Project 24 Income School: 13-Month Update on 4 Sites (Real Numbers)

Thirteen months into Project 24, Alston Godbolt was running four websites at once, and the numbers told a very different story for each one. The largest site had nearly 100 blog posts and 9,075 pageviews. The smallest had fewer than 15 posts and was putting up better organic search numbers than the flagship on a per-post basis. That gap alone tells you something important about how blogging actually works, and it is not the story most people expect when they sign up for a course.

This post walks through each site’s real traffic data, what drove the differences, and what Alston said he would do differently knowing what he knows now. If you are thinking about joining Income School’s Project 24, these are the honest numbers from someone 13 months deep with four active sites.

What You’ll Walk Out With

The exact pageview, bounce rate, and time-on-page numbers for all four sites after 13 months
Why the largest site underperformed despite having the most content
How Google’s YMYL algorithm changes affected a niche-specific blog’s organic traffic
Why a plain site with fewer than 15 blog posts was pulling better organic traffic per post than a 100-post site
What Project 24 added during the 13 months: a free WordPress theme, a Pinterest mini-course, and a YouTube mini-course
The keyword research mistake Alston made early and how to avoid it on your first site
How to figure out which online business model fits your situation at finder.platformproof.com

What Project 24 Is and What Changed in 13 Months

Project 24 is a course created by Jim Harmer and Ricky Kesler of Income School. When Alston first joined on September 7, 2018, it was built around one core idea: create quality blogging content the right way. The original formula called for starting with at least 30 blog posts before expecting meaningful results from organic search. The name refers to the goal of replacing your income within 24 months of consistent effort.

In the 13 months after Alston joined, Income School added several new components to the program. Members got access to the Avocados WordPress theme (free with membership), a lightweight and fast-loading theme designed specifically for content bloggers. They also added a YouTube mini-course for members who wanted to pair video with their blogs and a Pinterest mini-course for those looking to drive traffic from that platform.

The program kept evolving. New content was added, the community stayed active, and the core training around keyword research and content creation continued to be the backbone. Alston’s verdict after 13 months: still a strong yes. In the video he said, “If I didn’t stumble across Project 24, I would have no idea what type of content to create.” But the results across his four sites show clearly that the course is only part of the equation. Keyword research, niche selection, and consistent execution matter just as much as the curriculum itself.

Site 1: The Flagship That Got Humbled by Keyword Research

Alston started his first site on September 7, 2018, the same day he joined Project 24. He finished the first 30 to 35 blog posts by October 24 of that year. After 13 months the site had between 95 and 100 blog posts, 25 to 35 YouTube videos posted in support of the content, about 42 YouTube subscribers, and was getting roughly 150 YouTube channel visits per day.

The blog traffic over that 13-month period: 9,075 pageviews, 6,744 unique views, an average time on page of 1 minute and 10 seconds, a bounce rate of 65.09%, and an exit rate of 61.29%.

On the surface those numbers look reasonable. Nearly 10,000 pageviews with a sub-70% bounce rate on the blog side is a start. But Alston was honest about why the site underperformed relative to what the Project 24 timeline projected. Three factors combined to hold it back.

First, the niche was deeply narrow. The site was aimed at a very specific, premium-priced product category that only appeals to buyers in developed countries. Traffic came from the US, UK, Canada, and India, but the addressable audience was small. Fewer people can afford or need the product. The upside is that ad networks like Google Adsense might pay more for premium-intent traffic in that space, but higher CPM rates do not make up for a hard cap on total volume.

Second, Google’s YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) algorithm changes hit this site during the 13-month window. Google became more careful about which sites it elevated for health and financial content, and Alston’s niche fell into that sensitive territory. He noted the site dropped slightly from August to September in traffic, which he attributed partly to those algorithm shifts.

Third, and most importantly: keyword research. Alston said directly in the video that this was mostly on him. He was targeting keywords he could not realistically compete for. The site’s organic traffic breakdown showed Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo at the top of organic sources, with Google much further down the list. That is the inverse of what you want for a sustainable content business. Google organic traffic is the goal; getting your traffic from Bing and DuckDuckGo means your content is either ranking for low-competition queries nobody searches, or it is not finding Google traction at all.

To compensate, Alston used the Blog to Social plugin to automatically syndicate his blog posts to multiple social media platforms. He also answered questions on Quora in his niche and participated in relevant Facebook groups. Those tactics drove a diverse traffic mix, and you can see it in the data: traffic came from direct, organic, social, and referral sources in a spread that does not look typical for a pure SEO-driven blog. But none of that social and community-driven traffic substitutes for strong Google organic when you are trying to build a blog that earns money at scale.

Site 2: The Cleaner Build with Steadily Rising Traffic

Site 2 launched the week of October 25, 2018, just over six weeks after Site 1. At the 13-month mark it had about 35 to 40 blog posts and 10 YouTube videos. Less content overall, but a cleaner approach from the start.

Traffic stats: 2,344 pageviews, 2,190 unique views, an average time on page of 2 minutes and 28 seconds, a bounce rate of 91.3%, and an exit rate of 86.13%.

The bounce rate is high on this one, and Alston noted the likely reason: the theme. Site 1 used the Avocados theme from Income School. Site 2 was running X Theme, a popular third-party premium WordPress theme. He did not attribute the bounce rate difference to content quality but to the theme’s user experience. The Avocados theme was built specifically to keep blog readers engaged and moving through content. X Theme was not.

The standout for Site 2 was the traffic source breakdown. Organic search led the way, and Google was at the top of the organic sources. That is the goal state for a Project 24-style blog. The niche for this site was significantly larger than Site 1, with a global audience and more search demand. Traffic came from the US, Canada, UK, and India, consistent with a broader topic serving an international reader base.

Alston did not use Blog to Social, Quora, or Facebook groups for this site. He just wrote posts and added YouTube videos. The cleaner build, better keyword targeting, and bigger niche did the work without the extra effort. Traffic was steadily increasing month over month, which is exactly what the Project 24 model predicts when the fundamentals are right.

Site 3: The Local Directory That Needed Blog Content to Survive

Site 3 was different from the others in purpose and origin. Alston started learnkenosha.com in July 2018, before he even joined Project 24, as a local business directory for Kenosha, Wisconsin. The business case: Kenosha sits on the Wisconsin-Illinois border, eight miles from Illinois, technically inside the Chicago media market. Local businesses wanting to advertise online faced Chicago-market pricing for ad space, which is expensive. A dedicated local site could sell ad space at more accessible rates to small businesses and drive targeted traffic to those advertisers.

The site had two components: a listing directory powered by a premium directory plugin, and a blog section. The listing side launched first, but Alston realized after going through Project 24 that a directory alone was not going to get found. Without content earning organic search traffic, nobody outside of existing customers would ever stumble onto the site. He started creating blog posts in December and January to fix that.

Thirteen-month stats: 776 pageviews, 689 unique views, an average time on page of 1 minute and 12 seconds, a bounce rate of 85.81%, and an exit rate of 74.48%.

Traffic sources were led by direct visits (people who already knew about the site), followed by organic search, social from the Blog to Social plugin, and referral. The geographic traffic was hyper-local, as expected. Traffic from outside the Midwest or outside the US was likely bot traffic or crawlers, since the content is specifically about things to do, eat, and see in Kenosha. Alston noted this directly: very few people outside the Midwest are looking for Kenosha content.

This site had the lowest traffic of the four, which makes sense given the constraints. Local niche, limited content, and the blog was built reactively rather than from day one. The lesson Alston drew from this site: without organic content, a directory is invisible to anyone who does not already know it exists. The business model for selling local ad space only works if local business owners believe there is real traffic coming to the site.

Site 4: The Plain Little Site That Proved the System Works

Site 4 was the smallest and, in many ways, the most revealing. Fewer than 15 blog posts total. No images on the posts, just a logo and generic site formatting. Alston started creating content for this site in January and February, well after the other three were underway.

Stats: roughly 1,900 pageviews, 1,600 unique views, an average time on page of 3 minutes and 10 seconds, a bounce rate of 88.98%, and an exit rate of 82.17%.

The 3-minute-10-second time on page is the number that stands out most. That is the highest average engagement of all four sites, and the site had no design or images to help hold readers. People were staying because the content itself was matching what they were searching for. That is keyword research working correctly.

Organic search was the dominant traffic source, with Google leading far ahead of everything else. No Blog to Social plugin. No Quora. No Facebook groups. Just posts built on better keyword targeting than Alston was doing in September 2018 when he started Site 1. Traffic came from the US, UK, Australia, and India, showing the niche had genuine international search demand without being so competitive that a small site could not rank.

Alston’s take in the video: “This is proof that Project 24 works. Even small, tiny sites that have less than 15 blog posts can work.” He credited the improvement to 13 months of learning. His keyword research had gotten sharper. His writing had gotten better. A plain-looking site with solid fundamentals was outperforming his 100-post flagship on every per-post traffic metric.

His plan for Site 4: get it from fewer than 15 posts to 30 to 50. If the pattern held, scaling the content on a site with proven keyword traction was the highest-return move he could make.

Real Numbers Across All Four Sites

Here is how all four sites compared across the 13-month window, pulled directly from the video:

Site 1 (Flagship): 95-100 blog posts, 9,075 pageviews, 6,744 unique views, avg time on page 1:10, bounce rate 65.09%, exit rate 61.29%
Site 2: 35-40 blog posts, 2,344 pageviews, 2,190 unique views, avg time on page 2:28, bounce rate 91.3%, exit rate 86.13%
Site 3 (Learn Kenosha): directory plus blog, 776 pageviews, 689 unique views, avg time on page 1:12, bounce rate 85.81%, exit rate 74.48%
Site 4 (Smallest): fewer than 15 blog posts, ~1,900 pageviews, ~1,600 unique views, avg time on page 3:10, bounce rate 88.98%, exit rate 82.17%

Site 4 had fewer than 15 posts and produced close to the same unique view count as Site 2 with its 35 to 40 posts. Site 1 had more than six times the content of Site 4 but only delivered about four times the pageviews. The ratio flips when you account for the work invested. Those gaps are a direct result of keyword research quality, not content volume. More posts on bad keywords does not beat fewer posts on winnable keywords.

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Honest Drawbacks of the Project 24 Approach

Alston still recommends Project 24 after 13 months. But his real numbers reveal friction points worth understanding before you sign up.

Niche selection is more important than content volume. Site 1 had more than six times the posts of Site 4 but did not generate proportionally more traffic. The keyword research on Site 1 targeted terms Alston could not realistically rank for. Publishing more content on a shaky keyword foundation does not fix the underlying problem. It just produces more content that does not rank.

The Project 24 timeline is an average, not a guarantee. Income School provides a traffic timeline inside the course showing where your site should be at various points. Alston’s sites came in behind that timeline. Every niche is different. YMYL topics get additional scrutiny from Google, some niches are smaller than they appear during initial research, and algorithm updates can reset momentum at any point.

Algorithm changes are real and hard to predict. Google shifted how it treated certain types of content during Alston’s first 13 months. A site on a growth path can plateau or dip when a major update rolls through, and there is not much you can do about it in the short term except keep publishing quality content and wait for the dust to settle.

Traffic diversity takes active, ongoing effort. For Site 1, Alston used Blog to Social, Quora, and Facebook groups to pull traffic from multiple sources. That work is not passive and takes real time each week. Sites that rely entirely on Google organic traffic are vulnerable to algorithm shifts, but building out social and community-driven traffic channels takes consistent manual effort that does not scale the same way content does.

Managing multiple sites stretches your attention thin. Running four sites at once meant each one got a fraction of the time it would have received as a solo focus. Alston acknowledged that Site 3 needed more content and Site 4 just needed to keep going. If you divide your effort across multiple projects early on, none of them moves as fast as a single focused approach would.

What Alston Would Do Differently With 13 Months of Data

Alston laid out a clear four-point plan based on what the numbers showed him:

Keep creating YouTube videos for Site 1, since the YouTube channel was generating 150 visits per day and had momentum that should not be abandoned
Continue adding blog posts to Site 2, which had the best Google organic search momentum of the four sites and the clearest upward traffic trajectory
Create more blog content for Site 3 (Learn Kenosha), since the directory alone was not attracting organic search traffic and the site needed more content to earn visibility
Scale Site 4 from fewer than 15 posts to somewhere between 30 and 50, since the keyword research was working, organic traffic was building, and the time-on-page showed readers were genuinely engaged

The pattern is simple: identify what is working and put more into it. Site 4 had the best fundamentals. Site 2 had the best organic search trajectory. Both deserved more content. Site 1 had a YouTube channel with growing engagement and a blog that needed keyword recalibration over time. Site 3 needed a content base to make the directory business model viable.

Find Your X

Blogging works, but it works best when you pick the right niche, target winnable keywords, and build consistently over time. Alston’s 13 months showed that the fundamentals from Project 24 are sound. The variables that created the gap between Site 1 and Site 4 were keyword research and niche fit, not work ethic or platform quality. Two people can take the same course and get very different results based on those two decisions alone.

If you are trying to figure out whether blogging, YouTube, freelancing, or something else is the right fit for your current situation and skill set, the free finder at finder.platformproof.com can help you match your background to a realistic starting point before you invest months in a direction that may not fit.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to see real results with Project 24?

Income School provides a traffic timeline inside the course, but Alston’s sites came in behind that timeline at 13 months. The pace depends heavily on your niche, your keyword selection, and how consistently you publish. Some niches move faster than others, and competitive or YMYL topics tend to take longer to see meaningful Google organic traffic growth. Treat the timeline as a benchmark to measure against, not a guarantee of specific results at specific months.

What is the Avocados theme and is it free for Project 24 members?

Avocados (later rebranded as Acabado) is a WordPress theme created by Income School specifically for content bloggers. It is included free with a Project 24 membership. It is designed for speed and simplicity, which matters because Google’s Core Web Vitals affect rankings. Alston used it on Site 1, and the difference in bounce rates between his Avocados site and his X Theme site was notable, though theme is not the only factor driving engagement differences between sites.

What is the Blog to Social plugin and should bloggers use it?

Blog to Social is a WordPress plugin that automatically sends new blog posts to multiple social media platforms without you doing it manually each time. Alston used it on Sites 1 and 3 to generate traffic from LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and other channels. He was clear in the video that it was not a paid mention; he just found it genuinely useful for sites that needed social traffic to supplement weaker organic search results. Whether you need it depends on how strong your Google organic traffic is.

What does YMYL mean and how does it affect a blog’s Google rankings?

YMYL stands for Your Money or Your Life. Google uses this classification for content that could directly affect someone’s health, finances, safety, or legal situation. Sites in those categories get more scrutiny during quality evaluations, and Google expects higher demonstrated authority, expertise, and trustworthiness before ranking them well. Alston’s Site 1 fell into this territory, which contributed to slower organic growth despite a high post count and consistent publishing effort.

Can a site with only 15 blog posts actually produce meaningful traffic?

Alston’s Site 4 showed that it can. With fewer than 15 posts it produced roughly 1,900 pageviews and a 3-minute-10-second average time on page, which was the highest of all four sites. Whether that translates to income depends on your monetization method and the ad rates or affiliate commissions available in your niche. But consistent reader engagement on a small, well-targeted site is the same foundation that a larger site is built on over time.

Why was Site 2’s bounce rate so much higher than Site 1’s bounce rate?

Alston attributed the bounce rate difference partly to the WordPress theme. Site 1 used the Avocados theme from Income School, which is optimized for keeping readers on-page and encouraging them to move to other posts. Site 2 used the X Theme, a general-purpose premium theme not built with that specific goal in mind. Content type, niche behavior, and how readers arrive at the site also play a role in bounce rate, so the theme is a contributing factor, not the sole cause.

Is running multiple sites at once a smart strategy when starting with Project 24?

Alston’s 13-month experience suggests it comes with real trade-offs. Running four sites meant each one received less focused attention than a single-site strategy would have allowed. Site 3 needed more blog content but did not get it as quickly as it should have. Site 4 had the best per-post performance but still had fewer than 15 posts because time was spread across four projects. For most people starting out, focusing on one site until it shows clear organic growth is probably a better use of limited weekly hours.

What made Site 4 outperform the other sites on a per-post basis?

Better keyword research. By the time Alston built Site 4, he had 13 months of real-world experience choosing keywords across three other sites. He had seen which types of terms he could realistically rank for and which ones were too competitive or too narrow. Site 4 was built on that accumulated knowledge. His writing had also improved over 13 months of consistent output. The combination of sharper keyword targeting and stronger writing produced a site that outperformed its content volume on every traffic metric that matters.

Sources

Original video: Project 24 Income School 13 Month Update on 4 Sites by Alston Godbolt
Income School / Project 24 created by Jim Harmer and Ricky Kesler
Blog to Social plugin referenced in the video as a traffic diversification tool Alston used on Sites 1 and 3
Google YMYL classification: Google Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines