Best of 2020 | Blogging Stats

Happy Wednesday, friends! I’m concluding my “Best of 2020” series with a look back on the blog in 2020. The only time I ever look at my blogging stats is to pull together some numbers for this post. For the most part, I don’t really pay attention to how many people are coming to my blog. I don’t feel any pressure to grow this space because it’s something I do purely for fun and pleasure, and I love the little community that’s here. 🙂 Most of this post is comprised of my favorite blog posts from the past month, but let’s start off with some numbers:

• Number of views: 40,228 (+4,263)
• Number of visitors: 12,516 (-36)
• Number of posts: 150 (+8)
• Number of subscribers: 160 (+10)

Top Posts from 2020

The following five posts were the most popular of the ones I published in 2020. I’m surprised that three of the five posts were published fairly recently!

1. Thirty-three. Apparently, you guys enjoy it when I write 1,800 words about myself! I was surprised to see that this post ended up being my most popular of 2020. I love writing my annual birthday post, reflecting on my year and what my life looks like at this point in time. I’m glad you guys enjoyed it, too!
2. Three Things Thursday (v. 3). Another surprise! I can’t believe this was my second-most viewed post for 2020. I typically don’t post on Thursdays (I stick to a M/W/F posting schedule) but maybe I’ll build in a few Three Things Thursday posts into my editorial calendar. (<– That sounds much fancier than my process, which is just randomly adding topics to my Google calendar, lol.)
3. Settling In. After my big move in September, I wrote this post detailing my move and how I’m settling into my new place. I also discussed how the cats handled the move. I love how excited you guys were for my move—almost as much as I was!
4. Stephany’s Christmas Wonderland. I had so much fun decorating my apartment for Christmas this year. With a bigger space, I was able to get a larger tree and had many more places to put decorations. I gave a little peek into my decorated home, which I dubbed “Stephany’s Christmas Wonderland,” right before Christmas.
5. My Christmas Wish List. Every year, I share my Christmas wish list and 2020 was no different. It’s always hard to make my wish list, as I’m at a point in my life where I can buy just about anything I want, but I can always find a few fun things to add to my list.

Top Posts of All Time

Not much changed in 2020 with my all-time most-viewed posts. These were the same posts that made the list last year, although “10 Things I Like About Myself” and “Rules for Living with a Dachshund” swapped places this year!

1. I’m 27 and Scared to Move Out, published Sept. 9th, 2015
2. On Being a Socially Anxious Introvert, published Feb. 12th, 2014
3. 10 Things I Like About Myself, published Mar. 26th, 2014
4. “What is meant for me is already mine.”, published May 24, 2016
5. Rules for Living with a Dachshund, published Jun. 18th, 2014

Other Favorite Posts

1. The Coronavirus Diaries. I started this series of posts in March, around the time I started working from home full-time. I recently read through these posts while compiling my month-by-month recap and was immediately brought back to the scary early days of the pandemic where everything was so uncertain and my anxiety was high. Oof.
2. Black Lives Matter: What I’m Reading and Recommending. After the murder of George Floyd that caused many white people to reckon with their privilege, I wrote this post about some of the books I want to read to educate myself on my own inherent biases as well as some books I’ve read about racial injustice that I recommend.
3. Seven Things I Learned During Poll Worker Training. After going through poll worker training, I wrote about my experience and everything I learned. There was so much about the polling process I didn’t know, like that you can request another ballot if you messed up on yours and the whole process of voting by provisional ballot.
4. My Experience as a Poll Worker During the 2020 General Election. I loved discussing my day as a poll worker during the 2020 general election! It was such a great experience and I couldn’t have asked for a better “first day on the job.”
5. What I’ve Learned After 18 Months of Regular Therapy. Oh, therapy. What a life-changer for me! Therapy grew me in ways I could not have predicted and gave me an entire toolkit to return to when my anxiety is high or I’m having obsessive thoughts. It helped me when I was actively in crisis and also helped me when I was not.

Blogging Goals for 2021

Last year, I set some small blogging goals and I achieved most of them. I updated my blog design, completed Week in the Life, wrote lots of personal essays, and connected with new people. I have two small blogging goals for 2021:

> Update my PHP. Every time I log into WordPress, it lets me know that I need to update my PHP. I tried to do it on my own, but apparently, I have to contact my blog host and it’s this whole entire thing that I don’t want to deal with. But I also don’t want to be running on an outdated version of PHP! So I need to figure this out.

> Respond to emails quicker. I am always so impressed by bloggers who respond quickly to emails. I am always behind, and there’s always a long list of emails in my inbox, just taunting me. I feel better when I respond quickly so I just need to make it more of a priority to not let emails languish in my inbox for days and days.