Last weekend I shared my most popular posts in 2014, plus a few reasons for their popularity. Several of those posts are among my personal favorites, like my posts on marriage and feminism.
But I also labored over quite a few beloved posts that just did not receive the page views or comments that I had hoped.
When making this list, I had a few criteria. Obviously, none of the posts could be popular, but I also didn’t think comparing posts from December to posts from the summer was an apt comparison. The most recent post on this list is from November.
None of the posts have more than 3 comments or 52 page views (as of o1/03/15, at 2:15pm). All of the posts are ones that I’m proud of writing, that reflect my personality or values. Finally, each one is unique. Some of them are similar to other posts that weren’t popular, so I chose my favorite of each type.
5. Kappa Celebrates 144 Years of Sisterhood
Date: 10/13/2014
Comments: 2
Page views: 52
Hindered by: While sorority blog posts are fairly popular among undergrads, most of my readers are out of school. Kappa might be a huge part of my life, but the topic probably only interests a small part of my readership.
Why I love it: Like I said, Kappa is a huge part of my life. With the exception of my best friends in France, my closest friendships post-Furman are all other Kappas. Libbi is a Kappa, and I was just a bridesmaid in her wedding (along with three other Kappas!).
4. Solitary Adventures
Date: 10/19/2014
Comments: 1
Page views: 51
Hindered by: I didn’t promote it all that well, and I didn’t have a good picture for it. It’s a short blog post, especially compared to how much I usually write.
Why I love it: I felt very reflective and independent while writing it. I like sharing my feelings on my blog. I think it’s important to model my independence, even while in a relationship, to young women.
3. Salt Lake City Travels: Discovering Temple Square
Date: 10/28/2014
Comments: 3
Page views: 48
Hindered by: Apparently no one likes my travel posts. Most of my city-specific blog posts–Denver, Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh, Toledo, etc.–attract very few page views.
Why I love it: Out of all of my travel posts, this one is my favorite. Not only did Dan take stunning pictures of Temple Square, but I opened up about what I learned and how I changed my mind about Mormons. This post both extols the awesomeness of Temple Square for tourists and the awesomeness of the philanthropic work by the Mormon church.
2. 5 Reasons Republicans Should Vote Libertarian
Date: 10/31/2014
Comments: 0
Page views: 46
Hindered by: I think my readers who actually care about politics are liberal, so they don’t need to read a plea to Republicans. Also October was clearly not the best month for my blog, since 4/5 of these unpopular posts were published in October.
Why I love it: I’m clearly passionate about politics, since this was just one of three posts I wrote in the weeks before the Midterm Elections. I know too many people who vote straight ticket without even examining the positions of the candidates. I want to challenge voters to look outside the two major parties, especially if their own politics don’t perfectly match their local Republican or Democratic candidates.
1. Giving Thanks for My Loved Ones
Date: 11/24/2014
Comments: 2
Page views: 43
Hindered by: I usually publish my blog posts at 7am. For the week of Thanksgiving, when I tried–and failed–to blog every day, my posts didn’t get up until really late. Also the downside of blogging frequently is that each individual post receives less page views since readers often just read the newest post instead of all missed posts.
Why I love it: While I didn’t meet my goal of blogging about thankfulness each day for a week, I love the posts I did write. I’m glad I took the time to write out how important my husband, family, and friends are to me. Dan read this post, even if (almost) no one else did.
Do you have any beloved posts that are beloved by you alone?
this is a really interesting way to gauge your posts and their success – and what success means for a post! I sometimes get lots of comments on posts that I don’t feel accurately reflect me/my feelings on whatever, and then I sometimes don’t get much interaction on posts that I love. what a good idea to examine why! learning experience 🙂
For me, page views AND comments are how I gauge success. So like, a few blog posts with not many page views, but tons of comments, I still consider successful. Even if I didn’t reach a large quantity of people, that means I somehow affected/inspired/educated/etc. most of the people who read it.
I feel like the beginning of a blog is when a writer is still figuring things out. Now that I essentially have six months of data to analyze, I can be more strategic with both my writing and my promoting. Like I wrote less posts in December than I did in October or November, but I still had more page views because each individual post did better. Well, most of them did better. Like I said, I’m pretty much the only one interested in my travel posts. 😉
Hah, honestly, I have to admit I usually skip blogger’s travel posts. If it’s just pictures or descriptions of something I’m not planning to see, there has to be more to it, some cohesion or theme or narrative, to merit some comment other than “nice photos!” – which is actually why I liked your Temple Square post.
All of my posts from 2012-2013 basically have 0 comments (in a very few cases, it’s because I messed up mapping them from Disqus when I changed to WordPress), which is kind of sad because I really enjoyed writing some of those teaching ones. But it’s all because I didn’t promote my blog at all during those years.
I like to read travel posts of places I’ve already been. I love to see how different people feel about the cities I’ve loved. It’s interesting to see what does–and does not–make their lists of attractions. Otherwise, I feel the same as you. Too many travel posts sound like a guidebook, which is not what I want to read unless I’m planning a trip. That’s why I like Amanda’s (Rhyme & Ribbons) posts so much. She does so many cool things in London! And yeah, technically she’s not traveling since she lives there, but I don’t live there, so it reads like awesome travel posts to me.
Reshare your old posts!!! Do a round-up like this one. I often go through the archives when I find a new blogger I like, but it’s all luck what I come across. If you told me your favorite older posts, I’d totally read them.
I blush! Thank you so much! x
I happen to love travel posts, especially if it is somewhere I might travel one day!
I definitely have some posts that I really loved that got little attention. I have to keep in mind when I’m writing a post, that I’m writing it for myself and even if only 3 or 4 people comment on it, I’m proud of it! staying true to yourself is key, and i believe you’re doing just that! 🙂 Happy new year!!
I still have one more post to write about Salt Lake City, even if it won’t be popular. I had so much fun on that trip and did so much and took so many pictures. I just HAVE to share it all, regardless of page views.
You hit the nail on the head as to why I didn’t comment on the Republican/Libertarian post. I felt like a didn’t have a lot to add to the conversation as my own political leanings were different than the target audience.
I think this is a really interesting blog post idea; to break down why specific posts didn’t get comments. It’s interesting to what the variation can be ascribed to! x
Yeah, it was a pretty good guess considering how popular the other two posts were. I mean, my neutral-ish post on voting in the Midterm Elections was in my top 10! And the Democrat/Libertarian post had like twice the number of page views and very engaging comments.
While a lot of my posts I write for me, many of them I do write specifically for my audience. Keeping tabs on how to engage my readers helps me determine future content.
Love the idea for this post. Sometimes the ones we (as writers) put our heart and soul into get the least amount of love—tear. I’m going to go read (or maybe re-read) a few of these that looked interesting to me!
Hoot hoot to Kappa bloggers :]
😀