Two Year Blogiversary
It’s been 2 years since this blog started, but feels like a lifetime ago. Year 1 stats were discussed here. Now for the year 2 blogiversary stats.
The biggest thing I did all year was my buy nothing challenge. So far it is going well and I have learned a lot in that time. More on that on another date.
As for the blog, it’s self, I have enjoyed it and always wanted to reach the 2-year mark. Well, I made it and am glad for that achievement. Going forward I am not sure where things will end up. I may write less frequently and more passionately instead of just putting things out there for the sake of putting it out there.
Now for some stats…
Some stats
So far I have written 194 posts. This is post 195. That is an average of 1.8 posts per week. I had started out strong with 3 posts per week at the inception…then slowly faded to 1 post per week. Going forward it may even be fewer posts. I am hoping to provide more quality than quantity as stated above. So sign up for my email list if interested in being kept in the loop.
The below stats are for a period of 329 days. I jumped the gun on downloading my analytics data. Still, it gives a rough estimate for the year.
Users
I did pretty well if you ask me. The average per day stats was:
102 sessions
61 users per day
193 page views per day
To me, this is like teaching a class to 61 students a day. If that was my job I would feel pretty successful. It may not be the 30,000 hits or more some sites get, but that is okay. Comparison and competition while healthy, are not the goal of this blog.
Channels
Email remains the biggest referral source, so I guess I should continue to work on growing my email list which is currently 206 people. I was happy to see that the other 37% was a direct search of my site. It is surprising that people are typing in my websites name, but exciting also.
Popular pages
Not surprising, the Tubb’s Fire post was the most popular. This was also my most popular post last year (and ever actually). I am proud to see my Fidelity IRA how-to page received the second most visits. The third most popular post was a how-to on nanny taxes. It seems that if you want a successful post, it should be useful to your audience. Maybe the future will contain more how-to or how-not-to posts.
Traffic
June 15th was my most popular date which was when Michael Dinich posted a guest post on Financial recommendations for someone making $50,000 a year. He is a great worker of social media and drove a lot of traffic to my site.
Conclusion
I wish I had some insight for you on writing blogs. I can give you some tips if interested.
- First, pick a name that is easy to remember and has something to do with your site. My name is not the best for a site like mine. So think about your sites name and be deliberate.
- If you want to get traffic, write quality content. Equally important is networking. Get on other peoples sites and comment. Use twitter. Write guest posts. I can increase traffic to my site 2 to 3 fold when I am engaged in social media and with other bloggers. It is a great way to grow.
- Don’t blog for the money. You might make some. Or a lot. But more likely you will make little money, and that is okay. Write if you like to write. If you feel you have something useful to add to the community. That is it. That should be your purpose for writing. Money may come from it and that is great, but if money is the end goal you may not succeed.
- It’s okay to back away from a site. If you are no longer enjoying the writing and interacting, then back away. You have no failed. In fact, if you have put some original thoughts out there or useful how-to’s, then you are a success in my book. Do what’s best for you.
Alright, that is it. Have a great day and see you next time.
Also published on Medium.
Passion really shows especially for platforms like blogging. So it’s very obvious to the audience if you’re just doing it for money.
You’re right though, if you’re not doing it for the money and producing quality content for the love of it then the audience would resonate more with that.
Congratulations on 2 years of blogging. Blogging is a commitment and you’re doing a great job! It takes time to learn what works and what doesn’t. I’m still figuring this out 8.5 years in. 🙂
Woah! 8.5 years. You are definitely an expert at this point. It is fun to do and I suspect will be a hobby of mine going forward for the future.
Two years? Time flies! You’ve been through a lot and have grown in a number of ways in the two short years you’ve been sharing your story.
Best wishes as you transition to the next chapter in your life. I don’t blame you for posting less, but don’t fade away completely!
Cheers!
-PoF
Thanks man. I will not fade…I will just phase in and out
Thanks for sharing this. I think it makes it easier for all of us to gauge how things are going. We have a lot of similarities with our progress.
Glad to help. I definitely have learned how to increase traffic but do not feel it is worth the effort at this point. Guest posts, twitter and commenting on other bigger sites definitely helps drive traffic.
Congratulations!
You definitely write quality stuff.
I love your definition of success. Based on traffic and money metrics my blog is a failure, but I will adopt your view and declare it a success!
Ha ha. We can all be successful if we aim low! You, my friend, are already winning at life…
Happy Blogoversary! Always interesting to see the annual stats. Like net worth, you’ll likely continue to see the numbers climb steadily Northward, so long as you invest (write) consistently and invest in good assets (topics). Good thought on quality > quantity, I’ve taken the same approach and it’s worked well for me. Good luck for Year 3!
Thanks Fritz. You do keep putting out quality. For me it is a matter of having a fixed time to do the things I want. Work, family, exercise, blog and now music. So I have to be selective. I think I will be able to juggle it all though.
We just celebrated our 2 year as well. Congrats on the accomplishment! I have thoroughly enjoyed following along on your journey over the past couple years and hearing the honest truth about everything that you have gone through. Even if you start posting less, I’ll be here anxiously awaiting your next post. Hope our paths cross in real life one of these days!
Ha. thanks, you guys are the best!
Happy 2 year anniversary. It is certainly an achievement to be proud of. Most blogs don’t survive 6 months, so to already have quadrupled that is a feat.
Those who never have blogged don’t understand the challenges (I was in that group a little over 6 months ago myself). There is a self-imposed pressure to keep up with a posting schedule and to find new content to create. It can be stressful if you let it.
You are right in reducing your posting schedule if it was interfering with other activities in your life or no longer becoming fun.
Comparing yourself with other blogs is also the quickest way to make you unhappy/discouraged. There are so many traps to fall into, stats and money are the big ones. As physicians we really don’t depend on either but somehow it creeps into the back of our mind of why can’t this be like so and so’s blog. Once you get over that and just write for writing sake you will be much happier.
Here’s to your continued success. I hope I can keep my blog up for that long.
Thanks. Your site seems to be doing great too. I am going to keep writing but at a slower pace. The best part of the blog world is all the great people I have met.
Congratulations on hitting the two year mark DDD -there are a bunch of us who must have started blogs around the same time who have made it. Of course there’s also a lot of folks who haven’t made it-but we’re in the 1-5% of survivors. When it comes to blogging, I think it’s all about your goals. And your goals don’t need to be someone else’s goals. Anyway, happy anniversary and I hope you enjoy whatever your path forward is! CMO
Thanks CMO. I definitely consider you in my class of bloggers and have enjoyed following your site over the 2 years!