StevePavlina.com's first year traffic growth

[Savage]

In case anyone is curious about what my traffic growth looked like during the first year I launched this website (it launched in Oct 2004), here are a couple stats from back then:

Starting from scratch (this was a new site with a newly registered domain name, and the site and blog essentially launched at the same time)...

... traffic passed 100,000 visitors/month in the 6th month.

and then

... traffic passed 400,000 visitors/month in the 12th month.

So it took a year to go from 0 to 400,000 visitors per month.

Income-wise I was making just over $1000 per month at the one-year mark. That's a pretty pathetic income for that much traffic. It took me another year after that to really get the monetization side up to speed. Income increased by about 40x during that next year.

Do I think it's easier or harder to experience this kind of growth today? I think it would be much easier today. The Internet is significantly larger, and blogging technology today is way more advanced than it was back then. When I started, the coolest feature a blog had was an RSS feed.

Yes there's more competition and more noise today, but most of those people are clueless and don't really know what they're doing, so it's nothing to fuss over.

Today there are also tons more traffic-building resources like social networking sites. I mostly did things like link swaps with other bloggers, some guest posting, using blog carnivals like crazy, and basically telling everyone I knew about the site. My #1 traffic-building strategy was essentially trying to get people to link to my site as much as possible. More links = more direct traffic + more chance that other bloggers will link to you as well + higher search rankings.

I think that one mistake people make when launching sites these days is that they seriously underestimate how important it is to pick up links from other sites. Don't do anything black hat. There's no need for that. Just find legitimate ways to get related sites to link to yours. Aim to be the king or queen of inbound links in your field.

Most of my early articles weren't that great. But I was great at encouraging people to link to them. Getting links from A-list bloggers is tough. But getting links from new bloggers is pretty easy. Just ask enough people, and you'll get a lot of yeses. There are tons of new bloggers who'd be happy to link to and write up a blurb about something you wrote. Do NOT be passive about getting links. Ask!

Think of it like this: "A link is worth a thousand visitors."

[Kaie]

Thank you for this I am curious, when did you add the forums?

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Kaie

Thank you for this I am curious, when did you add the forums?

Nov 2006, so more than 2 years after the blog started. This Nov we'll celebrate the forums' 5-year anniversary.

[James81]

Wanna do a link swap, Steve?

[Savage]

Originally Posted by James81

Wanna do a link swap, Steve?

Sure. I see from your signature that my site is already linking to a couple of yours. So please return the favor when you get a chance.

[James81]

Originally Posted by Savage

Sure. I see from your signature that my site is already linking to a couple of yours. So please return the favor when you get a chance.

Well played.

Serious question: how do you stay focused on the idea and the building of your site? I'm noticing that I have more than enough skill to build a successful site if I could harness my focus on any one area.

[curiouslyrandom]

Steve and James, I always find the dynamic between you two rather entertaining.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by James81

Serious question: how do you stay focused on the idea and the building of your site? I'm noticing that I have more than enough skill to build a successful site if I could harness my focus on any one area.

I visualized how being a rockstar blogger would draw all kinds of slave women to me.

Seriously I created a vision of the kind of life I wanted to live. I was very attracted to the vision, so I kept moving towards it. I imagined doing articles, books, products, speaking, and other things in this field. I thought about impacting a lot of people for the better and how rewarding that would be. And of course I wanted to exit the games industry, so that meant I had to build traffic.

I was also motivated because I was doing something new. Blogging was fairly new. A PD blog was practically unheard of, so what I was doing was unique when I started. I was exploring a new space that hadn't been charted yet. We (other bloggers and myself) didn't know where the best opportunities were. We were all explorers mapping out the newly evolving blogosphere. That part was a lot of fun, knowing that we'd be the early pioneers in this space.

Whatever is distracting you, put it out of sight. I boxed up all my game dev books and resources and put them in the garage, so there was no longer anything in my office like that. Can't be pulled in two different directions.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by curiouslyrandom

Steve and James, I always find the dynamic between you two rather entertaining.

Pretty sure she's hitting on us, James. I advise caution.

[James81]

Originally Posted by Savage

Pretty sure she's hitting on us, James. I advise caution.

I'm open to a curiouslyrandom sandwich as long as the jibblies don't touch.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by James81

I'm open to a curiouslyrandom sandwich as long as the jibblies don't touch.

I think I'd have to be a Kinsey 1 or 2 to manage that, but alas I'm only a Kinsey 0... although given your current avatar, I'm beginning to think of you as a woman.

[curiouslyrandom]

Alas, no sandwich. My Master says no.

[Lucidism]

Originally Posted by Savage

I was also motivated because I was doing something new. Blogging was fairly new. A PD blog was practically unheard of, so what I was doing was unique when I started.

In addition to your writing style and intense focus on building your site, do you think the fact that you were one of the only PD blogs around helped launch your authority?

Now it seems like self-help sites are a dime a dozen. Most of them are not very interesting though.

[ancksunamun]

It gives me hope when I read your posts about the beginning, and the fantatic results you have today.

I'm in the very early days of converting my 'hobby' blogs over to serious blog attempts and am so excited about it. It's kind of taken on this huge momentum that's pushing me along at great speed.

I think I have nailed a couple of good niches but let's wait and see.

VERY early days yet and all of the sites are still in build mode but I have great hope.

Like you Steve, I'm holding the vision for the days when this pays off. It looks too good to let go of.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Lucidism

In addition to your writing style and intense focus on building your site, do you think the fact that you were one of the only PD blogs around helped launch your authority?

Now it seems like self-help sites are a dime a dozen. Most of them are not very interesting though.

I think being one of the only PD blogs was counter-balanced by the fact that most people didn't know what blogging was. Many people didn't understand the appeal and didn't understand RSS feeds.

Note that the PD field was already crowded back then, but this particular medium for reaching people wasn't so crowded yet.

[James81]

I just thought of another question. Have you always had this same host? If not, what was your hosting situation when you started?

[Lucidism]

To go along with that, what is your hosting situation? Dedicated server? Managed server?

[Savage]

I'm still with the same host I was using for my games biz (ServInt.net), so when I launched StevePavlina.com, my additional hosting costs for this site were zero because I just added the site to the same server I was already leasing.

Another host I liked back then was RackSpace, but I felt they were too pricey relative to the competition.

I've probably been on a dedicated server for about a decade, currently a managed one, but I've upgraded several times since the site launched.

[glow]

Wow! This goes on to show that content in indeed the king. Steve's website isn't the best looking website around! It's the content that make people keep coming back.

Out of curosity, how many vistors per month do you get now Steve?

[Savage]

Originally Posted by glow

Wow! This goes on to show that content in indeed the king. Steve's website isn't the best looking website around! It's the content that make people keep coming back.

Out of curosity, how many vistors per month do you get now Steve?

Around 2.5M.

[James81]

Have you ever considered writing a memoir?

I personally would love to hear about how you started your games business and the beginning of turning your life around.

[metamorph]

Originally Posted by Savage

Around 2.5M.

is that 2.5M different IP addresses, or 2.5M logins per months?

[glow]

Originally Posted by metamorph

is that 2.5M different IP addresses, or 2.5M logins per months?

I think its 2.5 million unique visitor per month, right?

[MysteryX]

After almost 3 years I'm still working on getting the traffic to 3000 a month. When I read what you did, it puzzles me. What did you do so differently?

In the initial year, where did most of the traffic come from? Through other popular blogs or through search engines? Many people seem to find you through Google.

Today there is very high competition for SEO. I'm starting to rank high for a few low-competition keywords but mostly get find through thousands of random different search terms. There is no 'major' keyword bringing considerable traffic.

Most likely if I was to translate a few articles to French or Spanish, I would rank high for these and get much more traffic.

[mikethedrummer44]

Originally Posted by MysteryX

After almost 3 years I'm still working on getting the traffic to 3000 a month. When I read what you did, it puzzles me. What did you do so differently?

In the initial year, where did most of the traffic come from? Through other popular blogs or through search engines? Many people seem to find you through Google.

Today there is very high competition for SEO. I'm starting to rank high for a few low-competition keywords but mostly get find through thousands of random different search terms. There is no 'major' keyword bringing considerable traffic.

Most likely if I was to translate a few articles to French or Spanish, I would rank high for these and get much more traffic.

(This is just pure speculation)

As far as personal development goes, people don't really care what someone else has to say about their lives, UNLESS they have some sort of credibility.

The reason why the VAST majority of personal development blogs don't succeed is because no one really gives a damn.

Why would I listen to someone tell me how to live my life, when I have no proof they know how to live theirs?

I think Steve's blog is so successful because he gains authority through his experiments. For example, he's done several 30 day trials that are extremely interesting and controversial. Raw food, polyphasic sleeping, polyamory, etc.

Once he gained an audience and credibility through these types of posts, he could start posting the kind of stuff that would change peoples lives.

For example, what if his first article was "10 reasons you shouldn't get a job"?

He has no credibility, and as far as anyone knows, no money. So who gives a damn if he thinks you shouldn't get a job? Fast forward to when his website was already generating income. Now he's an authority.

Basically if you want to gain traffic in personal development, you need to build your credibility somehow. I'm not going to listen to some random guy tell me how to manage finances, but if he's worth $100m+, I might.

[Acidify]

I don't necessarily think that it has much to do with credibility. Its about getting the word out that your website exist. You can have completely no credibility, but if you can draw in traffic, there will be some people who return and others who don't. I think Mr.Pavlina receive a study flow of traffic not necessarily because of his credibility, but because of his success at marketing his website and getting it at the top of search engines.

When I first came to this website, it was through Google. I searched something, and one of the first websites was this one. I didn't intend to come back, but once again I ran into it on Google. This happened again and again until I was familiar with the website. I've only read a few articles from this site, and I usually don't read the entire article due to the length, but Google keep making me come back.

There are sites that I have been over a hundred times, and I don't know the owners or the name of the website. I have been on it a hundred times because of the owner's effectiveness if getting his website at the top of the search engine. So I think its all about link building, and Steve gave great advice by urging us to remember the importance of link building. Most people don't take the time and energy to link build, and others waste all day searching for articles with titles like "How to Advertise a Blog" or "How to get traffic" because they want an easier way than the long process of link building.

[MysteryX]

Most of the traffic seemed to come from search engines. Competition has a LOT to do about this. I'm sure the situation now is much different than it was 7 years ago. Either you rank, either you don't. There isn't much "in-between".

After working a WHILE on my website, I was getting around 1000 visits a month. Then I looked at the website I built for my father about forestry (in French). The business is inactive and there isn't much going on on the website. He was getting 1500 visits per month!! Why? Because the documentation in French about the various species of trees were getting ranked in Google because there was almost no competition!! He got MORE traffic than on my own website!? That blew my mind.

Now my traffic is higher but I still don't rank high for any major keyword. Ranking high on a single popular keyword would bring more traffic that all the rest of my traffic right now. If I was to translate articles in French or Spanish, I'm sure traffic would bloom much faster.

[Rebecca800]

Originally Posted by mikethedrummer44

For example, what if his first article was "10 reasons you shouldn't get a job"?

He has no credibility, and as far as anyone knows, no money. So who gives a damn if he thinks you shouldn't get a job? Fast forward to when his website was already generating income. Now he's an authority.

That was the first article of Steve's that I read, and I was blown away with it. I emailed it to at least 5 friends and posted it on Facebook.

To this day I haven't read any of his experiments into raw food or polyphasic sleep (sorry Steve) because I'm not into doing them myself. So those haven't formed any credibility in my eyes.... yet.

The reason I sat up and paid attention to his blog in the first place? He writes in a direct, interesting, personable, authoritative manner. So new readers can get hooked right off the bat by his style and his message. You can tell a lot from peoples words if they are talking BS (whether they know it or not).

So, I think there is no rule that says you have to be published for x length of time, and earn x amount of millions, before people will listen to you....

[Justin Mazza]

Thanks Steve for posting your first year blog stats. 100k visitors/month by month six is very impressive to say the least.

Getting traffic to my site has been the most challenging part of this for me. I will take your advice on getting other blogs to link to me.

[Agota]

Wow, I'm really surprised about your first year traffic stats. You've mentioned few times that you weren't making a lot of money during your first year, so I assumed that it took more than a year to pick up a decent traffic. 100 000 visitors/month and 1000$/mont? Seriously, what were you thinking?

Could you tell a little bit more on building links? Like, how you ask people, especially popular bloggers, to link to your site? I didn't realized the importance of it until now, so I'd love to hear more.

I've launched my blog less than two weeks ago (I got 750+ uniques so far). I think guestposting is the best strategy to generate traffic, since people who read your post also share it on various social media platforms. I'm focusing on writing more guest posts now.

I think you are right that it is much easier to build a successful blog nowadays. It's so easy to share things now, that if you write something that people feel compelled to share, you can generate a lot of traffic in no time. It's just an opinion now, will see how it goes with my blog

Also, many people are yelling "Oh no! Don't do a personal development blog! The field is overcrowded! Niche it, launch "Overcoming procrastination for American Asian girl scouts who live in LA and wear glasses and don't have boyfriends!". I think those people are missing an important point that 90% of personal development blogs out there doesn't have a unique content and their owners don't put any serious efforts - therefore, anyone who is willing to put time and efforts can outperform those 90% quite easily.