Thursday, January 11, 2018

IT’S MY BLOGIVERSARY ~ WHAT’S HAPPENED IN THE PAST 8 YEARS ON MY BLOG?

HAPPY 8TH BLOGIVERSARY

I can’t believe it’s been 8 years since I decided to start a blog. I honestly had no idea who would ever read it.  I’d never had a web page or authored anything, up to that point.  But, I’d read other blogs and I like the idea of sharing family stories in a format that others could access.  More than names and dates, actual stories about their lives.

This is a time when we, as bloggers, can look back on our accomplishments.   

Here is the text from that first blog post on January 12, 2010.

Blogging about family research - Day 1

I have just created this blog as a way to try and connect with more family members. I have been researching my family, including my husband's family, for over 5 years. I've never had a blog before so this will be a learning experience.

Here are some of the surnames that I am researching. This is not a complete list, but includes some of the primary names: Boggs, Bowen, Bowden, Bright, Fink, Frampton, Gillen, Goodbody, Gould, Hall, Hart, Hunter, Lindsay, Milne & Thorp

I hope that this will be a way to share this incredible journey. I currently live in southern California, although I was born in Michigan. My parents and grandparents and many other family members were born in Michigan and many still live there. There are also family connections in many other states.

Stay tuned and let's see how this blog thing works.

Til next time,

Michigan Girl

How did I do that first year?  I wrote 5 posts.  I had few, if any readers.  What about the following couple of years?

2011 – I didn’t write a single post

2012 – Decided I’d pick it up again and give it a try.  I produced 16 posts that year.  Again, not many readers (judged by the views) that Blogger keeps track of for us.

2013 – I started out slow and only wrote 4 posts between January and September.  But, then in October I decided that if I was going to do this, I needed to give it every chance to succeed.  By the end of 2013, I’d written 44 posts. That means that in October, November and December I managed to write 40 posts.

In the years since that first post in 2010, I’d been reading a lot of other blogs and I’d learned a thing or two.

  • Make your content interesting and give the readers a reason to come back
  • Use images in every post – many people are visual, I know I am
  • Promote your blog on some of the social media platforms like Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter
  • Be consistent.  Don’t go a month without publishing something.
  • Read other bloggers posts and comment on them.  They appreciate it and they will, in turn, read your posts.
  • Share research tips frequently – this has been very appreciated by my readers

From 2010-2013 I wrote a total of 66 posts. 

From 2014 through 2017 I have written 377 posts.  That’s an average of 7 per month.

I’m so grateful for the faithful readers that follow my blog.  I love reading their comments and I reply to each and every one.  To this date I have had 1480 published comments!

My total pageviews “all time” is 445,439. 

What are my most viewed posts of all time?  I don’t know, so let’s find out.

ADDING SIBLING LINKS TO FINDAGRAVE – 18,134

DIGITAL FOLDER ORGANIZING & NAMING MADE EASY – 16,743

TUESDAY’S TIP – HOW TO DETERMINE WHICH WAR YOUR ANCESTOR MAY HAVE PARTICIPATED IN – 5,326

MICHIGAN DEATH RECORDS ONLINE – WHERE CAN YOU FIND THEM – 3,328

A CHECK BOX ON ANCESTRY AND HOW I FINALLY LOCATED THE 1870 CENSUS FOR MY 3rd GREAT GRANDPARENTS – 2,847

Those are the TOP 5 with many others in the 2,000 – 2800 pageview range.

I’ve had the opportunity to meet many other bloggers and I can easily say, it’s a wonderful community of people.  We meet up at conferences and seminars and hang out together.  We have a Facebook group where we share ideas with each other.  I completely appreciate when one of my fellow bloggers or a reader points out a typo or some other error in one of my posts. 

Blogging has made me a better researcher.  How?  Because when I am writing something I want to have as many facts as possible and I want them to be correct.  Therefore, it’s caused me to dig deeper and look harder.  You can’t imagine the things I’ve found just because I decided to write about a particular ancestor.

I hope that I can continue to write posts that will be helpful to others and allow me to connect with the many cousins out there.

Here’s to a great 2018!

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

16 comments:

  1. Diane, Happy 8th blogiversary! I enjoy your blog, and like you, I think it's terrific when comments are posted. We bloggers need to be doing more of that.

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    1. Thanks Linda. I appreciate your comment. I agree that we need to be sure and support one another.

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  2. Great post! Happy blogiversary! Both my parents were born in Michigan as well as my brother. Although you and I don't share Michiganders in common, I get what it is to be a Michigan girl.

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    1. Thank you. I think it's something in the blood, because I feel such a connection to Michigan.

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  3. Happy Blogiversary - keep up the good work!

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  4. Congratulations on 8 years, Diane. It's an accomplishment to keep blogging when we think no one is reading, especially in the early years, and even more of an accomplishment to continue for 8 years. Here's to many more years of your wonderful blog!

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    1. It certainly proves that we should never give up Nancy. I think one of the keys to finding an audience is making sure we are connected on social media. I belong to many Facebook groups that are specific to certain areas and/or topics.
      Thanks for stopping by.

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  5. Happy 8th Blogiversary, Michigan Girl! I find it amazing your post from 2018 made the TOP 5 all time list. The others have had time become evergreens while #5 is NEW and has had only a few days to collect the views. You've already made a good start into a great 2018!

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    1. I thought the same thing Cathy. It was quite a surprise to find that recent post in the top 5. Well, here's to another year for both of us. May the good stories and great finds continue. Thanks for always reading my blog and for leaving so many comments. I can't tell you how much that means to me.

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  6. Diane, Happy 8th blogiversary!!! That's a LONG time in the blogging world. I appreciate your sharing your "slow" start as that is kind of the path I've taken, too. I hope I am at it to stay now!

    And, I totally agree about blogging making me a better researcher. I HAVE to dig deeper to create my posts and make sure I'm telling true stories.

    Thanks for blogging!

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    1. Thanks Dana. If my slow start encourages other bloggers to hang in there, then it's worth mentioning. I truly didn't have a clue when I started. Didn't know what I would say or how I would say it. Much less who in the world would read any of it. I look forward to your future blogs.

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    1. Jana - a good portion of my success as a blogger has been the generosity of fellow bloggers, like you. Thank you for featuring my blog in your Friday Finds on so many occasions. I know my readership increased due to those mentions in your blog.

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    2. Thanks Jana. Much of my success can be attributed to fellow bloggers, like you. Featuring my blog posts in your Friday Finds increased my exposure and readership, and for that, I cannot thank you enough.

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  8. I love this post! Your numbers are impressive. Happy Blogiversary!

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I look forward to reading your comments. If you have any connection to the people mentioned in this blog, please let me know. I write about mine and my husband's ancestors and would welcome new information or meeting a new cousin or two. Thanks for visiting and come back soon.