Going by what I’ve repeatedly read online in recent times, it’s obvious that many Nigerians have lost hope in blogging — especially SEO blogging, which involves setting up your blog for Google traffic and ultimately passive income.

Some say the whole thing has never worked for anyone and that those who claim it worked for them are simply lying.

Some say it used to work but is now stone-dead and no longer working.

And some are convinced that it works but those making money from it would never tell the truth about what exactly is working for them.

Well, I really don’t know which category you belong in.

But I’m now on a mission to prove that blogging still works if done the right way. I mean, it’s still quite possible in 2022 to start a blog that would generate traffic automatically from Google and earn do.llars while you sleep!

Now, you don’t have to believe me at this point. I don’t want you to swallow those words hook-line-and-sinker, either.

But let me ask you a question: If I show you exactly how I started a fresh blog right now and grew it gradually to the point where it started making money, would that convince you that blogging still works?

If you just gave a “no” answer, then you can stop reading at this point, as there’s no point going any further.

But if you answered with a “yes”, then this might just interest you:

Sometimes last year, I decided to start a new blog and grow it gradually until it starts to generate income. It was more like an experiment. The site is now gaining traction and has started generating income.

Although the traffic and income figures are still somewhat modest and aren't anywhere near massive, I'm glad that the project has and would continue to serve its purpose -- to convince naysayers, doubting Thomases, and newbies that blogging still works.

Now, I'll share everything I did on the site from day one to date, so you too can learn and replicate the steps to your own advantage.

I’ll keep everything on this thread only, editing it each time I need to add an update. This will make it easier for you to follow the whole journey without missing out on anything or searching through this blog for some missing info.

So, you might want to bookmark this page in your browser.

Note that all the methods I’d be adopting to build this blog are the same ones that have worked for me on my other sites. And I’ll be transparent and clear in my revelations.

So, follow me in my quest to prove to you that blogging still works in 2023!

FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS OR SEEK CLARIFICATIONS ON ANY OF THE STEPS I TOOK.

February 14, 2022: The New Niche Idea

While doing keyword research for an entirely different project, I stumbled upon a set of keywords within Nigeria’s real estate space. I dug deeper and uncovered more related keywords. And because these keywords have decent search volumes, I decided to create a new blog in the real estate sub-niche that covers the keywords I found.

But before I proceeded, I took my time to do more extensive keyword research and pulled out a lot more keywords, from which I eventually came up with about 50 cool topics. That’s a pretty good number to start with.

February 15, 2022: Domain Name Registration

After racking my brain for several minutes, I came up with a domain name for the new blog. Because I’m targeting a Nigerian audience, I decided to go with a .com.ng domain name. I found a cool four-letter domain name and registered it at Domainking.ng.

February 18, 2022: Site Setup

I installed WordPress for the new site after hosting it on a shared hosting plan I have with Namecheap. Then I installed and activated Schema theme (by MyThemeShop), which is my favorite. I went ahead to install and activate the few important plugins that I use on all my sites. They include:

Classic Editor
Classic Widgets
Rank Math SEO
Litespeed Cache
Dynamic Month and Year Into Posts

After activating the plugins, I duly adjusted all settings for the site as well as those for individual plugins. Then I deleted the sample page and post included in the site by default.

With all of that done, the site was ready for the blogging journey ahead.

February 19, 2022: First Post Published!

I published the first post on the site. Then I set up Google Analytics and Google Search Console accounts for the site.

May 11, 2022: More Posts Published

After publishing the first article on February 19, I published one article each on February 20th, 22nd, and 24th. After that, I resumed publishing on May 8, 2022, with five articles (that’s my first time publishing multiple articles on the site in one day).
I added three more articles on May 9 and two on May 10. That takes the total number of published articles to 14.

August 10, 2022: Positive Signals

After having left the site for 3 months, I decided to check Google Analytics and Search Console to see if the site is ranking in Google already or generating some traffic.

I was happy with what I saw. Both tools showed that the site is already generating some traffic from Google. Here are the screenshots below:

Although the figures weren’t anywhere near impressive yet (10 visits or less per day), I was happy that the site had started showing some signs of growth. Those were encouraging graphs for a site with only 14 articles. And all I needed to do next to grow the site further was to continue adding more articles.

August 16, 2022: More Articles Published

I added two new articles to the site. This takes the total number of published articles to 16.

August 18, 2022: One More Article Added

I added another new article to the site. This is the 17th article published.

August 27, 2022: More Articles Published

I was able to add 5 more articles to the site. This takes the total number of published articles to 22.

December 1, 2022: Growth Continues, Time for Monetization

It’s been over 3 months since I last touched the site. So, I decided again to check how it’s doing in terms of rankings and traffic. And here’s what I saw on Google Analytics and Google Search Console:

So, going by Google Analytics, the site now attracts about 50 unique visits daily. That’s a significant improvement over the roughly 10 visits per day recorded as of August. If your guess is that I’m happy with this growth, you’re right!

At the site’s present state, I deemed it ripe enough for monetization. Google AdSense came to mind. I knew deep down me that the site’s present traffic figures won’t earn more than crumbs from Adsense, but the excited part of me prevailed. I proceeded with the application for Adsense. It takes a few days to a few weeks to get a reply. So, fingers crossed!

December 5, 2022: Google Adsense Approval

Good news! I received an email from Google AdSense confirming that the site is now eligible to start showing ads. Here’s what the message looked like:

I didn’t waste time before installing my preferred plugin for strategic ad placement, “Insert Post Ads”. Then I inserted my ad code into the plugin and specified the spots on each page where I want the ads shown.

After doing all of that, I waited patiently to see how the site would fare income-wise.

December 8, 2022: More Posts Published

I had some free time on my hands, so I added 2 new posts to the site. This takes the total number of published articles to 24.

January 1, 2023: Adsense Earnings — Not So Much, But Not Bad

I checked the site’s total earnings from Adsense for the month of December 2022. Remember that I added the ad codes on December 5, so the earnings were gathered over about 25 days.

Here’s what I saw:

The site earned $24.33! Converting that to Naira, that’s N17,520 (using the present black market rate of N730/$). I know that’s quite small, but not bad at all for a 10-month-old blog with just 24 articles.

Having published only 24 articles in 10 months means I did just 2.4 articles per month on average. That’s quite poor. But it’s not due to laziness on my part. The truth is, I didn’t have much time to spare because I run over 20 blogs at the moment, with each begging for my attention at all times.

I could only imagine how much traffic and income the blog would be generating by now if I’d given it more time and published a lot more articles.

This was enough proof that this blog is a promising project. I only needed to put more time and effort into growing it. And I promised myself to do just that...

I'll be back later to post the remaining updates on the blog, so you can know its present state.

Maybe this is the time for me to start one

Nice job man. Well done.

I'm fan of niche site.

I don't know, is it possible to build a niche site on .?

AmbFmk:
Nice job man. Well done.

I'm fan of niche site.

I don't know, is it possible to build a niche site on .?

Blog.sp.ot is far outdated. No serious blogger uses it these days. Wordpress remains your best bet.

webincomeplus:
I'll be back later to post the remaining updates on the blog, so you can know its present state.

following boss bumper to bumper..will kick start my blogging journey 1st March 2024..by the grace of almighty.. boss can I have ur WhatsApp.no pls.

please bro check the attachment of the adsense earnings n remove the site name. thanks


my problem is with the com.ng. I would have preferred com to target larger audience beyond Nigeria in few years to come.

I will try to a security plugin like wordfence
in your other blogs. do u hire writers or you work everything your self?

and if yes where do you hire?

I believe u must have hired from nairaland in the past, please did the blog performed well or only did few months n crashed?

fastseo:
please bro check the attachment of the adsense earnings n remove the site name. thanks


my problem is with the com.ng. I would have preferred com to target larger audience beyond Nigeria in few years to come.


in your other blogs. do u hire writers or you work everything your self?

and if yes where do you hire?

I believe u must have hired from nairaland in the past, please did the blog performed well or only did few months n crashed?

Thanks for pointing my attention to the oversight. I've removed the site name from the screenshot.

You see, these days, you have higher chances of ranking better when you geotarget your blog. When it comes to using a generic TLD vs. a .com.ng domain name, you'll quickly rise through the ranks for keywords relating to Nigerians (if you're sure your content is for or about Nigerians).

Most times, it will take longer to achieve the same with a generic TLD unless your content sends strong signals to Google that it's tailored for Nigerians. Since the domain extension is one of Google's strongest indicators of your target audience, it's always better to take advantage of it.

I understand that geotargeting can limit your opportunities for expansion, but it speeds up your blog's growth in your target locale. And because this was more like an experimental project, I decided to keep it local, since that's what I usually advise newbies to do. If you start small and start seeing encouraging signs early enough, you'd be motivated to work even harder.

In addition, my choice of a Nigerian niche was deliberate. I wanted to prove to newbies that they don't even have to target a foreign audience to earn from their blogs.

As for my content, I have a team of Nigerian writers that write my blog posts. I only handle publishing and keyword research on my own. And, of course, I set up my blogs myself.

As for the blog I'm talking about here, it's still waxing strong. By tomorrow, I'll add the rest of the update.

webincomeplus:


Thanks for pointing my attention to the oversight. I've removed the site name from the screenshot.

You see, these days, you have higher chances of ranking better when you geotarget your blog. When it comes to using a generic TLD vs. a .com.ng domain name, you'll quickly rise through the ranks for keywords relating to Nigerians (if you're sure your content is for or about Nigerians).

Most times, it will take longer to achieve the same with a generic TLD unless your content sends strong signals to Google that it's tailored for Nigerians. Since the domain extension is one of Google's strongest indicators of your target audience, it's always better to take advantage of it.

I understand that geotargeting can limit your opportunities for expansion, but it speeds up your blog's growth in your target locale. And because this was more like an experimental project, I decided to keep it local, since that's what I usually advise newbies to do. If you start small and start seeing encouraging signs early enough, you'd be motivated to work even harder.

In addition, my choice of a Nigerian niche was deliberate. I wanted to prove to newbies that they don't even have to target a foreign audience to earn from their blogs.

As for my content, I have a team of Nigerian writers that write my blog posts. I only handle publishing and keyword research on my own. And, of course, I set up my blogs myself.

As for the blog I'm talking about here, it's still waxing strong. By tomorrow, I'll add the rest of the update.

I had terrible experience with Nigerian writers honestly most especially those I got from nairaland here.
I have considered paying 4000 per 800 words still yet I am not getting a sound research.


your theme mythemshop is it the free one. if yes is there any teachings about the set ups

fastseo:


I had terrible experience with Nigerian writers honestly most especially those I got from nairaland here.
I have considered paying 4000 per 800 words still yet I am not getting a sound research.


your theme mythemshop is it the free one. if yes is there any teachings about the set ups

Sorry about the bad experience. I can relate well. I agree that most Nigerian writers offer crap in terms of quality. But there are still a handful of good ones.

As for the theme I use, it's the premium (paid) version. I particularly love it for its simple design, ease of setup, and its several customization options.

fastseo:


I had terrible experience with Nigerian writers honestly most especially those I got from nairaland here.
I have considered paying 4000 per 800 words still yet I am not getting a sound research.

your theme mythemshop is it the free one. if yes is there any teachings about the set ups

Sorry for your bad experiences.
I write most of my contents myself. And I have spared time for freelance writing too, if you don't mind.

I'm currently working on two niche sites.
If you still need SEO writers for your site. You can reach out to me.

I will send my niche sites url to you (I can't reveal it here) to check my contents. And if it resonates well with you, then we're good.

0-8-1-3-2341126

February 1, 2023 == Slight Increase in Earnings, Traffic Unchanged

At the end of January 2023, the site earned $33.38. That's about $9 more than what it earned in the previous month. That's still some growth.

However, the traffic remained stable throughout January. No increase, and no decline.

Meanwhile, in early January, one of my writers submitted the 46 articles that I have hired him to write for the site since last December. I was excited. I just couldn't wait to see the effect of adding those articles to the site.

Lazy me, though! I only managed to publish 14 of the articles. That took the total number of published articles to 38.

March 1, 2023 == Slight Increase in Earnings, Slight Decline in Traffic

At the end of February 2023, the site earned $36.32. Just a slight increase over the previous month's figures.

On the other hand, the traffic went down a bit from 2K unique visitors in January to 1.5K unique visitors in February.

Despite the drop in traffic, the site still managed to earn a bit more because Adsense CPC (cost per click) has started going up in the new year.

I didn't add a single new article in February. While it was majorly due to lack of time, I was still waiting to see the impact of the 13 articles I added in January.

April 1, 2023 == Slight Increase in Earnings, Boost in Traffic!

At the end of March 2023, the site earned $42.10. Another slight increase over the previous month's figures.

But what made me ecstatic was how the site's traffic went up significantly around the middle of March from 50 to 60 daily visits to around 170 daily visits. That's a 200% growth in traffic!

So, the traffic went up from 1.5K unique visitors in February to 3.2K unique visitors in March.

I still didn't add any new articles throughout the month of March.

April 18, 2023 == Just a Quick Update (I'm Glad!)

As of today (April 18, 2023) the site has already earned $40.20. With 12 days left in the month, the blog will likely gross at least $60 by the month's end. That's a significant increase if you ask me.

I checked the traffic and the site has already attracted 2.7K unique visits this month. By month's end, I expect the traffic to reach at least 4K unique visits. That would be cool as well.

Errmm...I have managed to publish one article this month. If I have the time, I should be able to add some more.

Let's wait and see how things pan out by month end.

webincomeplus:
April 18, 2023 == Just a Quick Update (I'm Glad!)

As of today (April 18, 2023) the site has already earned $40.20. With 12 days left in the month, the blog will likely gross at least $60 by the month's end. That's a significant increase if you ask me.

I checked the traffic and the site has already attracted 2.7K unique visits this month. By month's end, I expect the traffic to reach at least 4K unique visits. That would be cool as well.

Errmm...I have managed to publish one article this month. If I have the time, I should be able to add some more.

Let's wait and see how things pan out by month end.

Where can I start from?
I saw you are not that consistent with adding articles, and I'm optimistic I can write minimum of 5 articles in a month.
Aside adding post, what other important point should I know sir?

webincomeplus:
April 18, 2023 == Just a Quick Update (I'm Glad!)

As of today (April 18, 2023) the site has already earned $40.20. With 12 days left in the month, the blog will likely gross at least $60 by the month's end. That's a significant increase if you ask me.

I checked the traffic and the site has already attracted 2.7K unique visits this month. By month's end, I expect the traffic to reach at least 4K unique visits. That would be cool as well.

Errmm...I have managed to publish one article this month. If I have the time, I should be able to add some more.

Let's wait and see how things pan out by month end.

boss congratulations.please how were you able to pay for hosting and theme .with the naija card restrictions on international transactions..

Carmal90:


Where can I start from?
I saw you are not that consistent with adding articles, and I'm optimistic I can write minimum of 5 articles in a month.
Aside adding post, what other important point should I know sir?

Choosing a good niche and doing keyword research is the starting point. As for my inconsistency with adding articles, that's because I'm busy with my other blogs, I presently have and run about 20 blogs.

A minimum of 5 articles a month is fair enough. Consistency is what matters most, however.

Pk01:
boss congratulations.please how were you able to pay for hosting and theme .with the naija card restrictions on international transactions..

I use my GTB dollar mastercard for international transactions. But if you don't have that, domainking is a reliable host that allows you to pay in naira for their hosting and domain name registration.

webincomeplus:

Choosing a good niche and doing keyword research is the starting point. As for my inconsistency with adding articles, that's because I'm busy with my other blogs, I presently have and run about 20 blogs.

A minimum of 5 articles a month is fair enough. Consistency is what matters most, however.

Which tool do you use for your keyword research?