With the advent of the
New Year it’s time to have a look back at what’s happened and what we’ve learned during the previous year. I started this blog two years ago and it’s important for me to reflect on its performance in 2013 and make a comparison with 2012. Only so will I be able to see what’s worked and what hasn’t, what you’ve liked and read the most and so this will allow me to focus exactly on that content that you, my readers, are most interested in.
2013 was the year of many firsts in my life – many of those events I’ve shared with you here:
- I graduated with a Double Degree Bachelor in International Business, having submitted my second dissertation about social media for sustainability communications.
- I started my first full-time job as a Social Media Account Manager at Brandzeichen – a Communications Consultancy in Düsseldorf, part of the Ketchum network.
- I published my first book, and then my second too, only at the age of 23.
- I was mentioned in the bestselling PR and social media book Share This Too as the only woman among the five students listed as early social media adopters and pioneers in “making a name for themselves and kick-starting their careers through blogging and other forms of media.”
- I created yet another infographic, and then another one, which I am very proud of as I have so managed to improve my skills in developing visual content.
- I had the first contributed post published on my blog after my Google Page Rank jumped up significantly – this is, I think, the first step towards monetising the blog.
At the end of my first year of bloggingI made a promise to publish more content and do so more often. I have managed to keep that promise having posted 72 blog articles in comparison to 48 in 2012. However, I wish I could have written more as I’ve had so many ideas. 2013 was indeed hectic, so I hope that in 2014 I’ll be able to find more time to write and offer you some more infographics and interesting visuals or videos.
I regularly check my Google Analytics to learn more about you and what you like, so reflecting back on the content that I’ve published in 2013, here are the top 10 posts:
- The Most Successful PR Campaign of 2012
- 20 Remarkable Quotes from Brian Solis
- Becoming a Truly Sustainable Fashion Brand: Learning from H&M
- What my PR Internship Taught me: 10 Pieces of Advice for Future Interns (and not only)
- The Power of Social Media as a Communications Channel for Creating Business Sustainability Value: a Support Tool or Menace?
- Why do I want to work in PR [2013 edition]
- The Impact of Social Media on the PR Industry – an Interview with Rob Brown
- Being LinkedIn Savvy in 2013 [Infographic]
- 22 Exceptional Quotes about the Future of Business by Brian Solis
- The Impact of Social Media on the PR Industry – an Interview with Shelley Fletcher-Bryant
I’m glad to see that three of the most read blog posts are about the two researches I conducted for my two dissertations. Also, sustainability is a topic I started talking about in 2013 and this list just proves that there is significant interest in the subject. Furthermore, I am very happy about how my LinkedIn infographic has performed – it’s been shared 420 times on Pinterest just directly from my blog.
Something else I find really exciting is how my blog visitors came from all over the world:
- United States
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- Australia
- India
- Canada
- Singapore
- Bulgaria
- Malaysia
- Netherlands
- Philippines
- South Africa
- Hong Kong
- Vietnam
- Ireland
- Russia
- Turkey
- United Arab Emirates
- Ukraine
- Italy
Interestingly, more males read my blog, accounting for 54.15% of my total readers.
The majority of visitors find my blog on search engines; however social networks have also brought a significant number of readers with Facebook accounting for the largest number of social referrals, followed respectively by Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+.
2013 was a memorable year, with lots of challenges and amazing experiences. My biggest wish for 2014 is to significantly advance in my career, which in turn also means to further develop and grow this blog. I hope you will be here, following my musings. :)
