It’s been 12 months since I started a BBQ website called Barbehow.
And today, we’re looking at where we were at the beginning and where we are now.
It’s showtime! ?
My Strategy for the Barbehow SEO
My strategy was simple:
- Use LowFruits to find low-competition keywords.
- Publish high-quality informational content in the first 6-9 months.
- Once the website has topical authority and organic traffic, monetize it with display ads and commercial content.
I didn’t use any other tools to analyze the SERPs or optimize my content.
Instead, I worked with writers from the US and UK who own grills or smokers themselves, so they can write competently on the subjects of grilling and meat smoking.
Did My SEO Strategy Work?
This is where we started and where we are right now:
As far as I’m concerned, the strategy has been working out!
I’m pleased with the results:
- I published 131 articles
- Total word count: 155,454
- Average word count: 1,178 per article
- Articles ranking in the first 1-3 positions in the SERPs: 78
- Page views: 20,333 page views per month on average (last 3 months)
- Monthly revenue: $353.30 per month on average
Calculating the ROI: Should I Sell the Case Study Website?
I’ll keep the website in my portfolio for the time being.
If I were to sell it now, the year-to-date revenue and likely sale price combined would recoup my investment with an ROI of 100%.
How did I come to this number?
Suppose you need 2 x 1,000-word articles/month to keep the lights on and you can source them for $0.04/word.
This puts the Last 3 Months (L3M) profit at $273.30 and leads to the following valuation:
- $10,347 at a 38x L3M profit multiple
- $10,892 at a 40x L3M profit multiple
- $11,479 at a 42x L3M profit multiple
Not bad for a “side gig” with a few posts per month, which, were you to try doing the same, you could write yourself.
A Note on Seasonality
We haven’t seen the seasonality yet, but I expect traffic and revenue to decline in the coming months as we enter fall. (People prefer grilling during the summer.)
Any post I publish or update now will be in preparation for next year’s BBQ season.
LowFruits Tip of the Month
Need more ideas for content but not really sure where to start?
Open a few of your old reports and go to the “Related” tab. You will get lots of ideas!
Then, create a list, add ideas to it, and rinse & repeat until you’re ready to analyze the list and look for low-hanging fruits in the SERPs.
What Happened in September?
Last month was almost all about “Best X for Y” posts.
It’ll take a while for these posts to rank (anywhere from 2-3 months to 8-9 months).
Once they do, I expect them to start bringing in decent revenue from Amazon Associates, ShareASale, and Impact.com.
In September 2022, the website received:
- 13.8k clicks
- 526k impressions
- Average CTR: 2.6% (Google’s SERPs)
- Monetization: $368.48
- Ezoic: $325.65
- Amazon Associates: $42.83
It’s no surprise the results peaked on Labor Day:
What’s Next for Barbehow and Our Case Study?
I asked you how to proceed with the case study, and you gave Paul and me some excellent ideas!
We’ve decided to continue the case study with quarterly updates.
There are not that many multi-year case studies around, so let’s make this one of them. The next update will be out in January 2023.
Until then?
Well, let’s just say that another case study is in the works.
And this time, a partner and I will approach things a little differently—and on a larger scale.
Stay tuned 🙂
Metrics Over Time
Traffic
Time Period | September 1, 2022 – September 30, 2022 |
Monthly Pageviews | 20,000 |
Avg. Engagement Time | 1m 02s |
Engaged Sessions / User | 0.58 |
Pageviews / Published Post (PPP) | 152.67 |
Source: Google Analytics
Content
Rankings
Date Checked | October 10, 2022 |
Avg. Position (Google, USA) | 13.35 |
Top 3 | 78 / 131 |
Top 10 | 98 / 131 |
Top 30 | 106 / 131 |
Top 100 | 108 / 131 |
Source: SERProbot
Earnings
Time Period | September 1, 2022 – September 30, 2022 |
Total Revenue Since Start of Site | $1,180.61 |
Total Revenue Year to Date (2022) | $1,180.61 |
Monthly Revenue | $368.48, of which: $325.65 from display ads$42.83 from affiliate programs |
Monthly Revenue / Published Post (MRPP) | $2.81 |
Source: Ezoic, Amazon Associates
[ratemypost]