2023 In Review: My Blogging Recap

Hello and happy Wednesday!

I’m a bit later to this post than I wanted to be, but it’s still before the end of January, so…close enough to 2023, right?

2023 marked three years since I launched this website and started blogging. At this point, it’s been about three and a half years. It’s hard to believe! I’ve learned so much in that time, and will hopefully continue to grow more and more as time carries on.

As I did back in 2021 when I wrote this post (What I’ve Learned in One Year of Blogging), I enjoy looking back each year and seeing what happened on this site. How many posts did I write, which ones did the best, how many people are following my posts, what have I learned… you get the idea. It’s super helpful to see patterns and make connections that I might not have without taking the time to reflect.

And since there’s been so many exciting things that happened in the author journey this year, I thought this would be a great chance to look at some stats!

Caveat that I don’t share these for comparison to anyone other than my past self though. To a lot of people, these are rookie numbers, and that’s okay! There have been ups and downs, and everyone’s blogging journey is uniquely their own. That said, sometimes it helps me to see the changes in others’ numbers, so hopefully if that’s you too, you find this helpful!

And if you’re just starting off, be encouraged! Three years ago, I would have never thought I’d even be at this point. It takes so much prayer, time, and effort, but it’s incredibly rewarding. Thank you to everyone who’s been following my journey – whether this is the first post of mine you’re reading, or whether you’ve been here since the very start. I appreciate each and every person here today!

The Stats/Recaps

Number of posts in 2023: 55
Words written in 2023: 67,100 words
Total number of posts: 256 (starting in September of 2020 to today!)
All-time words written: about 356,000 words!

I am so thrilled with this! 250+ is an awesome number of posts to have up right now, and even though 2023 was my year with the fewest posts so far, that was intentional. I’m transitioning from the “post as often as I can for growth and visibility” stage to finding a sustainable schedule and posting when I truly have something I want to share. I want to maintain things here, while also taking some of that extra time and putting it toward more writing fiction and growing other on platforms too (such as Instagram)!

Current number of subscribers: 177 (165 via WordPress, and 17 via email)

I don’t have a clue how this compares to other blogs that have been going for three years, but I’m honestly super happy with this number. The people who consistently read this blog are the absolute sweetest and so supportive. And while I receive some interaction here, I’ve noticed it tends to travel to my social profiles and that’s where most of the in-depth conversations get started. So that’s been fun!

Views in 2023: 25,046
Visitors in 2023: 18,503
Comments in 2023: 274
Likes in 2023: 400

All-time views: 47,155
All-time visitors: 30,327
All-time comments: 1,453
All-time likes: 1,973

It’s so fun to see what portion of the total interactions and posts for this site happened in 2023!

Most popular day (all-time): September 17th, 2023 (for Cabin Girl‘s release!), with 229 views
Most popular day of the week (all-time): Sunday, with 8% of views
Most popular time of day (all-time): 8:00 AM, with 5% of views
Most popular post (all-time): 10 Quotes About Putting God First (click here to read), with 15.3k views

I always find it so interesting to see what the most popular posts are, and what days and times people tend to visit this blog the most. I don’t think I’d ever guess correctly for any of them, which makes it very fun to see the real stats! The only one I’m not surprised by is that September of 2023 was much busier. Between Cabin Girl‘s release and Five Fall Favorites, there was so much happening!

Most monthly views (all-time): September of 2023, with about 4,000 views
Average views per day: 115 views

It’s been really fun to see the change since last September! Ever since Cabin Girl‘s release, the average monthly views have skyrocketed from where they were, and we’re staying consistently around 3.5k now. That’s a huge jump from the 1.5k or so before that. It’s been so fun meeting so many new people, and, again, I’ve seen a lot of that interaction travel over to my Instagram profile and newsletter lists.

What I’ve Learned

When I shared five of the most important lessons I’d learned in blogging back in 2021 (see this post), I shared how important consistency is, that we shouldn’t be afraid to genuine, that finding a balance helps, that blogging should be fun, and that the community here truly is amazing. And all of those lessons are still extremely true! More than ever, I’m trying to keep those truths in mind.

I really don’t have any other huge revelations that have occurred since then, but boy have I received practice in remembering those truths. Consistency really does matter. Whether I’m posting six times in a month or six times in a week, I find the absolute best interaction when I’m consistent. That doesn’t mean I can’t and don’t throw in random posts sometimes, but usually I try to plan ahead and schedule regularly.

Speaking of planning ahead, I write many of my posts ahead of time and schedule them. This has made a huge difference in my stress levels. If I can write posts that aren’t time-sensitive when I have extra time and have them set aside for busy weeks, it makes the process so much smoother. I can’t always do this, and sometimes (like today…), I’m frantically writing a post in the middle of the night or halfway through the day to get it out on time, but when I can avoid that, I definitely try to.

And when I can’t get a post out when I want to, I’m working to forgive myself and be okay with that. Ultimately, we decide when we post, what we write about, and how often we put out content. As long as we haven’t promised a post to someone on a specific day and time (think cover reveals, guest posts, etc.), we have the freedom to move things around according with our schedule. Sometimes life hits hard, health isn’t great, unexpected events come up…and it’s such a huge blessing to be able to be flexible.

Besides, blogging should be fun! It can be difficult and stressful and time-consuming, sure. But at the end of the day, this is something I want to enjoy. And I do enjoy it. So when I’m feeling extra stressed out by all of the deadlines I put on myself, and all of the posts I feel like I should write, I try to give myself extra grace and remind myself of why I’m blogging in the first place. I want to enjoy sharing my heart and what I’m learning, spreading the word about my projects and other fellow authors, and meeting so many awesome people. When I take the time to refocus myself on those goals, it makes a big difference.

And lastly, the blogging community really is amazing. This goes hand and hand with being genuine, because no matter who you are, what you enjoy, what your interests and beliefs are, and what your goals are for your blog, there are others looking for content like yours! I’ve met so many incredible people through this site, and it’s honestly my favorite part. I love receiving messages from you all, and still can hardly believe that you choose to spend some of your time to read my posts and reach out to me.

You all make this so worth it, and I’m extremely grateful for you. Thank you for all of your support, help, feedback, encouragement, and kindness. You are blessings, and I appreciate each and every one of you!

And now…some questions for you! What kind of content would you like to see more of on the blog in 2024? Are there topics you’d like to see discussed? Subjects you want me to find good quotes on? Contents, giveaways, activities, or blog tags you think would be fun? Anything you think I should change?

I want to write content that you actually want to read, so please don’t hesitate to reply in the comments (or by reaching out via my contact page if you’d like to be more anonymous) and let me know your thoughts! I welcome your feedback, and look forward to many more fun posts with you all in 2024!

I thank my God every time I remember you.
(Philippians 1:3 NIV)

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