Traffic and Income Report (Q3 2023)

Quarter 4 is here, which means I have Quarter 3's traffic and income data to share with you! Feel free to check out my previous traffic and income reports if you missed those.

This year I've decided to add transparency to my blog by sharing my traffic, income, and expenses every quarter! I'm hoping that doing this will help other food bloggers and/or those considering blogging as a career while keeping me on top of my finances.

A Few Notes

• Since Universal Analytics shut down in July, Q3's traffic reports are being pulled from Google Analytics (GA4).
• The income and expenses are cash values, not accrual. This means the numbers shown are what actually entered/exited my accounts each month.
  • For example, Mediavine pays publishers on a Net65 basis, so my reported income in September 2023 is reflecting what I made from Mediavine in June 2023.
• I have a few contractors helping me with blog writing, Pinterest, photo editing, and video editing.
• I launched a new food blog coaching program in September, which will be starting in January!

July 2023

Blog Traffic

My blog had 81,251 sessions in July. As usual, the majority of traffic came from organic search traffic. According to my income statement, I had a net profit!

August 2023

Blog Traffic

August's traffic was very close to July's at 80,697 sessions. Income-wise, I came very close to breaking even!

September 2023

Traffic

I shared a few pumpkin recipes on social in September and they took off, so we had a little pre-Q4 traffic increase this month at 89,594 sessions. I'm also realizing now that Organic Shopping is listed as a source, and I have no idea where that's coming from. Something to look into! I launched my new coaching program this month as well, so there was also a spike in income.

Quarter 3, 2023

2023 vs 2022 Traffic

My sessions increased by 60.37% compared to Q3 2022. Considering I only published 8 new posts this quarter, I'm pretty happy with this!

Net Income

• Q3 Income: $29868.83
• Q3 Expenses: $14556.07
• Q3 Net Income: $15312.76

Looking to Quarter 4

I hit a big milestone this quarter! I've officially made more from my business in a year than I ever did working in corporate America 🥳

I was definitely out of my groove in Quarter 3. My coaching program and client work took priority over new blog content, but I still saw an increase in traffic and ad income. This is a huge reason I'm grateful for this blog! I was able to shift my focus away from it for a period of time and still experience overall gains.

Google released its latest helpful content update in September, which had a negative impact on many recipe blogs. Thankfully my blog didn't appear to be hit by it. I've been sharing some helpful resources for those who were hit via my @foodblogcoach Instagram stories and Blogging Bites Newsletter.

I don't have many new recipes to publish in Quarter 4, but I still expect to see an increase in traffic and income due to holiday baking. Over the next few months, I'll be traveling quite a bit and spending a lot of time prepping for my new group coaching program that's starting in January. I have been blown away by the response to this program! We filled 10 of the 12 spots within 1 month and have so many amazing guest speakers and sponsors supporting us! I'm super excited to connect with and help other food bloggers.