4 Months of Blogging (And How I Finally Doubled My Traffic)

This post may contain affiliate links, and may use advertising partners which may display ads. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read more at the bottom of this page or see the full disclaimer for details.

What I Didn’t Know I Didn’t Know (and What I Plan to Try Next)

For a full list of plugins I installed and how to use them, plus a downloadable PDF that is screen-shot friendly, click here! (The download link is near the bottom of the page, and it’s totally free!) But keep scrolling to see how you can use them to double your traffic and start earning on your blog!

First: An EMAIL Moment That Changed Everything ABOUT BLOGGING

I still remember the morning I sat down with my coffee, a few months into blogging after trying to monetize my blog. I checked my phone and opened an email that crushed me (just a little…).

“Unfortunately, your site isn’t ready to show ads at this time. There are some issues which need fixing.”

…. What?!

After months of blogging, I had twenty high-quality posts live. I had only a hundred or so views each month when I applied to AdSense, and I knew my chance for approval was slim, but for my rejection reason to be my site and content and not my traffic, stung a little.

I thought blogging worked like this: write the great content, hit publish, and the people will come. Simple.

But that morning as I closed that email and brainstormed what on Earth I could do to improve my site (because it was already perfect, duh!) while Paw Patrol played repeatedly in the background… I chose to learn.

I gave myself permission to see this as an opportunity to grow. Over the next few weeks, between my time off-grid at the lake and processing a new ADHD diagnosis, I began to dig into the world of SEO, Pinterest, plugins, and site structure. What I found out honestly blew my mind.

This is my four-month blogging update, the lessons I didn’t know I didn’t know, and how I’m building rhythms that will help me grow from here.

(Want to know how I first started my blog from scratch? Read that post here.)

Site Foundations Matter More Than I Thought

After I launched my blog, the first week or two was really tough because there was just so much I didn’t know. Here are the frustrating mistakes I wish I knew before I started my blog.

But even months later, I believed great posts were all I needed. But Google and AdSense don’t just look at the writing, they look at your entire site.

That meant:

• An About page that tells people who I am and why Let’s Glow exists and an author box that appears on each page letting people know whose writing they are reading.
• A Contact page so readers and brands can reach me.
• Easy navigation throughout the site with clear headings, titles, and images.
• More detailed affiliate disclosures including disclaimers on each blog post that contains affiliate links. This one confused me because this kind of disclosure isn’t required in Canada (there are rules against deceptive marketing practices but nothing like the FTC’s rules about blogs and social media), but for large agencies and companies that operate all over the world, more disclosure is always better.
• Little or no spam bots or comments. I had marked comments as spam, but Google still saw them when they crawled my site — hundreds of them. I had to install anti-spam and remove all existing comments and block all future comments.

Once I dealt with all of those, my blog instantly looked and felt more professional. Here are the five plugins I installed to make this happen:

1. Affiliate Link Marker – marks affiliate links with a * and puts a disclaimer at the end of every blog post.
2. Anti-Spam by CleanTalk – blocks spam from your site and removes old spam comments.
3. Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – repairs broken links for easy navigation through your site
4. FMTC Affiliate Disclosure – adds a custom affiliate disclosure to the beginning of every blog post.
5. Simple Author Box – adds a customizable author box at the bottom of every blog post and an “About” section at the bottom of your pages.

A blog isn’t just posts. It’s the whole home.

For a full list of plugins I installed and how to use them, plus a downloadable PDF that is screen-shot friendly, click here! (The download link is near the bottom of the page, and it’s totally free!)

SEO Isn’t Scary, it’s essential FOR BLOGGING

I thought SEO was a scary, code-heavy mystery. I knew it had something to do with keywords and searchability but it was kind of overwhelming so I didn’t look into it that much.

Now I see it’s just about being clear and consistent and adding some detail. Titles, descriptions, and alt text aren’t there to confuse us. They’re little invitations to our readers.

When I began updating my blog posts for better SEO, I didn’t even know the difference between SERPs and Meta Descriptions. Thank you, ChatGTP for walking me through that one!

A made a few changes that made a big difference:

• Writing clear SERP titles and meta descriptions so people know what they’ll get before they click.
• Keeping slugs short (like /blender-pizza-sauce instead of /how-to-make-the-best-homemade-pizza-sauce-in-your-blender). (I still have to update a lot of my old blog posts to reflect this!)
• Adding internal links between my own posts so readers (and Google) see my site as connected.
• Using my SEO plugin more efficiently and focusing on better use of keywords and headings.

The plugin I use and love for this is All-In-One SEO (AIOSEO) because it integrates into your sidebar while you write your posts and updates in real time and shows you exactly what you need to do to have the best SEO for your post.

Pinterest Is Free Marketing That Works While You Sleep

I used to treat Pinterest like Instagram: post a pretty image, hope for views. But Pinterest isn’t social media. It’s a search engine.

Here’s what doubled my traffic:

• Making boards that match my categories, with searchable names moms would actually type in. Make enough boards that each blog post pin can fit into 2-3 of them. Putting the same URL into the same board can be seen as “spammy” by Pinterest. Yeah, that was new information for me too.
  
• Creating multiple fresh pins for each post, using keywords. A helpful thing is logging into Google Search Console and seeing what keywords people typed into Google for your site to show up. This gave me an idea of what kind of specific words people were searching for.
  
• Scheduling pins with Tailwind. Pinterest was so overwhelming for me, so I eventually just stopped doing it. But for about $20USD a month, I can batch my pins, schedule them according to their Smart Scheduler (about 3-5 a day), and leave it for the week. Within two days of doing this, my blog traffic doubled. After a week of doing this, I had as much weekly views as monthly views before. It’s been a complete game changer (actually though…. ChatGTP didn’t write that one for me!) My views are way up and my anxiety is way down. Totally worth the investment for me.

Here are my stats as of the first week of September vs the entire month of August:

Pinterest taught me that consistency doesn’t have to mean hustle. If I set it up well, it keeps working while I rest. Here are my Pinterest improvements after just one week! (My prior views were just over one hundred).

Update: Read my blog post here about how I reached 11,000 Pinterest impressions in my first month of having a Pinterest strategy!

Tech Roadblocks Aren’t the End of the Story

I’ve had plenty of hiccups. Bluehost feels painfully slow some days. My first embedded PDF wouldn’t upload because I accidentally had an “@” in the Canva file name.

But I’ve learned every problem has a workaround. Just because something feels broken doesn’t mean I’m not meant to be here. It just means I need to find another way forward.

AdSense Rejection Was a Gift in Disguise

When I applied for AdSense, I got rejected. My first reaction? Defeat. But when I looked into why, I realized it was the push I needed to make my site more professional.

I cleaned up my site, added missing policies, polished up my posts, and worked on SEO. Suddenly, I felt like I was running a business, not just a hobby.

That’s the beauty of setbacks: they can shape us into something sturdier than we were before.

Building a Shop and Selling Digital Products

One of the most exciting steps I’ve taken is adding a digital shop. Right now it’s simple, blank meal plans and printable checklists, but it’s real. I am working hard on ebooks, printables, and schedules that should be ready to go live soon!

It means Let’s Glow isn’t just about traffic, it’s about building resources that truly help moms.

It’s small beginnings, but I believe that’s how all meaningful things grow.

BECOMING OFFICIALLY MONETIZED

With still a small amount of views per month, my likelihood of monetizing was low. But I found somewhere to start… PopAds.

I applied on PopAds.net, and I got approved! Their pay structure is purely based on clicks, not just views, so they will approve almost anyone who has decent traffic and a functioning site. So far, I’ve made about half a cent on my PopAds ads… but, I’m still officially monetized! (I was not sponsored to feature them on this blog post… They are truly the first ones to have approved me!, and the whole experience has been so smooth.)

UPDATE: After a few days of using PopAds, I decided to remove it from my site. Despite having settings in place (like no gambling and adult content, only one pop-under per viewer per day), my viewers still reported seeing adult content and being unable to see my posts in in-app browsers like Facebook. The four cents I made during that time was not worth the integrity of my site, so I decided to no longer utilize pop-under ads.

The Hub-and-Spoke Strategy FOR BLOGGING

One morning I was making my coffee and I thought to myself, “Are my blog posts too broad? Do I need to make them more targeted and easier to read? Am I losing my audience because I am writing my life story around natural wellness instead of “My Top 5 Herbal Medicines From Nature’s Fare”?”

Turns out, that’s actually a thing.

Instead of pouring everything into one massive post, I plan on writing “hub” posts (big guides) and then break them into “spoke” posts (smaller, detailed pieces).

This strategy keeps readers circling back, strengthens SEO, and gives me more graphics and pins from a single idea. Plus it’s just more content for more people (some people just want quick answers, and some like the story and relatability).

STICKING TO My Workflow Keeps Me Sane

As a stay-at-home mom, I can’t pour endless hours into blogging. So I created a 4-day rhythm:

• Day 1: Shoot and edit content and upload into JetPack and Canva; start drafting new blog post
  
• Day 2: Write new blog post + add links and images; save link to Boards for easy sharing
  
• Day 3: Make and schedule Pinterest pins with Canva and Tailwind
  
• Day 4: Make and schedule Instagram and Facebook content with Edits and Meta Business Suite
  

Plus sprinkling in small daily actions to update my old content, like updating meta descriptions, adding internal and external links, and updating the images, helps me keep momentum without burning out.

Consistency beats intensity — in motherhood, in homemaking, in marketing, and in blogging.

What’s Next

Now that I’ve survived my first four months, here’s where I’m heading:

• Creating more spoke posts from my hubs.
• Updating old posts with better SEO and images and shortening my slugs.
• Adding an email opt-in freebie (I’m working on guides and ebooks now).
• Expanding my digital shop.
• Applying for AdSense again with a stronger foundation.
• Writing or hosting guest posts!

Before my AdSense rejection, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I probably still don’t. But I feel like now my foundation is strong, and I’m excited to grow even more.

Are You New To Blogging?

If you’ve ever started something and felt crushed when the results didn’t match your effort, you’re not alone. Whether it’s blogging, homemaking, or motherhood, we all go through seasons of planting before we see the harvest.

If you need some extra encouragement, one of my good friends just hit her one year milestone for blogging and shared everything she learned along the way, and it has been a huge help for me! She definitely inspired me to not give up, but to keep improving!

Update: This post was originally published with the title “My First Six Months of Blogging”; however, I started blogging in May, and this post was published in the beginning of September. That makes it three full full months and September being the fourth month of blogging. I have updated the title to reflect this. Thanks, mom brain!