Hello and happy Wednesday!
Last year, after about one year of blogging on this site, I shared the top lessons I’ve learned, as well as a quick update on my stats since September of 2020. You can find that post, here.
Much to my amazement, it’s now been over two years since I launched this website and began blogging here! I can’t decide if it feels like it’s been longer or shorter. Both, I suppose, in various ways.
Though many of my lessons learned remain the same as last year, I did want to take a moment to share some of my stats a year later, as well as my recent reflections and plan going forward with my website. I hope you’ll find them interesting!
My Overall Stats
First, a caveat that I don’t share these stats to brag (if you think they’re impressive) or to try and garner pity (if you think they’re pathetic). They simply are what they are. I’ve found it helpful to read about other bloggers’ stats and experiences, so I’m sharing mine with the hope that they’re valuable to someone as well.
We all have our own unique blogging journeys, and we should celebrate all of them!
How long have I been blogging? Two years and three days, to be exact.
How many posts have I published on this site? 183 (with some extras pre-written)
How many WordPress followers do I have? 148
How many subscribers receive my posts via email? 12
My highest amount of views in a month? 1.2K (in August of 2022)
My site’s all-time amount of views? 15,617
Average wordcount per post? 1,403
Most popular day (in terms of views)? Sunday
Most popular hour (in terms of views)? 1:00 PM
Highest-viewed blog post? 10 Quotes About Putting God First (with 3,373 views)
Lowest-viewed blog post? How Theatre Has Helped My Writing (with 8 views) (haha)
As you can see, there’s a huge variety in my stats, and that’s okay! I find it interesting how all the different aspects of my blog have grown and changed over the past couple of years.
For example, the rate of followers I gain has heavily decreased. For a while, it was a handful every month, now I’ll sometimes go a month or more without gaining one. However, the amount of views and comments have largely increased each month, with last month even jumping into the thousands for the first time.
It’s tempting to get discouraged when something changes and I think it’s for the worst. But it’s been helpful to remember that as long as I’m doing my best and being genuine, I’m doing all I can. The rest is in God’s hands, and He’ll allow only what should happen.
It’s also helped me relax since starting a newsletter, publishing a story, writing on Medium, and joining a couple of social media platforms, knowing that not everything hinges on whether or not people find and read my blog. I can still be found and interact with others elsewhere. It may sound silly, but that knowledge takes some of the pressure off.
My Reflections
This blog has been extremely rewarding at times, extremely challenging at times, but all in all, completely worth it. I’m so glad I’ve been able to share my thoughts, gush about my favorite projects and books I’m reading, and get to interact with the warm and welcoming blogging community.
Some of my posts are very raw and real, sharing lessons I’m learning and experiences I’ve had that I feel compelled to share. Some are light and fun, like sharing my music tastes or writing one-sentences stories (twice). Others are all about writing; tips for fellow writers, my current projects, and story updates. The variety has been very fun for me.
My blogging schedule has also changed significantly over time. It began sporadically, with posts whenever I felt like it; sometimes days apart, sometimes weeks apart. Then, I changed to blogging 2-3 times a week, building up my library of content. Finally, more recently, I’ve switched to blogging 1-2 times a week, slowing down to allow myself time for other projects.
My Plan Going Forward
I have many hopes and plans for this blog, but don’t know exactly what will take place or when. Some of my future (hopefully soon) plans include designing my very own website logo, rebranding and redesigning my entire website so that I have a more cohesive branding strategy, using that strategy on my posts/images from now on, and just generally streamlining this blog and the website as a whole, so it’s easier and more pleasant to use.
(If you have any ideas you’d love to see for this, please let me know!)
I’ll also likely be reevaluating my posting schedule, as I really push to publish my pirate trilogy, and deal with these migraines that don’t seem to be going away. Being forced to develop healthier and more realistic expectations for myself has been difficult, but something I do consider a blessing, because I know it’s God teaching me what’s most important. Turns out, I just can’t do it all, haha.
Along with reevaluating my posting schedule is reevaluating the types of content I blog about most often. This includes (hopefully next year) adding in more book reviews, using a review framework I have yet to develop. I love reading, can read pretty fast, and want to do a lot more of it, so I might as well share my findings at the same time.
(Again, if you have any ideas or recommendations for types of content/specific book reviews you’d love to see on the blog, please let me know!)
Overall, in the next year of blogging, I’d like to slow down and really focus on my foundations, making this blog and my website as a whole the best that it can be. Especially as I begin to publish more fiction, I want to have my basics in place, and develop a strong, realistic approach to writing both fiction and non-fiction.
Whether you’ve been reading my blog for months – or years – or whether this is your first post by me, thank you so much for your support. I really don’t have the words to describe how much the community and encouragement has meant to me. Blogging has been an outlet, a comfort, a pathway to friendships, and a huge blessing in my life. You’re part of that.
I look forward to many more years of blogging with you all, God willing!
Recent Posts:
This is awesome; great work! 🙂 Since your platform has grown considerably over the last two years, would you have tips for other writers? (You can answer in the comments, or perhaps I gave you a post idea, lol) 🙂
Haha, you actually did give me a post idea! 🙂 I want to write about that more in-depth soon, but overall I’d say:
1) Don’t worry about everything being perfect from the start. We have plenty of time to fix things and we can always change themes, designs, formats, topics, etc. if we find out they’re not for us. We grow and learn and our platforms change with us. That’s a fun part! So don’t be like me in the start and get so overwhelmed with trying to be perfectly professional that I don’t find any joy in the writing.
and 2) connect with other writers/bloggers! That’s made a huge difference for me. Just interacting with others’ blogs, taking part in blog events, responding to comments, finding groups of like-minded writers… community is so important. Not only for stats obviously, but for learning, growing, accountability, encouragement and support. And it makes it fun!
So yes, I’ll try to include some more specific tips in the post (hopefully somewhat soon), but those are two huge lessons that have made a difference for me 🙂 Thank you so much for commenting, and I hope that makes sense, haha.
Ahhhh, happy blogiversary!!! 😀 I love how you give us such quality posts so consistently!!! You’ve done a great job!! (Lol, “How Theatre Has Helped My Writing” was an amazing post… should’ve gotten more views! 😂 ) Yes, it is tempting to get discouraged at the lack of progress sometimes, but it really is in God’s hands and He’ll give us everything that is best for us. Keep up the good work, my friend! <3
Thank you so much, my friend! 😀 (haha, it’s so funny what connects with the most people xD) As always, I really appreciate your support and encouragement. God definitely is in control, and how glad I am! <3
Happy blogiversary! These are some great reflections right here. It’s so cool that you’re willing to show your stats, and 1.2k views per month is pretty solid indeed. Thanks for sharing your experience, and here’s to many more years to come!
Thank you! I hope so too, and really appreciate you reading 🙂