London, Sydney, Dubai, Rome, Oslo, Bangkok, Las Vegas, Barcelona, and Amsterdam. I share how I do some of that on this website.