January was an interesting month for both the blog and the YouTube channel. There were a few things that happened that I wasn’t really expecting. Nonetheless, it wasn’t too bad of a month for either in terms of growth.
Granted, I’m still not able to retire from AdSense income. Yet, at the rate the blog and the channel are performing, I could make an extra few thousand dollars throughout the year.
Five grand can go a long way in this house.
Comparing the Traffic
The blog increased by 588 views throughout the month compared to December, while the YouTube channel grew by 1,227. To be honest, I’m kind of surprised the channel did so well considering I didn’t get much published in terms of video-on-demand.
However, the attempt to livestream Worldbuilding 101 from Tattered Cover got a lot of exposure. The video was just shot to hell and gone and didn’t come out nearly as well as I hoped.
Regardless, both grew in traffic, which is better than going in the other direction.
According to the growth in views thus far, the blog should be able to hit 10,000 visitors per month in December. That’s something I’ve never done with any of the blogs I own and it’s kind of exciting. However, a lot can happen in the meantime. I’m not going to get my hopes up just yet.
If the channel continues to grow as it did in January, it’ll accumulate 20,852 viewers per month. That breaks down to about 672 per day. That’s also exciting as one of my major goals for the channel is to hit 750.
Creating New Content
Throughout January, I managed to publish 15 new articles on the blog. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to update much aside from a few minor tweaks here and there.
In comparison, I only uploaded four videos and had 12 live streams. In terms of creating content, this was nowhere near where I wanted to be for the month of January. Ideally, I should have had 27 live streams (most of which are writing sprints) and 14 videos.
Things were a bit haphazard in January, and a lot of what I wanted to do got put on the back burner. Still, at least I had a few pieces of content up on the channel and maintained the blog’s publishing schedule.
But if I want the YouTube channel to do better, I’ll definitely need to get more videos up.
Impressions and Visibility
Although the visitation grew on the blog by almost 600, the impressions on Google search dropped by 19,000! That’s perhaps one of the biggest drops I’ve seen since CrossingColorado.com got hammered by the YMYL/Medic update.
After examining Search Console, a lot of the decreases in visibility were from things I don’t cover much today, such as Textbroker content.
In contrast, the YouTube channel gained 19,933 impressions throughout January. If this keeps up, I’ll hit a quarter of a million impressions by September.
I would love to see one million impressions in 2026, but that will require some killer content from a writing channel. For an old guy like me, the odds are not in my favor.
Comparing the Income
The income is where I am thrown for a loop. Traditionally, the RPM on the blog bounces between $7 and $8, depending on the month. In January, it hit $18.10! That has never happened, even when the sites generated $81 in total back in 2023.
I’m not sure how much of a fluke it is, but it’s incredible how much the site has made with only 3,687 visitors.
The YouTube channel’s RPM only hit $12.66 in January, which I thought would have been much higher. Generally speaking, video ads are simply more expensive, so the RPM should be higher than the blog. That was clearly not the case, and I’m left scratching my head as to what the hell happened.
Overall, the blog generated $66.72 and the YouTube channel brought in $92.42. Even with a lower RPM, there was almost twice the traffic on the vlog than there was on the blog.
The Story So Far…
There’s really not much to tell after one month. Both platforms had a few oddities that probably won’t duplicate throughout the year.
I do believe the high income from the blog was more a fluke than a regular occurrence, especially since it’s never made that much money per visitor in the past. And the loss of impressions is quite staggering.
The YouTube channel clearly didn’t get enough solid content published. Only 39% of the planned content was available in January, versus the 100% from the blog. That is easily a failing on my part.
At any rate, both platforms combined made $159.14 for the month. I know that might not sound like a lot to some folks, but I can do an awful lot of good with an extra $160. In fact, I spent some of it already subscribing to World Anvil, which should help generate quite a few content ideas for the blog and vlog.
I’ll be very interested to see what the RPMs for both platforms do for the month of February.
If you’d like to see the numbers, the spreadsheet is embedded on the Blog vs Vlog page.
Which One Wins January?
All things considered, I’d have to say that the vlog wins for January. Although the blog had a much higher RPM, the channel consistently grew while the blog saw a massive hit in impressions. For a site that gains most of its traffic from search, that’s painful to see.
Plus, the vlog gained almost three times the traffic with less viable content. The live streams are OK for keeping current subscribers happy, but it’s the VODs that wind up generating the most interest.
Videos have higher engagement rates, more impressions, higher click-through rates, and greater ad revenue than live streams. To only have four published in the entire month is kind of like shooting myself in the foot.
But since all metrics were green and it generated almost $30 more throughout the month, I’d have to say the YouTube channel takes January.
What Can I Do in February?
So, there are two very important elements I need to address in February, one for each channel.
First of all, I really need to start updating some of the older posts on the blog. I’m sure I can make up some of those lost impressions if the content is brought up to date and polished up a bit.
Second, I need to publish more content on the YouTube channel. Four videos throughout the entire month of January is just a paltry performance at best. That means utilizing my available time just a bit better.
Yes, chaos reigns supreme here. But I do tend to burn a lot of my time myself. And when you have as much as I do on your plate, every minute counts.
One Down, 11 to Go
January is out of the way, but we still have a long way to go.
If I can manage to get a few decent videos up and maintain the regular writing sprints, the YouTube channel should have some massive leaps in views, impressions, and revenue. As for the blog, I just need to keep doing what I’ve been doing with the addition of an update here and there.
I’m just hoping the boost in blog revenue isn’t a fluke and that it’ll start bringing in quite a bit more revenue. But I am almost certain the levels will stabilize by March.
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