The other day as I was reading some of the blog posts I subscribe to, one from Ryan at Agriculture Proud grabbed my attention and I though I need to copycat him a bit.
The post — Year in Review: Top Agriculture Blogs of 2013 — provides a review of some of the things that stood out for him. I wanted to do the same, in part because by late December it’s hard to remember what happened in February or March and if I was going to take the walk down Memory Lane, I may as well share in case others will find it of interest.
Overview — 2013 Year in Review
In a sentence, 2013 was a really busy year and that showed here on the blog as I published 156 blog posts on my site (including this one). Wow. I had a couple of guest posts in there, but wow. That’s a lot of writing!
Those posts included two different daily blogging challenges — the A to Z in Agriculture in April and November’s 30 Days of Thanks. I also had two really great trips that I blogged some about — my summer trip to Japan and the labor day roadtrip to Montana (and still have more to write!)
I have to admit, I lost some of the consistency of blogging I built in 2012 and will look to rebuild some of that in 2014. I need to get back to the routine of 3 posts a week because I enjoy sharing the routine things as much as I do the others.
The other big shift I’ve seen on the blog is the amount of traffic that comes in from search engines. You will really see that with several of the top posts on my blog this year.
Top 13 Blog Posts of 2013 by the Numbers
A quick glance at the stats of the top 13 posts of the year shows a combination of posts I’ve written this year that were shared more by the community and those that kept drawing in search results. To make it easy for you to know which is which, I’m putting an asterisk by blog posts that were written during 2013. I’ll have a few more comments after you read through the list and maybe read & share a few posts!
- Top 10 Cotton States in Area, Production, Yield & Value
- G is for GMOs — What are GMOs & Why Do Farmers Plant GMO Crops?*
- Paying Tribute to “Just a Farmer, Plain & Simple”
- Cotton 101: What does a cotton plant or field look like?
- Why Shouldn’t I Say Merry Christmas? Happy Holidays Isn’t the Same!*
- Cotton 101: Facts about Cotton — The Crop & Products
- H is for Hay — An A to Z about Agriculture*
- What’s the Fabric of our Lives About? Why Advertise Cotton?
- What’s with that Hayden Panettiere cotton commercial?*
- Why do they call the Dead Sea the “dead” sea? What makes it unique?
- Cotton Plant 101: What do a cotton plant, blooms & bolls look like? VIDEO
- Top 20 Biblical / Religious Sites In Israel Seen During My Recent Vacation
- What Almonds Look Like on the Tree & On the Farm
Looking at that list, I think it’s interesting that it is so clear how high cotton ranks in the things people read on my blog. I mean really, half of the posts are about cotton! Woo hoo! Then there are general agriculture pieces and some travel posts. Those are the things I focus my writing on and cotton has long been the primary focus. I mean I am JPlovesCOTTON on a lot of social media channels! I have to wonder as I am writing more of the fun travel stuff these days than I did in years past whether that will come up in future years. Don’t worry though, I don’t intend to stop writing about the farms I visit and things I see about cotton that make me pause.
Top 5 Sources of Traffic
I already mentioned that search engines have become the biggest traffic driver on my site. That’s really funny since I tend to write posts that I think my friends and family will find interesting first & foremost. Anything for search engines tends to be a secondary thought if that! And yet, it seems more people are using search engines like my friends would. At least that would be a reasonable explanation.
- Search Engines
- networkedblogs.com
- pinterest.com
Top 10 Search Terms that Brought Traffic
Since I have said search engines are bringing a lot of traffic to me, I thought you may find it of interest what people are putting in Google, Yahoo and Bing to land on janiceperson.com. It is interesting to see a few posts from this year are delivering search traffic but more than anything I love seeing how many people are searching for cotton and finding my little old blog!
- memphis campus
- types of hay
- why do they call it the dead sea
- cotton facts
- facts about cotton
- cotton plant
- poems about farmers
- how the cotton gin works
- boll weevil
- farmer style
What stands out for me in 2013?
So much talk of numbers and search engines really isn’t what motivates me and I made this short video of photos I instagrammed this year of the faces that brought me lots of smiles this year. it flips through quickly so good luck catching yourself if you are in a photo that isn’t either first or last!
Now I’m turning my mind to 2014!
Great look back at your year! Happy New Year and all the best for 2014!
I loved your review Janice! For me, the top source of traffic for me is search engines too, with Facebook second and Pinterest third. And I feel like my Pinterest traffic has grown a lot this year, especially in the last couple of months so I’m going to make a better effort at “pinning” in 2014.
Good for you! It really depends on the type of content you do. On some of my things pinning is helpful, others I haven’t found communities for that. But since I started doing more pinnable pics, those hits have gone up.