Every year at this time I look back at how this blog performed: raw stats and popular posts.
Visits to my blog were down by 10-15% compared to last year. My October blog sabbatical hurt: visits dropped by a third, and recovered only weakly after I returned to blogging.
The biggest loss was in search-driven visits, which are down a quarter to a third. A handful of my posts answer common questions for film-photography newbies. Tens of thousands of visits each year used to come from people Googling for those answers. Competing articles have appeared on other better-known sites, and disappointingly Google quickly ranked them ahead of my posts. Search-driven visits fell further after I updated and republished those posts this year. Google surely downranked my older posts because the newer ones were too similar.
I’d rather have your engagement with my stories and photographs than fat pageviews from people who never comment, never click Like, never share on social media. That’s why I republished those useful evergreen posts, and plan to do so annually henceforth. It’s also why I’ve been focusing more on great new posts lately. It’s made a difference: new posts get two or three times more views in the first few days than they did just two years ago. That hasn’t made up for the loss of search-driven visits, but it’s helped. I hope this growth trend continues.
My efforts to build a more vibrant community here are paying off: comments were up 30% in 2017, and another 5% this year.
My five personal favorite posts in 2018:
- All of the posts I wrote as I grieved the loss of my father, here.
- Learning documentary photography from Berenice Abbott
- Into the mosh pit
- I hate what domestic terrorism has done to our country
- The high cost of college today and why I’m disappointed in my alma mater
Five most visited posts of 2018:
- Film photography blogs you should follow (2018 edition)
- Puzzle solved: The National Road at Pleasant Gardens and Reelsville in Indiana
- Where can you still get film developed? (2018 edition)
- In praise of ISO 200 film
- James W. Grey, Jr., 1941-2018
Five most commented posts of 2018:
- James W. Grey, Jr., 1941-2018
- I always thought the reward for doing a good job was that you got to keep the job
- A blog update and a question for you
- In case you were wondering why you don’t see me on Facebook very much anymore
- Reflections on 11 years of blogging
Five most Liked posts of 2018:
- Why I stay on Facebook even though I don’t enjoy it much
- Film photography blogs you should follow (2018 edition)
- Reflections on 11 years of blogging
- I hate what domestic terrorism has done to our country
- Back after a month away from blogging
I look forward to an even more engaged community in 2019!
