2017 flew by!

I didn't even notice how the end of the year came because so many things happened last year in my professional and personal life such as getting my dream promotion at HubSpot, signing a book contract with Wiley about Inbound PR, snorkeling in Iceland in January, seinig a leopard in South Africa, learning to make sushi, making a ton of new friends and in total, checking in at Dublin Airport 15 times  to make trips.

When reflecting on my year, my blog is an important piece to think about as well because it's a big part of my life. It's now been 6 years since I started it and I've been publishing a new post at least once a week every week ever since.

It was this blog that led to my book so I'd like to show you the most popular blog posts of 2017 as well as a few charts around traffic performance and online sources. 

The Most Popular Blog Posts on Iliyana's Blog Published in 2017

1. 5 Effective Business Storytelling Techniques You Need to Try Now
2. The 2017 Visual Content Marketing Statistics You Can't Miss
3. Where PR Should Go Next - Is It Really Just About Technology?
4. My Time Management Secrets that'll Boost Your Productivity
5. Why PR Needs Inbound PR to Stay Relevant
6. Outbound vs. Inbound PR: Why We Need a Mindset Change
7. Why Work in PR: Advice from the Pros – Interview with Alex May
8. The 3 Pillars of Customer Delight for Agencies (And Not Only)
9. How to Find Micro-Influencers (And Why You Need Them)
10. Buyer Persona, Buyer's Journey and Content Plan Template

The Most Popular Blog Posts on Iliyana's Blog Read in 2017 Published Whenever

1. 10 Public Relations Dissertation Topics - 13,560 views, published in 2015
2. The 4 Key Emotional Intelligence Capabilities [Infographic] - 12,340 views, published in 2016
3. How to Win and Influence People [Infographic] -  11,000 views, published in 2014
4. How to be an Effective Leader [Infographic] - 10,800 views, published in 2015
5. Why Do I Want to Work in PR? - 6,500 views, published in 2012
6. Mastering Emotional Intelligence with 17 Simple Exercises - 5,400 views, published in 2016
7. What my PR Internship Taught me: 10 Pieces of Advice for Future Interns (and not only) - 4,000 views, published in 2013
8. The 7 Best Storytelling Infographics You Need to Check Out Now - 2,080 views, published in 2015
9. Making Profits is the Only Reason Why Businesses Exist, Or Is It? - 1,600 views, published in 2012
10. 31 Influencer Marketing Statistics You Need to Know Now - 1,300 views, published in 2016

I think my big key learning here and also big advice to you is to start making infographics. You'll see this below as well from my traffic sources report that they're truly evergreen.

Top Traffic Sources for 2017:

1. Organic Search - 40K
2. Direct Traffic - 33K
3. Social Meda - 28K (Pinterest 22K, 3K Twitter, 1K LinkedIn)

Now, one thing I can't figure out is the spike in Direct Traffic in November that happened all of a sudden. If anyone has thoughts, let me know. 

In 2018, I'll be focusing on creating a ton of content, specifically infographics, videos and slide decks, about Inbound PR because the book is coming out in April. 

In addition, I'll be digging into project and program management as well as internal PR and stakeholder management because this is what my current job is all about and as you know, everything I learn and do I share it with you here. 

What worked well on your blogs in 2017?