Early April 2012 Modest Money Update 
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I know I know. You are probably all wondering what the hell I’m doing posting on a Tuesday. Normally I only post Monday-Wednesday-Friday. Recently I even considered cutting back further from that schedule. Yes I’m a big slacker.
Over the weekend my blog passed a small milestone though. On March 30th, it was my 2 month anniversary of blogging. Or do I say it’s my blog’s 2 month birthday?
Thinking back I didn’t even acknowledge our 1 month anniversary. Instead I was worried that she was taking up too much of my time and I was avoiding spending time with her. It’s a wonder she stuck with me through all of this. Now I’m realizing how much I love her and am trying to reconcile things.
So do you want to see how progress is going so far? No? Too bad, because I’m going to tell you anyway. Besides you read this far already.
Alexa Ranking: I’m not going to pretend this ranking means much or is anywhere near accurate. Still, I realize that it’s an easy metric to watch and many people do consider it important.
When I first started this blog, my Alexa ranking was over 22 million. After 2 months, I’m down to 125,777. That’s still a whole lot of websites with better rankings, but a lot of bloggers aim to get under 200k or 100k. So I guess I should be happy with the progress there.
Twitter Followers: Despite an internet marketing background, this was my first serious attempt at naturally growing a Twitter following. I’m still learning the ropes, but I think I’m starting to figure out what’s going on with all those 140 character tweets.
Of course when I started this blog I had zero twitter followers. So far I’m at 256 followers. Who knows how many of those people actually read what I tweet, but it’s a decent start. It would be even higher but I had to block a bunch of people after I accidentally included some dirty words in a tweet or two. I just had a gut feeling that they weren’t all suddenly wanting a date with me.
Facebook Likes: Before starting this blog, I was one of those people who avoided Facebook like the plague. If I was doing computer work, the last thing I needed was another distraction, especially one of that magnitude. Speaking of that, let me check if it’s my turn in scrabble yet 
So just like Twitter, I’m still figuring out the Facebook world. In 2 months, I’ve managed to gain 785 Facebook followers. Impressive, huh? Not really. Most of those people just wanted to get in on my iPad giveaway. Maybe some of them realized that Modest Money is what was missing in their lives. I can dream, can’t I?
Maybe next month I’ll share some other stats. For now though, I’ll keep some of it secret. If you really want to know other numbers, just shoot me an e-mail.
Modest Money Around The Web
Now let’s take a look at what other blogs mentioned Modest Money since the last update.
The Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #27 on Step Away From The Mall
Financial Simplicity Carnival- The April Fool’s Edition on See Debt Run
Festival of Frugality #329 on Credit Karma
Weekend devotional links from the Cult on Cult of Money
The Round Table on Money Smart Guides
Carnival Of Money Pros – Final Ride Edition on Financially Consumed
Totally Money Blog Carnival #60 on Motivating Mom UK
Totally Money Carnival – Millionaire Teacher Edition on Thirty Six Months
Festival of Frugality #330: Before You Take Out a Lion Edition on Deweys Treehouse
Financial Carnival for Young Adults – 6th Edition on 20′s Finances
Weekend Update: I’ve Been Lazy Edition on James Petzke
With other blog updates I’ve been also doing a shout out to other bloggers and featuring some of their best recent posts. This post is already long enough though. So look forward to a link roundup post at the end of the week. If you want your post included, let me know.
Any other bloggers care to share your stats for comparison?
58 Comments
Your Alexa score is great! Sounds like great progress. Happy 2 months.
Thanks Michelle. Now if only that little stat was worth something money-wise
This blog is only 2 months old?? Here I was thinking it’s probably a year old, maybe a bit less, judging by your facebook and twitter followers. Good job! Wish I was as talented at internet marketing as you!
Thank you for the kind works Jordann. I don’t know if I’d call it talent though. I credit it more to just putting in a lot of work and having some experience to know where to focus my efforts. Your blog is quite good considering the age too. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any marketing related questions, or any other questions really.
Maybe I need a Facebook page. I don’t have one in real life and I’m afraid of it O_O
John | Married (with Debt) recently posted..Subscribing Pays! $50 Cash Giveaway
Haha John I hear you man. I didn’t have one until a few months ago. It can be a major time killer though. So maybe just create a page for your blog and create an actual profile later when the blog is more established. Some people do just focus on specific social networks and it seems to work fine for them. Search engines may see that as a negative sign though.
Congrats on the huge FB following. That is great. Many of us who have been on the scene longer than you haven’t hit that. You should be proud.
I think you are doing amazing for how young your blog is.
Miss T @ Prairie Eco-Thrifter recently posted..The Only Money-Saving Gasoline Tip That Worked
Thanks Miss T. I sure do more posts like this. It’s nice having everyone say such nice things
I can’t be proud of something propped up by a giveaway though.
I think those numbers are fabulous. It is incredible the huge rise in numbers in just 2 months.
Our blog has not increased much in traffic the last few months but I am always looking for new ideas.
Steve @ Grocery Alerts recently posted..Buy One, Get One Free Bulls Eye BBQ Sauce – Smartsource.ca (Exp. May 3, 2012)
Thank you Steve. We’ll have to chat some more about the marketing ideas you had for your blog. It seems like you have a good thing going with your network of sites.
You’re blog has only been going for 2 months? I thought at least a year! I didn’t know what an Alexa score was at all, so I looked mine up (I’m not yet at my 1 month blog anniversay) and it’s at 2.4 million. Guess that’s better than where it probalby started (probably around 22million, like you, I assume). So that’s something! Great job on your site though, it looks great and “feels” well-established!
Nice, thanks TB. Maybe I should be hiding those archives a bit and pretending I have been blogging for over a year. Every blog grows at their own pace though. So don’t let your alexa ranking discourage you. Instead use those stats as motivation to keep working hard and putting in the time. Remember that I have the advantage of relevant experience and I’m in a crowded niche with lots of bloggers to work with. I’d think your niche would be a little more limited in growth potential. It’ll probably take much longer to build it up.
So, you’re slacking at being a slacker?
I’ll play along! We started our site January 21st, so that makes us a little over 2 months. Our alexa is 116,656, Twitter followers are at 595 (I think we gained quite a few with our recent Consumerist mention), but our facebook is really pathetic at…*drumroll!*…26 likes!! I actually had to log in to facebook to check, because I had no clue. Maybe that’s our problem there? We don’t ever log on facebook? And we don’t give away anything. We’re so stingy! Happy Anniversary!!!
Michelle recently posted..The Minimalism Kick That Left Marks
Very impressive stats Michelle. That’s a lot of twitter followers for 2 months. As for facebook, I’d bet a major factor in the low number is lack of integration on-site. You’ve got a nice big twitter widget in the sidebar, but not much for facebook. Really though, you’re making awesome progress. So no need to drastically change what is already working for you. Just keep the momentum going and maybe try to get more involved on facebook down the road.
I’ll have my blog statistics post going live this Friday, but I’ll throw out some stuff:
157k Alexa Ranking
279 Twitter Followers
152 Facebook followers
Great work though – that iPad giveaway really worked wonders on those FB likes. You can definitely take advantage of that traffic opportunity!
Great stats Jason. You’d be kicking my ass if it wasn’t for that ipad giveaway. You’re right though, I should take advantage of those numbers. I should try to get more active on facebook and interact with facebook fans.
My number pale in comparison. Working to improve it though. Congrats on all your success!
femmefrugality recently posted..Do You Live in A Bubble?
Just keep working hard and the traffic will come. It looks like your blog has been up for a little while now, but I assume you just recently got busier with the off-site activity. You can e-mail me if you need any marketing tips.
You are amazing. I haven’t really started putting my blog out there until now, and I’ve had my blog since 2010. Please share more tips!!!! And I’d love if you could link me up in your next round-up (only if you find a post you’d like to share haha).
Btw I haven’t had time to write up that guest post yet but I will try to fit it in this week!
From Shopping to Saving recently posted..Where Did My Paycheck Go?
Haha thanks. Just get really active on a lot of other blogs. You’re on the right track since you are pursuing guest posts. Do more of that and comment a lot. Also remember to promote other bloggers and the love will come right back. We’ll have to chat some more via e-mail.
Wowsers! That is crazy. Those are some amazing numbers in only 2 months!!! Great job on the site.
Thank you Paul. I guess I should be more satisfied with those numbers. It seems like there is always someone making better progress though. Like all things in life, I need to be happy with what I’ve got.
Those are great numbers for only being around for 2 months! Great work!
Young Professional Finances recently posted..Love Letter From The IRS: Why I Can’t Claim Student Loan Interest
Thanks! I guess most blogs don’t grow this quickly. It’s taking a whole lot of work though.
Great job on the blog growth! Personally, I don’t find any issue with cutting back a bit, you’ve done the hard work, you can’t grow at the same rate forever. I’m envious of your number of followers, but I haven’t worked on growing that. Once my Alexa gets under 100k, perhaps I’ll move to another metric and focus on growing that. Once again, great job.
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Good way of looking at things Karl. I guess I just put a lot of pressure on myself to keep going at a certain pace and getting so much done each day. I’d probably be happier if I made a point of cutting back hours and spending more time doing things that I enjoy. Instead I keep getting drawn in to do more work.
Great job!! I’m jealous on the drop in your Alexa ranking. I’ve dropped my ranking too but not as much or as quickly as you.
MoneySmartGuides recently posted..How Much Money Do You Need For Retirement
It helps that I’m not writing a book
You’ve been making good progress too, but it sounds like you’ve got a lot more on your plate these days.
You’re definitely rocking it Jeremy! Very impressive. Congratulations on the growth.
Nick recently posted..2012 Goals Update
Thanks Nick. I’m doing everything I can just to stay ahead of you. Now if only I could match your big rss subscriber numbers.
What you have achieved in as little as 2 months is impressive from my point of view. I would like you to write more about your SEO techniques, because you seem to manage ModestMoney.com very well.
Thanks Jack. I may write some posts about SEO sometime soon. With SEO efforts it can take some time to see the benefits. So first I’d like to see how my efforts pay off in that regard.
Well done, it’s always nice to reach certain milestones. As for Twitter followers, I sometimes wonder what it’s all about, but in this world of social media, social networking and all other things ‘social’ I figure it can’t do any harm to stay aboard the bandwagon.
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For sure, with internet marketing, you cannot afford to ignore all those bandwagons. If some new network is becoming popular, it’s in your best interests to jump aboard. You just have to be sure to fully explore why you are doing so. While a specific network may work extremely well for one niche, it might be horrible for another. You have to pay attention to how others in your niche are using that network and how well it’s working for them. With twitter it just seems to be mostly about reaching more people with your message.
Wowzers you’ve had a pretty stellar couple of months!
Congratulations once again on the TotallyMoney Blog Award. You’ve clearly done a great job!
Thanks Harri. I was quite stoked to be included in more than one category on those TotallyMoney Blog Awards. It’s one thing to personally think that your stats are progressing well, but it’s another to get public recognition like that. Thank you for hosting those awards.
NICE WORK! I’m at Alexa = 146K, 24 Facebook friends, and 0 for Twitter (opening a Twitter account is still on my blog to-do list). I’ve got my fingers crossed that the next round of Google PageRank update will see me increase to at least a “2″, but we’ll see!
MyMoneyDesign recently posted..How to Buy an Index Fund
Just stay active on a lot of blogs and you will be sure to see your PR increase. If that particular stat is important to you, pay attention to what links are dofollow and which are nofollow. Most finance blog comments are nofollow. So you’ll want to try to get included in more blog carnivals and link roundups. Plus there are various directories and forums that provide dofollow links. You can e-mail me if you need any additional advice with that.
Thanks for the mention Jeremy!
No problem Eddie, especially considering it was recognition for featuring my post on your blog
Wowsa, it sounds like I need an iPad to giveaway.
Congrats on the stats! That’s pretty darn good for two months. You should be proud, despite admitted slackerdom.
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Thanks Lindy. I didn’t even have the ipad myself. I was just lucky enough to be part of a group giveaway for a small price. If I was giving away something like that on my own I’d need a lot more than a decent facebook following to make me satisfied.
Absolutely amazing effort buddy – well done!!
!!
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Thanks Scot. I’m looking forward to your return to blogging after your little break to move into your new house.
Those are good numbers. I started my blog recently as well but I’m still at above 1 million in Alexa ranking. Great idea on the iPad giveaway to increase FB fans. That’s a lot of people in a short period. Good work!
Thanks MaryAnne. I admit I have it pretty easy though. I don’t have any other major responsibilities like a daytime job or any kids. Everyone grows their blogs at their own pace depending on their other time commitments. You should consider adding an About page to your blog.
Wow, only 2 months huh? That’s impressive! What’s your secret
Glad you’re sticking around and will continue to blog…looking forward to the links roundup
azra, readyforzero recently posted..What happens if I don’t pay my credit cards?
Just a lot of hard work and some fellow bloggers who were kind enough to help out. The ipad2 giveaway helped a lot, but I wouldn’t have even known about anything like that without a friendly blogger referring me.
Wow! Two months??? That’s great! Good for you! I feel like I’m just talking to myself in myblog!
Thanks sleedydad. Well now you got me feeling all guilty that I haven’t been over to your blog in a while. I should support fellow Vancouver bloggers more.
Thanks Jeremy for the visit!
YEAH! We got a visitor!!! lol!
I discussed with Popthoughts that we’ll have to revamp our site and reorganize. Also spend more time writing some more interesting articles!
You are good – you’re all over the place! I see “Modest Money” commenting everywhere!
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Haha, no problem. Honestly though, I think with a blog you have to be pretty active on other blogs to get traffic early on. When you have lousy stats starting out, people just don’t have much incentive to comment on that blog. Personally I work my ass off building a ton of links each week via comments and other sources. That will all snowball and build up search engine rankings too. So don’t stress too much about your content quality right now. Write the best content you can, but more importantly get out there helping other bloggers and the love will come back to you.
I am very impressed with the jump in your FB following. It was very creative of you to try out an I Pad give away.
I dunno if I’d consider it creative since it was part of a group giveaway. If I was more creative I’d be giving away something all on my own. Regardless, I was happy with the results.
Those are great social media stats considering you’re just starting out. Don’t dismiss your Facebook followers – even though they came for the iPad, many of them will come back every now and then because it is on their Facebook page.
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Thanks Robert. I hope that’s true about the facebook followers. I figure at the very least, they might see stuff I post in their fb feeds. Plus I like pretending that I have that many followers
Congrats on your 2 month blogiversary.
Under 200k in two months is pretty awesome.
Jen @ Master the Art of Saving recently posted..Net Worth Update~ April 2012
Thanks Jen. I’m interested to see how quick I can get under 100k now. With any luck that might only take 1 more week. I do realize that brand new blogs who start marketing right away probably have a major advantage with alexa ranking progress. Since it’s based on a 3 month average, I don’t have the previous low traffic weighing me down as much.