Heads up: some of the links in this post are affiliate links and services I use for OMGfood.

Hello, hello! It's time for another monthly traffic and income report, where I share some information about blogging behind the scenes. My goal is to one day make a living from my blog and I want to share the journey there with you! I know, it seems like I just posted one of these recently; January's report came in slightly late and I only posted two recipes since then. Going forward, there will be more food-related posts in between these reports!

If the technical side of blogging doesn't interest you, no sweat. You're more than likely here for some recipes, yeah? I completely understand! I'll have a new recipe for you next time. As for the rest of you nerds, read on!

Numbers

Traffic Overview

Total traffic for the month of February, including the amount of users, page views, and sessions.

February was a month that was all about easing back into blogging. January had approximately 500 more page views, though I didn't post any recipes during that month because of being laid off from my full-time job and needing a break to find inspiration. I shared two recipes in February, which isn't really ideal for someone wanting to grow their blog, but it was great to have a fresh start!

Top Ten Traffic Sources

Spots one through four remain the same for this month! I also started submitting photos from new posts to "food porn" sites, Foodgawker and Tastespotting again, which has been a little bit of help. Number eight comes from my weekly email to subscribers. As for number seven, I'm still figuring it out, but it appears to be a site similar to Foodgawker and Tastespotting, though I have no idea who is submitting the content there because it's not me! That's not a complaint, though. It's in the top ten sources of traffic, the photo links back to the blog, and there's no repost of a recipe, so there's nothing wrong with it in my book.

Mobile vs Desktop vs Tablet

As always, mobile is kicking some butt.

Income

• Sovrn - $14.68
• Gourmet Ads - $8.24
• Switch Ads - $2.12
• Amazon Associates - $12.46
• Thrive Market* - $25.00

Thrive Market is one of my favorite places to shop. It's an online market that sells healthy goods at wholesale prices and you don't have to buy in bulk as you would at places like BJ's or Costco. I've been an affiliate with them for months; ever since I received my first order from them. I had an affiliate banner placed in an ad spot at one point and someone signed up through it. For each member who signs up, the affiliate receives $25. Aside from getting healthy goods at reasonable prices, they sponsor a low-income family for every membership (it's $59.95/year with a 30-day free trial). It's an awesome community and I'm currently planning a post to better promote it because I love it that much. If you're interested in signing up, check it out here.

Total Income: $62.50

Expenses

• Food Blogger Pro - $25
• VaultPress - $5
• Google Apps - $5
• BoardBooster - $5
• Adobe Creative Cloud* - $10

I finally bit the bullet and signed up for a Creative Cloud membership; I went with the photography plan which includes Photoshop and Lightroom. I'd been using Photoshop CS5 to edit my photography since I first started blogging and it treated me very well, but because that version was no longer supported and I purchased a new DSLR in 2014, I could only edit photos in the JPEG format and not RAW. RAW photos preserve more detail than JPEGs and they allow more flexibility when it comes to editing them. I'm really happy with the upgrade. The Mediterranean mule and spicy shredded cabbage posts both contain photos that were shot RAW.

Total Expenses: $50

Profit: $12.50

WHAAAAAT. A profit!? Thanks to the semi-random Thrive Market surprise, it pushed the total income to an amount that would cover blog expenses and give me a little extra to treat myself. Ima go buy a sandwich!

Top Three Posts of February

#1 Shrimp Scampi

For a long time after first sharing the shrimp scampi recipe, it had become the most popular post on the blog and drove in tons of traffic from Yummly. It makes me glad to see this recipe back in the number one spot!

#2 Broiled Lamb Shoulder Chops

For the second month in a row, these tasty lamb shoulder chops take the number two spot.

#3 Kale and Avocado Salad

And again for the second month in a row, this tasty kale and avocado salad takes the third spot! Spooky.

Takeaways

I didn't expect much of a change in stats because I didn't blog much in January or February to begin with, but I was really happy with the Thrive Market surprise! I've been focusing on more work behind the scenes (i.e. new blog header and theme I just launched in February) and working on a plan to start earning more money. That last part is tricky as a blogger with fewer than 20k monthly page views because a lot of sponsored content I currently could have access to is either for products I don't use or are from stores I don't prefer to shop at. While I'm excited about the idea of making money on my blog, I want to stay true to myself and my readers. Lots of organizations require a decent amount of page views before you sign up with them, so it's going to be an interesting journey. That said, I did just sign on with a couple new networks this past week and it looks promising. I'm also waiting to hear back from others as well.

I also recently did some tweaking to the ads placed on my site, which I'll talk about more in next month's report.

That's it for this month. Now that I am focusing more and more on the growth of this blog, these reports will be more in-depth as time goes on. I'm curious: is there anything you think would make these reports more helpful? I'd love to know. Let's chat!