Can you believe that another year has drawn to a close and it is 2019 already? For the people and pets behind Pawsitively Intrepid, 2018 was a year full of big change and lots of outdoor adventures. We moved from La Crosse, WI to the Twin Cities of Minnesota, bought an RV and spent 3 months traveling to 36 national parks in it, Glia and I took our first solo overnight backpacking trip, and it was the last spring we shared with our cat, Frisko. This blog was also a big part of our 2018, so as we reflect on the experiences that made 2018 a great year, we have also been reflecting on this blogging journey.
Last year we shared the blog statistics for our first 6 months. This year we wanted to update you on our progress. As most of you know, this blog is created by me, Kate Pederson, DVM. I have no training in blogging, marketing, or website management. I am just a veterinarian with a passion for traveling and exploring the world with pets. Find out more about me and the pets that inspire this blog on our About page.
The statistics below are for the second year of my first blog. I have not yet invested funds into improvement for this blog and am utilizing all free resources (except for hosting fees). New blog posts are added at a frequency of approximately 1 post a week. So without further ado, here are some statistics.
Number of users and page views
Last year we shared our Google Analytics stats for key parameters like number of users and number of page views. This year, from Jan 2018 to mid December 2018, 1,750 users have been to this site, with 20.3% of them returning. These users have generated over 3,500 page views in about 2200 sessions.
Our overall numbers are low, so I find that it helps to review progress by comparing our stats to the previous year. Compared to last year (from July 2017 to December 2018), the numbers above represent a 490% increase in users and 320% increase in page views.
Since last year was a partial year, a direct comparison of traffic is a little more difficult. Comparing averages may be more accurate. This year averages out to about 150 users and 290 page views per month. Compared to 2017 averages of 50 users and 180 page views per month, we have increased users by 300% and page views by 160%. In 2019, our big focus will be on increasing traffic, with a goal of having 1000 users a month by December 2019.
Most Popular Posts
The top 5 most popular posts this year (with original posting dates in parentheses) were:
- 5 Best Dog Friendly Hiking Trails in La Crosse, WI (5/31/2017) – with 190 views
- Ruffwear Webmaster Harness Review (3/8/2018) – with 88 views
- Hixon Forest Gem of La Crosse (11/1/2017) – with 64 views
- La Crosse Blufflands Dog Friendly Hiking (2/22/2018) – with 52 views
- Goose Island: A Dog-Friendly County Park for Year Round Enjoyment (1/10/2018) – with 39 views
As many of you know, this year’s focus has been on national park adventures with the dogs. So how interested are our readers in these posts? Well remember, these posts are newer, but the top 3 highest ranking national parks posts are:
- Petrified National Park (8/8/2018) – with 28 views and and an overall rank of the 10th most popular post
- Hot Springs National Park (5/6/2018) – with 25 views and an overall rank of the 13th most popular post
- Guadalupe Mountains National Park (7/12/2018) – with 21 views and an overall rank of the 19th most popular post
The actual page, National Parks Adventures, has received 105 page views.
How many posts are there total? Pawsitively Intrepid has 67 blog posts available for readers to peruse. Just check out our Table of Contents for a complete listing. Of those posts, 34 were published in 2018. Typically one new blog post is added weekly, but we were unable to post weekly for the large majority of our 3 month RV trip to the national parks. (Internet service is hard to come by inside most national parks.)
You can find us on the following social media platforms:
Facebook: where we have over 50 followers. On this platform we post links to our latest posts. We also share more photos and information about our 3 month road trip to 37 national parks.
Twitter: where we have over 280 followers. Here we post links to blog posts, share tweets from other dog and cat related posts, and share some of our Instagram photos.
Instagram: where we have over 270 followers. Here we post our favorite photos, both from our national park road trip and our everyday hikes.
If you have read our 2018 New Year’s post, you know that we set the following goals last year. So how did we do?
#1: Focus Our Niche. This year we have focused largely on visiting national parks with pets. But we are also focusing our topics to include an emphasis on local hiking trails and gear reviews. Unfortunately, due to moving we have not been fostering cats and kittens this year, leading to a reduction in the number of cat-related topics. At this point, none of our most popular posts are cat related, but if any of you readers have specific cat related topics you would like to read more about, don’t hesitate to comment below. Or send an email with suggestions. It is always great to receive an email from a reader.
#2: Explore more of the great outdoors the US has to offer. I think we checked this resolution off pretty well. Just check out our national parks adventures page to find out more about our outdoor adventures in 2018.
#3: Continue to grow this blog. Specifically:
- Improving the photography for this site, which has been moderately successful.
- Creating a professional logo. This is still on the to-do list, although we have an amateur logo.
- Optimize SEO and site speed. The site speed is still about what is was last year, but more effort has been placed into optimizing SEO.
- And networking is always a work in progress.
Goals for 2019
- Learn how to utilize Pinterest. Many bloggers report Pinterest being their second biggest source of traffic (after searches on google).
- Increase traffic. We have set a goal of reaching 1000 site visitors a month by December 2019. Right now we receive between 200 and 300 visitors a month.
- And of course we are always aiming to deliver great content that provides values to our blog readers.
What would you like to see on this website for 2019? Send us your suggestions! And if you don’t want to miss a single blog post, subscribe to our email list.
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