Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank
Well, that month went by lightning fast. And I didn’t get as much work done to the blog as I would hope…for the second month in a row. Still, it’s not doing too bad all things considering. The YouTube channel is doing better, though.
So, let’s take a look at how the channel and the blog compare for the month of May in 2019.
Visitor Traffic
Without really putting more content onto the blog, WriterSanctury had its best month to date. With 813 visitors looking at 1,430 pages, it was a record breaker for both points.
To be honest, this excites me quite a bit. I mean, I really didn’t do much to promote or even create content in May. But now, I’m kicking myself for not putting in the effort.
So for total views, which are individual pages of content people looked at, the blog grew by 148. To top it all off, 43 of those visits came from YouTube. Which means the channel accounts for about 5% of the traffic to the blog.
The YouTube channel had a growth of 28% and rested at 2,488 views. That’s near twice the blog. However, I created quite a few videos in May as opposed to one or two blog posts on the website.
In both instances, I am quite happy with the results of May 2019. Now if I can just add more content to the blog itself.
Audience Retention Rates
For the YouTube channel, the audience retention rate sat at 3:20 on average. Which is three seconds less than in April. This tells me I need to focus more on creating content that keeps people watching.
For the blog, the retention rate was 3:23. This is nine seconds longer on-page than in April. It also means people are spending more time going over the content. Again, this gets me excited especially since I really didn’t do much last month.
When dealing with anything that is Internet-related, every second counts. Especially when it comes to ranking your content in search engines.
Looking at the Click-Through Rates
Now let’s take a look at the click-through rates. In this metric, I can tell if titles and descriptions are working for WriterSanctuary or if I need to make adjustments.
Of course, the CTR for the blog and YouTube channel are a bit different. However, both use the same principle: engaging searchers enough to click into the content.
The WriterSanctuary blog only had a 2.6% CTR for the month of May. Which means some articles have slipped as the month before was around the 2.7% mark. I’ll have to go through the older posts and see what needs fine-tuning.
The YouTube channel experienced a 5.5% CTR in May. This is from a combination of titles and thumbnails. This is a .4% increase from the month before. However, this could also be the result of more subscribers clicking the video.
Still, some of the older videos before I gained the last 70 subscribers are doing fairly well and above the “YouTube average” of a good click-through rate. For instance, my “8 Textbroker Writing Sample Tips to Help Land Clients” is sitting at 12.6% CTR.
Looking at Ways to Monetize the Channel
I’m still several months away before I can monetize YouTube with Adsense. However, I’ve been toying with the idea of using affiliate links as well as buymeacoffee.com. For the most part, I am using these platforms for future content.
But it would be nice if I started to see a trickle of income from the effort.
As for the blog, I am still using Adsense and the same affiliate banners on the site. Perhaps I should change it up and design a better strategy for monetizing the blog. Then again, perhaps adding content should be the main focus.
You can’t make money on a site that isn’t bringing in an audience.
Improvements and Growth
While I’m happy most aspects of the YouTube channel and the blog for WriterSanctuary are improving each month, I feel as though I can do more. There are a few obvious things I can do to improve both platforms.
The trick is getting the time together so I can make a few changes.
Working on the Blog
First, and foremost, the blog needs more engaging content. It’s been a while since I created a really good piece to drive an audience. And with the influx from YouTube, I need to get on the ball for keeping the audience happy.
I still need to find the time to dig into the older articles and revamp some pieces. I know there are a few that are out of date, and I really need to get into gear to fix those articles.
Lately, I’ve been toying with the idea of setting up a community on the website. A community of freelance writers, authors and bloggers to share ideas and hang out. But I want it to be more than just a Facebook group clone.
I’ve added a new section to the blog: Free Guides. I am putting together in-depth collections of massive articles to help with freelance writing, WordPress and anything else that is related. These take a long time to develop, and will probably run around 5,000 words or so. I may even turn some of them into actual PDF files or eBooks.
Working on the YouTube Channel
At the moment, I haven’t made a video in June. I got fitted with dentures on Saturday and have a hard time speaking. As soon as I get used to the new teeth, I will get back into producing videos. I just hope it’s soon.
I’ve expanded into WordPress a bit with the video content. It seems a few of my subscribers are interested in those videos. So, I’ll make a few more of those once I can talk again.
On June 27th, I’ll be at WordCamp Kansas City to represent my client. However, I’m going to try and work that into WordCamp videos for the YouTube channel if possible. It sounds like I will be going to one per month.
I’m going to spend a bit of time to see if I can increase the click-through rates of my older videos. I know some of them are not all that popular. But even if I gain a single visitor from the effort, it’s worth the time.
It’s a Work in Progress
So, I still have a long way to go while building my brand. I just need to keep improving and helping everyone I can. So far, 2019 has been a great year for WriterSanctuary. I just need to do more to grow the positive momentum.
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