Talking about things like statistics and income is hard. Not only do you have to be transparent, but you also have to maintain a record over time to be able to write a summary. It's not compelling enough if you write about these things based on vibes and hunches alone.
Writing about my 2022 blog statistics last year was nerve-wracking but gave me a sense of pride. 2022 was the best year for my blog and I was happy to show it off.
I almost didn't write this post because my 2023 blog statistics don't look good compared to 2022. I feel like I failed the blog by not putting in enough effort. I meant to write this post but I procrastinated writing it for so long that I forgot about it. Seeing Sophia's 2023 blog statistics post jogged my memory and I decided to finally get to it.
It's not like my stats are so bad. They're pretty good. They pale in comparison only to the 2022 numbers. I want to record the summary and insights so that I can acknowledge it, ruminate over it for a while, and move on. I want to share it so that both of us can learn from my mistakes. Who knows, maybe you'll have insights to add that I missed.
2023 blog views
In 2023, this blog received 394,197 views. This is only about 50k less than 2022's total views. I was hoping to read 400k views but oh well. The number is close enough. Without comparing to 2022's number, almost 400k is a LOT. I am amazed that the blog held up pretty well with minimum attention from me.
In 2021 and 2022, I spent a lot of time blogging and improving my SEO. I actively researched keywords and wrote posts based on demand. None of that happened in 2023. I wrote when I got the mood and on whatever I was thinking about. I somehow managed to post twice a month throughout the year but it was irregular.
I usually see a spike in November/December and a dip in February/March (somehow people are on the internet more in those months, looking at recaps and resolutions and advice). So, when the numbers dipped in February and March, I didn't think much of it.
It continued to decline in small amounts which I attributed to my inconsistent posting. I signed up for SHE Media ads at the end of August in August. Usually, a direct correlation between my actions and stats shows in 1-2 months. When my stats dipped more than usual in October, I knew the cause. There was a slight uptick again due to the season in December but it was less than what I expected.
Overall, I'm not happy with 2023's views because they clearly show that I wasn't being intentional about my blogging and wasn't consistent. But oh well, what can you do? There's no way I can blog like how I used to during the pandemic.
However, I'm not too disappointed. Mainly because I tried the SEO thing and I'm not interested in doing it anymore. It was good until I had new things to learn and then got boring.
When I started getting back my blogging flow after a year at the end of 2023, I decided to think about my interests first and what people wanted to read later. I accepted that it's going to probably cause my stats to dip even further and that's okay. As long as I'm having fun and not blogging aimlessly, I'll be happy.
sources of traffic
My blog's sources of traffic stayed pretty much the same as it was previously. Few traffic sources are interesting developments and one source still dominates my numbers.
As you can see, search engines contributed to 70% of my total traffic. It's surprisingly almost 10% less until you see the indirect sources. For example, the last 3 which are blogs and Wikipedia. They get their traffic from search engines and have a link to my posts so a few users reach my site through them.
Traffic from Pinterest has increased significantly. It looks like the time I spent on Pinterest in 2022 showed up after a while. In 2023, I got 6.7k referrals from the site and it increased to almost 30k in 2023. It helped my blog's numbers stay consistent when traffic from regular search engines went down.
I love how more blogs are getting a good share of traffic from search engines. 2 blogs are in my top 13 traffic sources! Assuming that only 1-2% of people click through to my site, their blogs must be very popular.
My most proud moment of 2023 was getting linked on Wikipedia. I know that anyone can edit and update Wikipedia but I didn't consider my posts worthy enough of being linked on such an official and informational site. Someone has linked my review of Falling Into Your Smile on the main actor's Wikipedia page as a reference in his Filmography section. I didn't think that people would read link number 79 but some do haha.
A couple of random traffic sources are Microsoft Teams and Asana. Are people sharing my blog in their work chats? Is it happening in MY office?? A little flabbergasted haha. But then, recently, a colleague said how she was wandering through my blog and liked my post on my PKM for work and I blanked out. I shared my posts on social media but didn't think my friends and colleagues read them.
Speaking of social media, my traffic from them has reduced. Twitter became so hostile to my links that I eventually stopped sharing regularly over there. In 2022, this blog had 2k Twitter referrals and it reduced to around 400 in 2023. Instagram referrals have stayed the same despite me not being active on the app at all for 6 months other than sharing posts sometimes. The blog is still getting a few referrals from Facebook even though I'm not on there at all, so I'm assuming people are sharing my posts there.
Towards the bottom of the referrals list, there are a ton of .xyz sites that are referring to my site. They look like spam and I'm not sure whether I can do something about them. I didn't notice them until now because each site sent only one referral but there are about 30 of them. I'll see if I can block them if I see them pop up again.
best-performing posts
Although I posted 30 times in 2023, none of them were in my top 30 posts of the year. Search engines contribute to most of my traffic and the posts that did well in search engines were older posts. Even though the traffic was reduced for them, their numbers far outweighed the new posts.
Considering views as the indicator for best-performing posts, here are my top 10 pages/posts in 2022:
The above list is very similar to the 2022 list. Only the two Kdrama review posts are new. This shows just how valuable listicles are. I haven't made book list posts in almost 2 years but whatever I made earlier is still contributing significantly to my blog's traffic.
If I expand the list and search for posts that were published in 2023, my review of Love to Hate You Kdrama shows up first with a total of 1894 views. The second is my completely rewritten Blogging Journey post at 1397 views.
My 2023 posts didn't do well for multiple reasons. The main factor is the kind of posts that they were. 12/30 posts were monthly reading wrap-ups and a few were discussion posts that won't get search traffic. Only a few posts garnered notable search engine traffic but they also didn't get much.
I completely stopped doing SEO research and looking at trends. I wrote and reviewed what I was interested in. I didn't write even one listicle.
In 2023, my reading and blogging preferences were changing. I'm still not fully sure where I stand and what my new sweet spot is (it used to be romance listicles). It will take time for me to find a new category that I'm passionate about, can write a lot about, and will do well. Maybe I won't find it at all.
There's a clear difference between my posts of 2022 and 2023. Maybe if I had stuck to romance and listicles, my blog would have done much better. As it stands, my older posts are making sure my blog doesn't sink showing the power of SEO and evergreen posts.
audience
I've always been interested in where my readers are located. Despite being an Indian blogger, most of my audience is from the US. The second top location is India but the difference in number is significant.
I spoke about this in my 2022 blog statistics post to start a conversation about it. I had a few conversations in the comments which made me realize that most blogs have similar audiences. Sophia shared her audience location statistics recently and it looks so similar to my world map.
Why are most blog readers from the United States? If it is only because they're a first-world country, why are the UK, Canada, and Australia lower on the list? How are India, Phillippines, and Malaysia homes to many readers and not other Asian countries? I have so many questions.
I am wondering if the reason the numbers for the US are so skewed is that many readers use VPNs. When people use VPNs around the world, their location gets set to the US by default and many might keep it so intentionally as well, to access different kinds of information. It's a thought.
The only difference between my 2022 and 2023 lists is the country at #9. It was Singapore in 2022 and Nigeria in 2023. All of the other positions are the same.
This blog hosted readers from a total of 222 countries in 2023. It's not far from 2022's number of 221 countries. It's wild that I'm able to reach people across the world by writing about my passions at home.
engagement
My engagement did not drastically increase or decrease in 2023. We know that while search engines can lead to increased traffic, it doesn't necessarily convert to engagement. The number of views isn't proportional to the number of subscribers, likes, or comments.
At the beginning of 2023, this blog had 2647 subscribers. At the end of 2023, it had 2657 subscribers. That's an increase of just 10 subscribers.
My engagement numbers are usually proportional to the quantity of my posts. If I post more, I get more likes and comments, and vice versa. In 2023, I posted lesser so my engagement numbers are also lesser.
In 2022, this blog had 730 comments with 39 new posts. In 2023, it reduced to 554 comments due to only 30 posts. I will say that the post type also matters because certain posts invite more comments and I didn't write many of those in 2023.
My engagement also decreased because I blog hopped less in 2023. Although I try to make an effort to visit other blogs and engage, it isn't easy with a busy life. As my engagement on other blogs reduced, so did the engagement on my blog. Sometimes, you have to go over to other blogs and make your presence known so that they come over to your blog haha. (At least, I need it sometimes because I'm unable to keep track of all the blogs I like.)
The top two posts engagement-wise were (I think):
- Two Years of TWH dot com - in which I celebrated 2 years of being self-hosted, what the 2 years were like, and spoke about revamping the blog to a new look.
- How I Acquire Books - this was more of a discussion post that somehow did really well. I was surprised by the amount of engagement this got. Looks like people were quite curious about this haha.
Most of my comments were from my friends and subscribers. I don't think my engagement numbers would have been anything significant if my blogger friends hadn't made an effort to like and comment. As about half of my posts were either wrap-ups or personal posts, there was no chance of them receiving engagement from search engines and only relied on existing subscribers.
I also noticed a slight uptick in my engagement whenever I'd promote my blog posts in my newsletters. A bunch of my newsletter subscribers came through search engines and only subscribed to access my resource library for add-ons from my most popular posts. I didn't notice it initially but once I figured out that I should promote my blog posts there, I started to do it.
However, my blog stopped receiving as much traffic from social media because I stopped using it halfway through the year. I uninstalled Instagram and Twitter from my phone and only promoted my blog posts there on random days. I stopped making regular content on there as well. Hence, my engagement went down as people who used to come through those apps didn't see me anymore.
endnotes
While I'm all about being transparent about statistics, this post was a little hard to write. Mostly because I was highly uninspired and unmotivated in 2023 which shows in my stats. I also didn't notice patterns as much because I wasn't looking at stats. Some days, I forgot that I had a blog at all. My personal monthly blog notes show that. (You can get my template in the resource library btw!)
The main thing that I realized in 2023 was that nothing can beat having friends who consistently support you. A big shoutout to my online and offline friends who read my posts whether they were interested in the topic or not.
Having a lot of views may or may not give happiness but each comment that I receive is a shot of serotonin. I may take time to respond to comments because I want to respond properly but I appreciate every single thought on my posts. I especially love the essay comments that my close friends write 🫶
The main reason why I'm back to blogging in full force this year is because no matter how little I posted, my content received a warm welcome every time. It made me want to share more. It's also motivating to see other bloggers continuing to post years into their blogging journey.
While the 2023 numbers were disappointing, I was most disappointed with the effort I put into it. I'm trying to change that this year. Whether my 2024 stats are good or not, I hope to be content with my work on the blog.
To see more blogs' statistics: do check out Kal's and Sophia's stats posts!
If you liked this post, you can buy me a coffee to make my day! ☕️
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How was your 2023? Were you happy with what you created? What did your blog stats look like? Do you have insights to add to what I mentioned above? If you've made a 2023 blog statistics post, do share it in the comments!
Sumedha spends her days reading books, bingeing Kdramas, drawing illustrations, and blogging while listening to Lo-Fi music. Read more ➔
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Stats is such an interesting thing to dissect and discuss because mere numbers can hold so much power over us. I definitely think you're onto something with the whole VPN thing though with regards to US stats being as high. My 2023 stats were good not as good as 2022 but the difference isn't as huge as I feared. I'm lowkey working on my stats post though to hopefully get it up sometime thing year. It's time to dust the cobwebs off my old stats and last years and deep dive into them.
I think for me it's going to be super interesting seeing how my stats look at the end of this year as I've begun to build up more of an archive of content again on my blog. Although I'm definitely not promoting it as much as I probably could, I'm ok with that and I'll share it when I have the energy to. Always look forward to your posts Sumedha! 💜
It is interesting to talk about statistics openly, mostly because it can affect our relationships with our blogs so much. It can be easy for them to overshadow our enjoyment, but at the same time healthy to maximise their potential by sharing tips. It is a confidence boost, to have good stats, but like you say it is those thoughtful comments that give you the biggest smile!
Whilst my blog doesn't operate on your scale, I noticed some patterns with US being my biggest audience and the drop in stats in March every year.
My 2023 stats were lower than my 2022 ones, it can make you feel a little disheartened as it feels like the opposite of progress, but I am also happier making the content I want to make without necessary thinking of audience first.
I really appreciate you sharing your open thoughts about your stats and I wish you luck for 2024, for making the content you want to make and being happy with your relationship to your blog.
Once again, thank you for the transparency! 🩷
i'm glad you liked the post, Sophie! comments like yours make writing these posts worth it <3
I think it's great that you have chosen to focus on writing content that you are interested in - good for you! It's always good to prioritise your enjoyment from your hobbies, rather than meeting others' expectations. Thank you for making this post! I find it so interesting and helpful to see how other people's blogs are doing. I appreciate how you break your stats down and explain possible causes for certain trends - it really helps a small blogger like me learn something and have an opportunity to grow.
thank you, Aelyn! i'm glad that this post was helpful 🙂
Yay, another stats post! Honestly, you could keep writing these forever and my nosy self would still be as fascinated as the first time... 😂🤩
Also, I don't think you have anything to feel bad about, even if your 2022 posts did "better". I mean, your numbers are still incredible - just for comparison, I had 64,828 views in 2023 😉 - and, at least for me, it also isn't the numbers that make blogging truly meaningful. If you're writing content that YOU think is interesting and that is creating fulfilling discussions with your audience, does it really matter if one person or thousands read it? (In fact, I've sneakily been kind of relieved that my many spontaneous hiatuses have lowered my stats to the point that I can write monsterous comments in response to everyone quite easily without feeling overwhelmed... 😎) And, I mean, getting a link on Wikipedia alone is quite the achievement! 🥳😂
I also truly admire you for staying so calm in the face of your colleagues reading your posts - that would be my worst nightmare! My colleagues are not allowed to know that my blog exists, so hopefully, it will never gain the type of popularity that will put it on their radar...
It's also cool that you're able to see direct effects of changes you've made to your blog on your stats - looking at correlations between ads or the types of content you post and viewership is so satisfying to my mathy brain! 🥰 I must say, I actually really love your more personal life reminiscing wrap-ups we've been getting, but I do get the annoyance surrounding ads a bit. Like, I've noticed that your site in particular likes to bombard me with pop-up videos that just don't seem to like being clicked away and cover a significant portion of the text whenever I visit your blog on my phone... I'm willing to put up with them for the sake of getting your content, but I guess I see how some people might want to avoid them?
Finally, I loved the updated audience by country map! 🤗 I found it fascinating that although our top three are the same, it looks a little different after that - several European countries are a bit ahead of Canada for me, and my distribution across the remaing countries is actually fairly even, disregarding obvious exceptions like North Korea, Yemen, or China, where internet access is either strictly regulated or not a priority. Now I'm wondering what's responsible for those slight fluctuations! Although, even without the added VPNs - I use one, too, so you're probably not wrong about them - it doesn't surprise me at all that the US so vastly dominates all charts. Whenever I visited the country or spent time with Americans, it always struck me how INSANELY important their online presence is to them. Like, while having regular Instagram stories is an exception here in Germany, I feel like my American friends are documenting their entire life online and just generally want to discuss everything they encounter on the internet? So maybe it makes sense they'd read blogs more, too?
Anyway, that's just my two cents on this - thanks so much for being so open about your stats!
haha then i can be sure that if for no one else, i can write them for you!
i'm getting to the point where i'm kinda ignoring my stats to focus on what i WANT to talk about instead and it's a good journey. who knows what my blog will look like in a year but i'm here for it.
oh when i hear that my colleagues read my blog, my mind immediately tries to remember if i wrote something that i don't want them to know 😂 but tbh, most colleagues ask me what i blog about and lose interest when i say it's about books soooo it's fine. literally today, the conversation went there and continued to how my colleagues cannot read books and isn't their thing. (i may have also intentionally said that i don't write about my life lol)
i finally got rid of the mobile ads! it was annoying me as well and i wrote a proper email with feedback and asked the ad provider to remove it and they didn't even try to convince me otherwise.
"I feel like my American friends are documenting their entire life online and just generally want to discuss everything they encounter on the internet? So maybe it makes sense they'd read blogs more, too?" ohhh i didn't think about this. tbh i see Indians (my friends etc.) documenting a lot of their lives online too but the medium and way of doing it is definitely different. we prefer using less words and just posting random photos to brag about our lives 😂
My 2023 was not great and so far 2024 isn't either! With two young kids at home I'm struggling to write regularly but seeing you post about things you're passionate about is inspiring! I'm hoping to get back to it soon. Thanks for sharing your statistics! I know it's a hard thing to do. And do keep up your writing - I really enjoy the blog. Sending love from Canada.
i'm glad to hear that! i hope you're able to find at least bits of time to blog in the midst of everything. however, it's totally alright if you let it go to focus on more important things.
thank you!