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It’s – apparently – the hottest shopping month of the year.
Insane RPMs/EPMVs! Commissions galore!
Well, let’s see. Keep reading to learn more about the OK-ish December earnings on my niche sites totaling $538.81 for December.
Everything included in these income reports is accurate to the “niche” sites I currently run. This doesn’t include any earnings or benefits from the “Niche Campus” brand.
Before you read this income report, you might be interested in my workshop:
What you will learn in my workshop:
- How to find good niche ideas in several techniques
- How to qualify those niche ideas with a simple formula
- How to pick the best option for your first niche site
- How to plan for your niche site’s content and monetization
All over five hours of theory, presentation, demonstration, and Q&A recording!
What happened in December
Overall, not much work was done on the niche sites in December. Holidays and all. But here’s what I’ve worked on in December to grow my niche sites:
- I performed a fairly large migration of a cluster of posts (35) from Site 1 to Site 2. I decided that this cluster wasn’t performing as desired and wanted to move in a different direction with the content type.
- I also moved a selection of drafts/unused and underperforming posts from Site 1 to Site 2.
- Published to Site 1: 1 link-bait post, 1 heavily updated/republished post, and 1 new post designed as a cluster hub page that better groups together many valuable posts.
- Continued doing partial post updates for Site 1, looking for improvements on keywords in the content, original value, internal linking, etc.
- I continued to invest more time into creating YouTube Shorts with my assistant, publishing a new one every day and growing the subscribers for the YouTube channel.
There were probably lots of more minor tweaks. If you want to read more about what I’m tinkering with almost daily, follow me on Twitter.
Site #1 Google Search Console
Site 1 reached 21,500 organic clicks (-14.68%) and 1,020,000 impressions (-0.97%).
Overall organic traffic has continued to decline since its high in September. Observing the data, it’s clear that the search impressions have remained at over a million per month, but the Click-Through-Rate (CTR) has declined most.
This has been more clearly due to dropping rankings. The search numbers are similar, and I’ll appear often on the first page, but many of my best performers in the past have moved down a few positions which have a major effect.
The good thing is that the site’s earnings haven’t been hit quite so heavily. Or it’s not felt quite as much. More on that later in the report.
Site #1 Analytics
Site 1 had 25,335 sessions in December 2022 (-16.93%)
Re-confirming the losses in traffic, the site continues to decline in overall sessions. One slight redeeming factor is that around 5,000 sessions come from sources other than Google clicks.
Considering the work I am putting into developing the brand for Site 1 by expanding its audiences and reach via social networks, this is a good number to see.
It might be something I will continue to track, to ensure that the efforts I’m making off-site are translating into progress. I’ve taken a quick look, and so far, it appears to be a small amount and about the same each month.
Traffic analysis shows a relatively flat traffic level but leaning towards declining further into December. Not very good for starting 2023.
Site #1 EPMV (Ezoic)
The average EPMV for site 1 in December was $8.45 (compared with $8.37 in November)
A little bump for December ad rates, but its minor and doesn’t have a noticeable effect on the earnings, as traffic continues declining.
Site #1 Earnings (Ezoic)
The earnings on the site declined with the traffic. From the graph you can see how by Christmas Day, ad rates had dropped significantly.
Site #1 Amazon Earnings
This site earned $268.80 from Amazon Associates in December.
A pretty good month for affiliate earnings for the site. It was close to the current record for this site’s Amazon earnings, which was $279.18 back in October.
Considering December is typically the best month for niche site earnings, this was a decent result but not excellent.
Despite that, I’m continually happy with how Amazon affiliate earnings are shaping up with this site. Mainly because there is only a handful of affiliate-focused content here.
I see many signs here that affiliate is the way to go.
Site #1 Total Income
My main site earned $507.86 in December (-8.43% from last month)!
The total site income has been consistently declining, which makes sense considering the traffic losses in these months.
September was high for traffic, and the earnings peaked in September and then again in October. After that, it’s been a bit downhill.
But you’ve gotta keep the faith, and keep pushing to learn and re-grow what has been lost. I’m reasonably happy with the progress of earnings.
It wasn’t so long ago that I was only earning a couple of hundred bucks from this site, and late 2022 presented challenges and progress in earnings. There’s more trust on this site, and it’s bringing in the commissions.
December 2022 profit/loss summary for site 1:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Income (Month Total) | $507.86 |
| Expenses (Month Total) | -$214.28 |
| Profit/Loss (Month) | $293.58 |
| Profit/Loss (All-Time) | $284.92 |
My main niche site has now finally passed the all-time profit line.
Last month, November, the site was approximately -$8.66 and nearly hit breakeven. But it’s poetic that I’ll end 2022 with this site entirely in profit.
I’ve tried many things with this site, and it takes the brunt of most costs that other smaller sites benefit from (e.g., subscriptions to tools).
I’ve spent the most on writers over the summer of 2022 (over $1,700 in 7 months) and been duped into buying tools and stuff I didn’t need over the last couple of years. It all adds up.
But finally, the site has developed a consistent monetary base. This base is now funding progress above many months of trying things out and spending money where it wasn’t needed.
But that’s a big part of the learning process with niche sites. Generating revenue and being lean on expenses is where to find the profit, and then you can build something sturdy.
Site #1 Stats & Value
- Articles published: 2
- Articles removed: 35
- Total articles: 207
- Blended RPM: $20.05
Decent RPM around the $20 mark, which is up a couple of bucks from the previous month’s $18.18.
If I were to value the site at a standard x35 multiple on the last 6 months’ profit, the site would be worth $5,129.08 (last month was $3,035.73).
If I were to value the site at a standard x35 multiple on the last 6 months’ revenue, the site would be worth $18,297.13 (last month was $17,029.13).
Closing in on the $20K asset range (on a revenue basis). With the site now being profitable, and it should continue to be every single month from here, the profit valuation will increase dramatically.
Site #1 Historical KPIs
December 2022 has now been added to my KPI tracking sheet to see the big picture.
The decline in impressions, Google clicks, and sessions is easy to see from here. A dose of revenue impact there, too, but remaining above the $500 mark is fair.
Of course, there are lots more growth to be had here. And I’m still working at it, and it’ll get there.
Based on my current plans, I expect to hit $1K monthly revenue in the spring.
I’ll be considering my efforts on informational content and doing more work on affiliate content, links, clustering/internal linking.
Site #2 Google Search Console
The content was moved, redirections set up, and additional (minor) expired domains were pumped into Site 2 to give it a boost.
That content cluster is fairly respected by Google already, showing in positions 2-4 for almost all of them. But they aren’t hugely searched terms each.
This content gives Site 2 an extra chance to build authority with Google. I didn’t want it to be part of the first site’s content type, but it’s fine for this one.
So, that’s why there has been a doubling of impressions and many more clicks.
Site #2 Analytics
Site 2 had 4,799 sessions in December (+92.50%).
With a big content cluster being moved into this site, and redirections setup, Google picked up the SERP changes relatively fast, and traffic continued to deliver to this site.
So I’d continue to earn from the same articles, as this site is also on Ezoic + Ezoic Premium, but I’m just removing it from my main site to change the tactics there.
Site #2 Income
Site 2 is back into profit for December 2022 by a whole $21!
It earned a little more because of the content now existing there. Now it should run with a small bit of profit while I decide what else to do with this domain.
Overall Profit & Loss
Ending December 2022, I am in a profit of $3,019.73 since beginning to build niche sites.
Last month was a $2,705.15 in total profit, so we’re moving up!
Site 1 has been earning profits every month since September 2022, and it has now converted to an overall total profit of the age of that project.
Site 2 is back into a monthly profit, and remains profitable for the lifetime of that project.
Site 3&4 sales continue to contribute to my overall profit when I sold them in May 2022.
Final thoughts on December 2022
Considering I’ve been tinkering with niche sites for over two years now, $3K in profits isn’t exactly record-breaking or much of a livelihood to live on.
Nevertheless, I enjoy the process and I am in this for the long game. I’m aiming to make this my primary work; someday that will be a reality.
Next steps for January 2023
Now that I’ll be getting back into the swing of things with working on my niche sites in 2023, here are some things I plan to do:
- Keep working on updating older posts by looking for opportunities to improve them. Keywords/topic inclusions, original images, fixing outdated content, etc.
- Write more new affiliate-based content, which seems to continue to earn the best for my site.
- Keep looking for linkbait/statistical type articles to create and even API/automated updating pieces of content that could be link worthy and build authority.
- Continue creating and improving YouTube Shorts and other social efforts to grow the brand and audience.
Wish me luck for the month ahead where January can be the WORST month of the year on income for niche sites. See you next month.