I can’t believe it’s been one year since I started video game blogging. This blogging journey has taken me in all sorts of directions. So I thought I would feedback on what has happened so far so it would help future bloggers. As well as log the performance of the website for my future self to read.
The Downs
This website has gone through many different iterations at the start originally under my YouTube username poo stop quickly changed two games mix. the idea of the main was that it would be a gaming website with a whole mix of different content type. Not just refuse but helpful guides and features stop fixing on the world of video games.
From looking at other gaming blogs it was clear that many readers have a distaste for YouTube personalities and twitch streamers. So, I decided this strike stay away from personality names. Unless it involves a game developer or a well name contributor to the genre.
One of the biggest towns that I had starting out was that I accidentally lost the original domain which ended in co.uk. this is just rating since I’d spent the money or on that main name however using advice coverage from all sorts of sources, I decided to go for mcbean29.com.
My Most popular post.
Another issue that I found is that it’s very difficult to come up with a product to sell when you focus on various products. Being a video game blogger leaves me with only two others ways to generate income. Either create game guides in a PDF format or I would need to build a game myself. Both of these will take time but both are on my mind now.
My other source of income comes from Affiliate marketing. This is where I provide links that my readers can use to buy products from other websites. I then receive a small commission which doesn’t affect the price of the item. So far this has been unsuccessful. But I will be looking at ways to make this more useful to my viewers.
A problem all bloggers face is that it takes time before getting attention from readers and Google. Three months I was getting very few hits. And Google was not my friend at the time. I took a few months break to study when I returned to the blog it was starting to pick up traffic.
The Ups
launch line mentioned earlier when I return to the blog there was an increase in readers. especially on my mediaeval dynasty guides.
Income wise I started with Google AdSense and have moved on to Ezoic. this change has only happened recently as when I originally applied my website received an attack which made it unsuitable for their Ezoic platform. As of writing I’m seeing a great to return from the platform then I am from AdSense.
it allowed me to run both platforms in parallel. which means two sources of income should one of them fail. Ezoic also has features that speed up the website. This will allow my website to rank higher on Google.
as of writing I have yet to start making a profit on the blog. If I hadn’t have taken the break. I would have been in a better place. But looking at the figures It’s all heading in the right direction. Hopefully by the end of next year shoot at least break even.
What Would I do Differently if I Started Again?
if I started again from scratch with no other blogs, I would only focus on one blog and make sure that turns a profit before focusing I’m trying to juggle more than one block at a time. find would also not do any guest login on other people’s websites unless there was a potential of earning. From my experience backlinks do very little compared to building a reputation with Google. all the time spent building other people’s blogs up very rarely results in any return on the website you’re working on.
I did start a gaming YouTube channel and spend a lot of money on the equipment. On the channel I did play throughs of my favourite games. What I should have realised is gaming play freeze only work if you can build an audience. if I spent more time either on the blog or using the platform to support my content on the blog, I would have received a better ranking on Google and more returns.
I would also not take a couple of months break to study. studying that I was doing at the time hasn’t led to anything and was a waste of my time. I need to double down on either blogging or studying. I will be going into part time studying in September which will lead to an industry recognised qualification which can help with running the blog.
To Future Gaming Bloggers
if you need any help or advice on starting a new blog. Let me know in the comments below or you can contact me via the contact page. I’m happy to help others build up their brand and it would be great to setup a network where we can all benefit.
If you’re seriously considering making an income from blogging, you need to be willing to invest Just over £200 to get started with a decent host as well as Domain charges. It is very easy to spend even more on the plugins and themes for your WordPress site.
if you are just testing the water of blogging. you can set up hosted WordPress site for free however you won’t be able to generate an income unless you pay for hosting and a domain name.
That’s It for Now
That’s all I can report for this first year. the aim of this year is to turn a profit. or at least cover the hosting fee. I will be niching down a lot more especially when it comes to Japanese video games. Cannot wait to see what the future brings. I would love this to be my full-time income. But there is a long way to go before that will happen.
For a list of ideas on blog posting click here.