Wow! I cannot believe that by the time I post this there will be less than 24 hours left in 2015! This year has been a wild ride. So many things have happened and changed since NYE 2014, that’s for sure.
If you read the blog, you know I’m a huge fan of learning from the past. I am in the process of refocusing my blog and rolling new things out for the new year. (I am very excited about it…… seriously this is me just thinking about it…)
Checking google analytics to see how my posts faired over the past year was very interesting to me.
I see that holiday posts, blogger posts and relatable self-narratives did the best.
The fact that it is the end of the year and the top 2 posts have only been published for less than 2 months was very eye opening to me!
I’ve heard many bloggers say to write about trending topics and now I see why.
When I went to check the stats over the year I was sure I knew what my top 3 posts would be:
- The 12 Guys You Meet Online, because of the wonderful response it got.
- Avocado Bacon Stuffed Egg Appetizer, because bacon and Pinterest.
- 10 Text Messages You Send Your Best Friend, because of it’s response and the fact that it was the only post in 2015 I purchased a Facebook Ad for.
While these were on the top 10 list these aren’t the top 3.
One thing I also realized is the posts I enjoyed writing the most are the ones that performed the best, that makes me very happy.
Often bloggers are so desperate to gain readers they publish content that isn’t authentic and they end up not enjoying it the way they should.
I can tell you I loved sharing my Writer’s Block Guide and my tales of online dating. Those may have been some of my favorite posts to write.
Here are the top 10 posts of 2015
(According to Google)
4 Reasons People Stopped Sending Christmas Cards and What to Do Instead
I’ve noticed over the years less people seem to be sending Christmas cards and after reading post on Simply Wright, Are Christmas Cards A Dying Tradition, I thought I’d talk about why and share some ideas of things you could do instead. Apparently this was a popular topic because a lot of people searched things like, “Do people still send Christmas Cards?” I really liked this post because it allowed me to talk about some charitable organizations I believe in and share the work of a blogger I really enjoy.
My 2015 Holiday Wish List Plus a Amazon Gift Card Giveaway
To be honest this post was a last minute idea. I know giveaways are a great way to grow your audience but this giveaway and wish list was just a result of not having a post idea and trying to answer the question my big sister asks me every year…”What do you want for Christmas?”
10 Text Messages You Send Your Best Friend
This post was fun because I actually pulled these texts from my own phone. I have a group of amazing friends and I know I’m not the only one. This post was also special to me because it was the first one from AllTheThingsIDo.com that I posted on my personal Facebook page, it was kind of my coming out party to my friends as a serious blogger. I was so nervous hitting the share button but the response was WONDERFUL!
The 12 Guys You Meet Online
I briefly went back into the world of online dating and it was a tedious experience. I know a lot of people who online date and I knew my horror stories would be relatable and entertaining, so I was happy to share.
5 Tips to Deal With Writer’s Block + A Freebie!
This was the first content upgrade I did and it was something I actually put a lot of work into. I was excited to launch it and am glad it was so high up on the list of top posts.
5 Reasons Bloggers Should Carry Business Cards
I love my business cards! I ordered them before BlogHer 15 and was so excited that I had them to pass out at the conference. I found it shocking that a lot of bloggers who want to monetize their blogs don’t have business cards. I got a lot of great comments about how my post was the kick in the pants they needed to go ahead and get their own business cards. I will be posting a follow up soon about what to put on your blog’s business card.
10 Awesome Friend Date Ideas
To be honest I was sitting in a meeting at work thinking about how frustrating it was not seeing certain friends anymore, when this post idea came to me. As life changes and we get older it seems like less friends are free for drinks on a Friday night so I started thinking of fun things I’ve done with friends or things I’d like to try with them to do something different than the typical friend dates. I think a lot of my readers are in that stage of early adulthood where friendships and priorities start changing so this post was well received.
If you give a human a uterus…
This post was written 50% out of thoughts I have any time the subject of having children comes up, 50% from getting super annoyed when my coworker, who has 3 adult sons, went on an unsolicited rant about how I would change my mind about not wanting to have my own children, and then had the nerve to ask “Well what does your boyfriend think of that?” This conversation lead to all those thoughts flowing from my fingers to the keyboard and the first draft was probably written in less than 10-minutes. This post is my open letter to people who don’t understand why a woman may not want to be a mother.
Avocado Bacon Stuffed Egg Appetizer
I love food and I love cooking. While food isn’t the primary purpose of my blog I did want to share some fun food posts. This dish I made for the first time at my annual Christmas party in 2014 and it was a hit. I’m not shocked it made the list because as I mentioned above…bacon.
5 Things That Happen When You Travel Alone
I have been lucky enough to travel a lot the past few years but normally with a companion (Shout out to Mark). This year I took my first major trip by myself and it was AMAZING! Even with the bumps in the road (Excuse me while I freak out! Blogher 15, NYC and other adventures) it was a life changing experience. I think a lot of people related to this because they’ve been there or they want to have that experience one day.
After collecting this data WordPress (The awesome blogging platform I use) sent me this nifty Annual Summary check it out here.
Why you should pull your analytics
If you are a blogger and haven’t taken a look at your Google Analytics I strongly suggest it.
- Even if you don’t want to share them with your readers, it will give you an idea of what is working and what isn’t.
- Trade secret: Old posts can bring you new readers just like new posts can!
- If you have a post that has gotten a large amount of traffic consider updating it and reposting it or recycling it in your marketing calendar… obviously there is something worth reading there.
- It lets you know what you reader’s aren’t reading- some topics your won’t fit in your niche. If you think it’s good writing see about publishing it elsewhere.
- It lets you see how many of your blog visitors are new visitors vs. returning visitors.
- If 95% of your visitors aren’t returning you need to figure out why they aren’t returning. Is there an annoying pop-up? Does your page load too slow? Are you forgetting a call to action? Give them a reason to come back? Are you memorable?
- It tells you where are your readers coming from? Is Facebook a huge source of traffic? Are you spending large amounts of time on Instagram but seeing more traffic from another social media platform? Wouldn’t it be better to spend that energy on a platform that has better results for your niche?
* Keep in mind that low pageviews could just be the result of not getting your post in front of a large enough audience, it doesn’t necessarily mean the post is bad or out of niche.
Annie
Love these links! Can’t wait to see what you bring in 2016!
Lakisha
I keep forgetting to get business cards. That’s my goal for 2016.
Alicia Snow
Isn’t it funny how we think a blog post will be super successful, but it doesn’t go viral? Or the posts we think are just okay and then it gets a ton of hits.
I guess I need to make a goal this year to be better about checking my Google Analytics.
Natalia
Oh my god, I can see why these posts were successful! I want to read all of them! I already opened writer’s block and 4 reasons people stopped sending christmas cards. You have great ideas, keep it up! XO
Courtney
Looking at your top posts is definitely an eye opening tactic and something I’ll have to do. I’m actually loving some of these titles and bookmarking them for later. 🙂
Jenny
Checking out some of these links now.
Good luck in 2016 – I am sure you’ll do great things.
xoxo, Jenny
Allison Jones
Congratulations on a successful year of blogging! I check google analytics at least once a week and it has helped me focus so much. Knowing who my readers are and what types of posts they really enjoy is super helpful.
Happy New Year,
Allison
michelle
it is really great to go back and see what the most popular posts are. my most popular posts have been on how i got tickets to various tv show tapings which i share in detail so others can do the same thing. my disney travel posts are popular too. i check my analytics often but i try not to obsess over them
Lindsey
I love to see what the top posts are as well! I just did this on my blog and I had some surprising results! Can’t wait to check out your posts, especially the one about women not wanting to be mothers!
jennyb
Love your posts. Have gone and read your older ones so thanks for posting them again.
Missy
My favorite was why bloggers should carry business cards. After reading you post, I even put some in my hydration pack for running. I always have some on me now!
Dia
That’s awesome and makes me so happy.
Dia
Thank so much and thanks for stopping by!
Betsy
Thanks for reminding me I need to get business cards! It’s on my To-Do list!
-Betsy
http://www.goldwilldigger.com
FlightScarlet
Wow, I loved reading this! I’m definitely going to check out some of those other posts. Also, I hadn’t really thought of doing trending topics – I went for seasonal ones for sure, but I’m going to keep that in mind now too.
Thanks for the read!
Kari
Love the year end recap. These are some great posts!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
The Oracle
You have a great variety here. I always think those make the best blogs
Mimi Rose
This is awesome! It sounds like a great year of posts and growth for your blog. I’ve read a lot of the ones you’ve listed here already and can attest to how good they are. 🙂 Best of luck with 2016, looking forward to following along.
Jenny Ostenson Photography | Tacoma Wedding Photographer
I loved your writers block the best. Thanks for sharing!
Summer @ Coffee With Summer
These are so awesome and unique! I love finding great posts that aren’t just repeats. I love originals! Thanks for this, Dia! Can’t wait to read them
Dia
Thanks for stopping by Annie! 🙂
Dia
Yes Lakisha I can already tell you have so much to offer and would probably be passing them out like crazy!
Dia
I agree! You can never totally know how a post will do. All you can do is put your best content out there and market it the best you can to the right audience.
Dia
Thanks Natalia you’re so sweet. I hope you enjoy them. 🙂
Dia
Thanks so much. It was nice to see that the direction I’m taking my blog is something that is being well recieved. Thanks for commenting.
Dia
Happy New Year Jenny!
Dia
That’s awesome you check them so consistently. I plan to do it more in 2016.
Thanks for commenting Allison
Chantal
It’s interesting that you can have so many different types of posts in your top ten. Looks like you did great!
Dia
Thanks Chantal! 🙂
Why Bloggers Should Create a Reader Survey - All The Things I Do
[…] different type of blog posts I’d done, as well as which posts had done well over the past year (My top ten blog posts of 2015 and how they helped me prepare for 2016). I knew which posts got a lot of views but I wanted to know what the people on my email list and […]