46,000 Visitors a Month With a DR 7 Site 🚀

A round-up of the 5 most interesting sites added to Raptive and Mediavine over the last 30 days

Mediavine and Raptive have had a very active last 30 days - adding about 147 new sites between them (as tracked by Display Ad Daily).

As a reminder, this monthly round-up email only showcases sites that just recently met the traffic requirements of Mediavine or Raptive.

Their traffic charts almost all look like this...

That way we're looking at sites that Google is rewarding right now - as we speak.

This month's theme is sites with DRs under 13!

Stick around until the end to get an update on the earnings of my own travel site, Stay New England...

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1. My Pay Calculator

• Website: mypaycalculator.co.uk​
• DR: 0.3
• Organic traffic: ~27,000 visitors
• Total pages: 11 pages
• Top page: mypaycalculator.co.uk​

Just 11 total pages on this site and it's getting 27,000 monthly visitors 🤯.

May Pay Calculator helps folks in the UK calculate their take-home pay. It takes into account things like tax, pensions, bonuses, etc.

They do get nearly all their traffic from a single keyword: "Tax calculator UK", which is obviously a concern.

But a site with a DR under 1 performing this well is incredible.

2. Off the Beaten Hook

• Website: offthebeatenhook.com​
• DR: 13
• Organic traffic: ~10,000 visitors
• Total pages: 150 pages
• Top page: offthebeatenhook.com/airie-granny-square-cardigan-free-crochet-pattern​

I love seeing sites like this one - started back in 2021 and the owner slowly but steadily stuck with it and added content each year, now totaling 150 pages.

Over 3 years later and they finally got added to Mediavine!

The site is all about crocheting. The best performing pages are different patterns and designs users can follow when they crochet at home.

3. My Mountains and Me

• Website: mymountainsandme.com​
• DR: 7
• Organic traffic: ~46,000 visitors
• Total pages: 93 pages
• Top page: mymountainsandme.com/blog/travel-quotes​
  ​

My Mountains and Me chronicles Katy from the UK's travels across the UK, and the various mountains and hikes she's been on. Real photos and first hand experience.

Her site is a combination Etsy store and blog - which seems to be working well. Of all the sites I've shared/will share today, hers is getting the most traffic (by quite a wide margin).

One big concern I have is that more than half her traffic is currently coming from travel quotes pages. A clear keyword/traffic grab that may (or may not) come back to bite her.

4. My Messy Kitchen

• Website: mymessykitchenn.com​
• DR: 9
• Organic traffic: ~18,000 visitors
• Total pages: 316 pages
• Top page: mymessykitchenn.com/fruity-pebble-marshmallow-treats/​
  ​

My Messy Kitchen is a well done recipe site by home cook Emily.

It appears to be an extension or "add-on" if you will to her Instagram account which has 240,000 followers.

This trend of building a social audience first and then leveraging that audience and brand/trust to build out a website and direct traffic there seems to be working well.

Emily's site, unlike some of the others, is well diversified across many niche "appropriate" keywords. She ranks well for "fruity pebble treats", "brown butter rice krispie treats", "cookies and cream cookies" etc.

5. Bronwyn Townsend

• Website: bronwyntownsend.com​
• DR: 13
• Organic traffic: ~10,000 visitors
• Total pages: 78 pages
• Top page: bronwyntownsend.com/blog/best-towns-south-of-france​
  ​

I am a big fan of this travel site. Thoughtful design and layout. Great imagery. Clearly first hand experience. Just an overall great website and experience.

Traffic is well diversified and the owner is avoiding the temptation to go after easy long tail keywords outside her lane.

This is another example of a site with a store - the owner sells prints of her pictures from her travels.

BONUS: Stay New England

• Website: staynewengland.com​
• DR: 10
• Organic traffic: ~8,700 sessions
• Total pages: 31 pages
• Top page: staynewengland.com/beacon-hill-restaurants​

As many of you know, my wife and I have a travel site of our own - Stay New England.

A little over 30 days ago we got accepted into Journey by Mediavine. Here are the results of the first 30 days:

RPMs are currently $16, which I am happy with at this stage.

It takes at least two weeks for RPMs to rise to a level that you can expect going forward. That means RPMs are likely to end up being closer to $20, or higher.

Something about making even a little bit of money with a site can be so motivating.

You have to make a 100 dollars a month before you can make 5,000 a month. I don't make the rules!

Onwards.

Enjoy your weekend!

Talk soon.

-Mike