It’s hard for me to believe that it has been 7 years since I started blogging on Pawsitively Intrepid. It was back in 2017, a couple of years after I graduated from veterinary school. I needed new projects and goals. I spent a lot of time out on hiking trails with my dog, Glia, so I was looking for a hobby that I could enjoy from my couch after hiking. I also needed a hobby that was relatively inexpensive (or even better could be profitable). Blogging fit the bill!
If you are interested in how bloggers can make money, I wrote a post all about “How to Make Money Blogging About Your Dog (or Cat).” That post discusses all of the basic ways to make money blogging, such as through ads or affiliate marketing.
From 2017 to 2022, I focused almost exclusively on blogging. I did make a few YouTube videos to support my blogging content, but in 2023 I launched a new YouTube channel that has been the focus of much of my content creation this year.
So first, I’ll take a look at the blog statistics. But this year, I also want to start a year-end review of YouTube growth.
Pawsitively Intrepid: Blog Statistics
Unfortunately, my website had an error in July/August (which are typically my highest traffic months). The error was due to an old Google Analytics plug-in. After fixing this fatal error, I still had some issues transitioning over to GA4 (the updated Google Analytics). As a result, some data may be missing, making the totals for this year look extra small. Nonetheless, let’s take a look at the numbers.
As of January 1st, 2024, there are a total of 219 posts currently published on PawsitivelyIntrepid.com. Only 13 of those blog posts were published in 2023.
Why so few articles? Well, in June of this year, I left my job as an associate veterinarian in a lovely small animal veterinary clinic to spend a year traveling. I embraced the concept of a mini-retirement and it has been an amazing year!
Because I was traveling and focusing on YouTube, there have been fewer blog posts written this year. But I’m still here and 2024 will bring more blog posts about gear reviews, dog-friendly road trips, and great hiking trails. In fact, Glia and I are set to visit our final National Parks that we can drive to this year! We can’t wait to share Congaree, Everglades, and Biscayne National Parks here on PawsitivelyIntrepid.com.
Below is a comparison table of how many blog posts I have written in each full year that I have been writing for Pawsitively Intrepid.
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| 13 | 27 | 29 | 46 | 46 | 36 |
When I started this blog, I was attempting to write one blog post a week. You can see that in 2020 and 2019 I nearly accomplished this goal, but I stalled a little in 2021 and 2022. And this year was worse. Perhaps in 2024, I can break the barrier of 50 blog posts published in one year.
Number of Users and Page Views per Year
Despite writing only 29 posts in 2021, this blog had grown significantly. In 2022, traffic fell significantly when one of my top-ranking articles stopped appearing on the first page of Google. In 2023, traffic fell further.
While I was traveling in Alaska, my website crashed and I didn’t notice this until early August. I got the website back up and running, but my Google Analytics 4 (GA4) account didn’t seem to be recorded much in the way of visits initially. Traffic started to head back up in October, but it is still significantly below the 2021 and 2022 levels.
*My GA4 account was not created until July of 2022, so that is why there is a flat line from the beginning of 2022 (when GA4 compares to the previous period). Data is for January 1st, 2023 to December 30th, 2023.
You can see the decreased number of annual users, page views, and sessions below. I’m still ahead of my 2020 totals, but much closer to that than my 2021 or 2022 numbers.
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual # of Users | 1.7K | 5.4K | 45.7K | 123K | 126K | 49K |
| Annual # of Page Views | 3.5K | 8.6K | 65.5K | 171K | 144K | 83K |
| Annual # of Sessions | 2.2K | 6.4K | 53K | 142K | 145K | 65K |
I’m curious to see what happens in 2024. I’m hoping to get some blog growth back, especially as I have time to write more blog posts again.
Last year, I also compared the average users and page views/month for the year, as many revenue factors for blogs are based on page views/month.
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Users/Month (avg) | 50 | 150 | 450 | 3.8K | 10K | 10K | 4.1K |
| PageViews/Month (avg) | 180 | 290 | 720 | 5.4K | 14K | 12K | 6.9K |
Most Popular Posts From 2023
Below is the list of my top 5 most popular posts for 2023 (with original posting dates and a comparison to the traffic they were receiving in 2022 and 2021).
| Title | Publish Date | Views (2023) | Views (2022) | Views (2021) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toyota Tacoma Bed Dimensions (3rd Generations Short Bed) | 11/14/2022 | 8,303 | 358 | – |
| 2 | How to Pass Other Dogs Calmly: Stop the Stare | 11/25/2020 | 5,045 | 13,567 | 11,133 |
| 3 | The Gentle Leader: Is it right for you and your dog? | 08/30/2017 | 2,629 | 1,820 | 1,388 |
| 4 | Dog-Friendly Guide to Badlands National Park | 11/6/2019 | 2,202 | 5,757 | 6,539 |
| 5 | Ruffwear’s Flagline Harness vs. the Web Master Harness | 2/26/2020 | 2,003 | 3,557 | 3,336 |
With all of the confusion with the analytics plug-in and the website being down for a few weeks, some old posts made it back into the top 5. I’ll be curious to see if any of these stay in the top 5 for my 2024 year-in-review blog post.
Traffic Sources
Another interesting blog statistic is the sources from which traffic is coming to a blog/website. In 2023 my main traffic source was still organic search.
| Traffic Source | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organic Search | 85.1% | 78.1% | 74.4% |
| Direct | 9.9% | 16.9% | 13% |
| Organic Social | 4.7% | 4.5% | 12.2% |
| Other/Unassigned | 1% | – | – |
| Referral | 0.4% | – | – |
| Organic Video | 0.3% | – | – |
As you can see, organic search (such as the traffic that comes from Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, or other search engines) was 85.1% of my traffic this year, followed by direct traffic at almost 9.9%, and then social media at 4.7%.
Since my activity level on different social media platforms varies, I do like to also look at which social media platforms are providing me with the most traffic. For 2023, I was most active on YouTube and Instagram, did post occasionally to Facebook, and did not use Pinterest or Twitter.
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7,470 (89%) | 15,862 (85%) | 4,193 (78%) | 1905 (79%) | |
| 697 (8.3%) | 2,166 (12%) | 561 (11%) | 322 (13%) | |
| YouTube | 95 (1.1%) | 472 (2.6%) | 538 (10%) | 170 (7%) |
| 5 (0.06%) | 17 (0.1%) | 6 (0.1%) | 9 (0.3%) | |
| 87 (1.0%) | 4 (0.02%) | 4 (0.08%) | – |
Monetization
Last year I also started sharing some of my financial information from this blog. This year, I recorded income from both PawsitivelyIntrepid.com and VeterinaryTalk.com together. Veterinary Talk is a smaller and newer blog than Pawsitively Intrepid but did contribute a couple hundred dollars to my totals + it grew better than PawsitivelyIntrepid.com did this year.
My blogs earn money in two main ways: ads and affiliate earnings. I earn ad revenue from Ezoic on Pawsitively Intrepid, but still have Adsense serving ads on Veterinary Talk.
I am an affiliate for a few companies: Amazon, Zouga Dog Gear, Avantlink, and ShareASale. Avantlink manages affiliate sales for several companies – currently, I work with REI, Ruffwear, and WestPaws. ShareASale also works with several different companies. On ShareASale, I am affiliated with FXW Dog Playpens, Jackery US, and Bouge RV. So if you are on my website and click on a link to one of these companies, know that I am an affiliate and may earn from qualifying purchases.
Let’s take a look at total earnings in 2021, 2022, and 2023. For this table, I am using the amount of income I earned each year, which does differ a little from the amount that I was paid. Some accounts have thresholds that need to be reached before payments are sent out.
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ad Income | $796.71 | $1421.07 | $1117.18 |
| Affiliate Income | $411.81 | $356.40 | $284.40 |
| Other | $100.96 | ||
| Total Revenue | $1309.48 | $1777.47 | $1401.58 |
As you can see above, total revenue is down a bit for 2023. This is mostly due to decreased ad revenue from decreased traffic on PawsitivelyIntrepid.com. Affiliate income was up a little bit this year.
In the table below, you can see my self-calculated RPM for both years. Revenue Per Mille (RPM) is a metric that represents how much money you’ve earned per 1,000 views. I calculated this by dividing my income by the number of page views I listed above for year totals + the page views from Veterinary Talk.
So for 2023, I had 83K page views on PawsitivelyIntrepid.com. Veterinary Talk had approximately 26.5K views in 2023. So to get the number for 2023, I’ll divide 1309.48 by 109.5. This equals about 11.96, which is my highest RPM yet!
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| RPM | $11.96 | ~$10.27 | ~$6.97 |
YouTube Channels
And now for a new category in 2023, let’s take a look at how my YouTube Channels are doing!
As mentioned above, I have two YouTube Channels:
- Pawsitively Intrepid: This channel is mostly dog gear reviews, but I do occasionally talk about hiking with dogs and am planning some dog behavior-related videos too.
- Wander with Kate: This channel was created so I could share my truck camper build and adventures from my adult gap year/sabbatical/year-long mini-retirement (basically, my year off).
Pawsitively Intrepid
The Pawsitively Intrepid YouTube Channel was started in 2020, with a video comparing the Ruffwear Web Master harness to the Ruffwear Flagline harness. It was published on February 26th, 2020, and currently has a total of 30,328 views. The channel currently has 30 videos and 385 subscribers.
| Pawsitively Intrepid | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Subscribers (Total) | 385 |
| # of Videos (Total) | 30 |
| Views (annual) | 29K |
| Watch Time (Annual) | 1.4K |
| New Subscribers (annual) | +100 |
The top content for the Pawsitively Intrepid YouTube channel during 2023 was the following 5 videos. (I just took a look at standard videos and am not including YouTube shorts.)
| Pawsitively Intrepid | Publish Date | # of views in 2023 | Total Views |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruffwear Web Master vs. Flagline Harness | 2/26/2020 | 4,457 | 30,325 |
| Finding the Best Winter Dog Boots | 10/5/2022 | 3,787 | 6,874 |
| Hurtta Expedition Parka Review: A High-Quality winter Dog Coat | 11/4/2020 | 2,982 | 17,896 |
| Dog Booties Review: These are my favorite dog boots! | 1/21/2021 | 2,283 | 8,335 |
| Did Ruffwear finally create a jacket warm enough to compete with Hurtta? | 2/15/2023 | 1,816 | 1,816 |
Wander with Kate
While the Pawsitively Intrepid YouTube channel was just created to support the Pawsitively Intrepid blog, Wander with Kate has been a dedicated YouTube channel since its launch in September/October of 2023. I created the YouTube channel in September of 2023 but didn’t begin posting weekly videos until October 23, 2023. The channel is overall doing well and I am happy with the initial growth.
| Wander with Kate | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Subscribers (Total) | 682 |
| # of Videos (Total) | 10 |
| Views (annual) | 46.3K |
| Watch Time (Annual) | 3.9K |
| New Subscribers (annual) | +682 |
You can see that this channel is already twice the size of my Pawsitively Intrepid YouTube channel and it is only 3 months old, compared to 3 years old.
| Wander with Kate | Publish Date | # of views in 2023 | Total Views |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY Pop-up Truck Camper Build Tour | 10/23/2023 | 26,887 | 26,887 |
| Ep.1: DIY LIghtweight, Pop-up Truck Camper Build for Toyota Tacoma | 11/6/2023 | 4,248 | 4,248 |
| Ep.2: Building Lightweight, but STRONG, Beams for the Frame of the Cab Overhang | 11/20/2023 | 3,861 | 3,861 |
| Ep.3: Creating a Lightweight Bed Platform for Pop-up Truck Camper | 11/27/2023 | 3,099 | 3,099 |
| Ep.4: Building the Roof for a DIY Pop-Up Truck Camper | 12/4/2023 | 2,307 | 2,307 |
As you can see, at this point most of my viewers are subscribed for the truck camper build. But I do have a few posts about road trips and hiking currently on the channel. In 2024, I am planning to build out the interior of my truck camper and continue road-tripping into June. At that point my year off will be concluded and I will have to consider job options to start making a full-time income again.
Speaking of income, I am planning to monetize Wander with Kate in 2023. To earn money from ads on YouTube you have to have a channel with 4k+ watch hours and 1,000+ subscribers. I’m very pleased to be near the 4k watch time mark and over halfway to 1,000 subscribers after only 3 months!
If I stay on track, I should be able to monetize in March of 2024.
So how did I do on my goals for 2023?
Let’s take a look!
Goal #1: Update Pawsitively Intrepid’s blog theme so the search function works on mobile
That one was an easy goal to accomplish! And it was completed.
Goal #2: Post 52 new blog posts.
As noted above, this year I only wrote 13 blog posts, as I turned to focusing on YouTube instead. But I’d like to accomplish this goal at least once. Even if I come up with some shorter blog posts that aren’t as detailed and won’t take as long to write.
Goal #3: Post 26 new YouTube videos (once a week starting June 2023).
I have been successful in posting a new video once a week on YouTube since the start of Wander with Kate in October 2023. While I started a little later, I have totaled 13 new videos in 2023.
Goal #4: Enjoy the journey
I accomplished that! 2023 was a magical year of road trips and new experiences. While there were plenty of struggles, I loved driving to the Arctic Ocean. And I really enjoyed hiking in Alaska. It was also so rewarding to finally make it to Acadia National Park and explore some of eastern Canada. In fact, I explored Canada nearly coast to coast this year. From British Columbia, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. I loved Canada and am excited to plan more adventures in this fantastic country.
Goals for 2024
- Monetize the “Wander with Kate” YouTube Channel
- Post 50 videos to “Wander with Kate”
- Post 26 videos to “Pawsitively Intrepid”
- Publish 52 blog posts on PawsitivelyIntrepid.com
- +/- Write a Book
Please let me know if there are any topics that you are interested in learning more about. I am happy to write and post videos about topics that interest my readers.
And if you would like to follow along with our journey, sign up to get our monthly email newsletter.
Happy New Year! I hope you enjoy setting your own goals and planning your own adventures for 2024!
