Has the thought of starting your very own blog crossed your mind lately? If you’re anything like most folks, you might be wondering just how long it will take before your blog starts to climb the ranks on Google and begins to bring in a bit of cash.
Now, it’s easy to stumble upon blog income reports online, with some boasting sky-high six-figure earnings each month. But let’s keep our feet on the ground here: the average blog isn’t exactly bringing in 6 figures every month.
The blogs that are bringing in those kinds of numbers? They’ve been around the block, built a solid reputation, and have an all-star team of writers who are cranking out an impressive number of articles every month.
However, don’t let that deter you! It’s entirely possible to make a decent income from your blog. The problem is many aspiring bloggers dive in with such lofty expectations that, when reality doesn’t quite match their dream, they end up walking away right when their blog is on the cusp of truly taking off.
So, to provide an authentic, unvarnished glimpse into what it’s really like to grow a blog from seed to sequoia, I’m going to share monthly growth reports for my personal endeavor – a gardening blog that I’m nurturing from scratch.
You can see previous Blog Growth Reports below:
- Blog Growth Report February 2023
- Blog Growth Report March 2023
- Blog Growth Report April 2023
- Blog Growth Report May 2023
Here’s our starting point:
This blog has been my labor of love for the last 5 months. It started with 14 blog posts that I put out into the digital wild before letting it lie dormant for about 6 months while I juggled other projects.
Fast forward to 5 months ago, I picked up where I left off, aiming to contribute several new blog posts each month…time permitting. Just to clarify, though, this isn’t my full-time gig. It’s a side hustle I squeeze in when my schedule allows.
Google Analytics Breakdown

Let’s take a look at the data. In the month of June, I saw 64 sessions. Out of these, 52 were brought in through organic traffic. To put it simply, at least 52 folks found their way here via Google. Sure, that might sound like a handful, but remember back in February? I was only getting 6 organic sessions then. That’s an incredible growth of over 750%!
And let’s not forget; most blogs don’t start showing their face on Google until they’ve got a hefty 100,000 words on their plate. Considering this, I’m taking my current stats as a win!
Keyword Breakdown

According to Ubersuggest, my garden blog is sprouting up for 194 keywords on Google. That’s pretty awesome, right? However, this doesn’t mean all of these keywords are leading folks to my blog. For Google to acknowledge a site as “ranking,” it has to be in the top 100.
I mean, when was the last time you went hunting through 100 Google search results, right?
Of these 194, 21 keywords are actually bringing me some traffic, and they’re all sitting pretty in the top 25. Excitingly, one post has even found its way to page 1 on Google!

How am I ranking for so many keywords?
You might be over there scratching your head, wondering how my relatively young gardening site, with its 30 blog posts, is ranking for such a large number of keywords. The secret is pretty straightforward: each and every post on my site has been given the SEO touch, using a proven strategy, just like the one I preach about in my blogging membership, Creative SEO.
But it’s not just the posts themselves that have been SEO-optimized and finally got around to categorizing my posts into cilos. I’ve also spruced up my website, running a lightweight theme, focusing on boosting site speed, and investing time in backlink building and other off-page SEO techniques.
Monetization Update
Remember how I mentioned adding ads to the site midway through last month? Currently, my garden site is monetized using both these ads and Amazon affiliate links. Given that the traffic is still in its early stages, I’m not expecting a big paycheck just yet. However, this month it did generate a whopping $1.33, and as traffic starts to flourish, this figure should start to grow too.
Plans for July:
- Publish 4 blog posts (fingers crossed)
- Make sure ALL Posts are indexed
If you’ve been thinking about starting a blog or growing your current blog, a strong SEO strategy is essential for its success. Check out blogging membership Creative SEO and see if it’s a good fit for you…no blog required to get started!