Thursday, April 4, 2013

It's My 1st Blogiversary!

Slice of Birthday Cake with Candle - from Microsoft Office free images

It's time to celebrate!  Let's bring out the cake and ice cream and light the birthday candle!  My blog is turning one year old tomorrow, April 5, 2013. I would have posted this one-year anniversary post on my actual blogiversary, but I already have my weekly Fab Finds post scheduled for that day. So, I'll just celebrate a day early!

Has it really been one year since I started this blog? I can't believe it! Where did the time go?


First of all, I want to thank all of you, my wonderful readers and fellow genealogy bloggers, for your kindness and support.  It can be a scary and intimidating thing to start a blog and "put yourself out there" on the web.  But you've been so very welcoming and supportive and I want to thank you for that.

And I would be remiss if I didn't give a huge thank-you to Thomas MacEntee at GeneaBloggers.  He is a wonderful mentor and advocate for genealogy bloggers everywhere.  Thank you Thomas for creating GeneaBloggers.  It's such a friendly, supportive and welcoming community.

In the past, I've seen other genealogy bloggers share their blog stats on their own blogiversaries.  I thought I'd do that as well.  It's interesting to analyze the blog stats, although I don't know just how accurate they really are when I take into account possible spam hits to my blog posts.


Nevertheless, the stats will hopefully give a pretty good overall picture about my blog and what my readers have enjoyed reading.

I compared my Blogger stats with my Feedburner stats and they are not the same.  And I'm not sure why.

According to Blogger, my top ten most popular posts are as follows:

  1. Follow Friday–Fab Finds for December 28, 2012
  2. Follow Friday–Fab Finds for January 18, 2013
  3. Follow Friday–Fab Finds for September 14, 2012
  4. Follow Friday–Fab Finds for March 29, 2013
  5. Thanks for Traveling Frederick! - U.S. Consular Registration Application ~ 1917
  6. Tech Tuesday - OneNote For Genealogy ~ Research Bookmarks
  7. Follow Friday–Fab Finds for February 1, 2013
  8. Follow Friday–Fab Finds for March 22, 2013
  9. Ancestor Landing Page ~ Debs Webster Family Immigration Story
  10. Treasure Chest Thursday–The Big Reveal ~ What's In The Old Metal Tube?

According to Feedburner, these are my top ten posts:
  1. Follow Friday–Fab Finds for March 22, 2013
  2. Will You Be Watching?
  3. My 4th Great-Grandfather's Signature on a Revolutionary War Document ~ Dated August 23, 1776
  4. I've Changed My Mind
  5. Tech Tuesday - OneNote For Genealogy ~ Research Bookmarks
  6. Tuesday’s Tip ~ Three Awesome Websites for Genealogy…Found on Pinterest!
  7. Follow Friday–Fab Finds for January 4, 2013
  8. Military Monday ~ Revolutionary War Surgeon: Luther Waterman
  9. Tech Tuesday ~ Watermarked Photos
  10. Follow Friday–Fab Finds for November 23, 2012


In the Blogger stats, my Fab Finds posts dominate the top 10 spots, but in Feedburner, they don't.  I wonder which one is more accurate.

Something else I found to be quite interesting were the referrals.  Here's a sample from Feedburner:



Feedburner Referrer Stats for Follow Friday Post as of April 3, 2013 Cropped


See what's at the top of the list?  Yep, RebelMouse!  What a surprise!  And RebelMouse was the #1 referrer in eight of my top ten popular posts in Feedburner's list.  RebelMouse was the #3 referrer for the other two posts.  Wow!  I have to admit to being quite shocked at this finding, especially since I've only been using RebelMouse for a short time.

Here's what Blogger shows as my top ten referring URLs and referring sites:


Blogger Referring URLs as of April 3, 2013 Cropped


Again, I don't know why these are different from Feedburner.

It looks like GeneaBloggers, Sepia Saturday, Genea-Musings, Twitter, and Facebook are in the top ten list of my referring URLs and referring sites in Blogger's list.  Thank you
Thomas MacEntee at GeneaBloggers, Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings, Sepia Saturday bloggers, and all of those who have used Facebook or Twitter to access my blog!

Okay, enough with the stats…let's have some cake!  But, before we dig in, I want to thank you all again for taking the time to read my blog this past year.  And thank you to those who've left comments, "liked" my blog posts on Facebook, "+1'd" them on Google+, retweeted them on Twitter, or shared them through any other social media platform.  You guys are awesome!


Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last

48 comments:

  1. Congratulations! Here's to many more. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's hard to believe it's been only a year - you've done so much with your wonderful blog that it seems as though it's been around much longer than that! Happy Blogiversary, Jana! "Ad multos annos!"

    ReplyDelete
  3. Happy Blogiversary! Amazing that it has only been a year. Looking forward to reading more of your posts for years to come.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations, I've just realised I passed mine on the 26th March with out realiseing. My first blog was this
    http://spuduka.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/pillboxes-along-thames.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Bill,

      Thanks! And Happy Blogiversary to you too!

      Delete
  5. Happy Blogiversary Jana! I hope I am not offending you but it seems you are around so much longer already! In any case, keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Peter,

      Thank you! And no, no offense taken at all. I take your comment as a compliment. :) Thank you again!

      Delete
  6. Happy blogiversary, Jana! It's okay to celebrate a day early.

    I agree with Peter: it seems like your blog has been around longer. I think it's because you hit the GeneaBlogging world by storm! You were off to a promising start from Day One!

    Congratulations on your first year. Here's to many more!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jacqi,

      Why thank you so much! Coming from you, this is a real compliment. Your blog is so wonderful and I love your writing style. Thanks again!

      Delete
  7. Congratulations, Jana! We have been in this together right from the start.... I just looked and my 1st anniversary is today. You have made an impact in the community in a short time and I know we all thank you for your efforts. Onward!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kathy,

      Aw, thank you so much! I love your blog. And I won't wish you a Happy Blogiversary quite yet since I read your follow-up comment below. =)

      Delete
  8. Jana! I lied in my comment above! I did indeed start writing my blog posts today, but was too afraid to hit publish until the 21st. I still have time to write myself a birthday post. I knew I shouldn't have commented without a proper night's sleep! It has been fun following you the past year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kathy,

      Ha! You're so funny! And I do understand the apprehension that goes along with hitting that publish button for the first time. Here's an early Happy Blogiversary to you and your wonderful blog!

      Delete
  9. Congratulations on turning one, Jana. I think you've taken the geneabloggers community by storm! It seems like you've been with us for longer than just one year, which is a very good thing. I'm wishing you many more wonderful years of geneablogging!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Nancy,

      Thank you very much for your kind wishes and comments! You're so very sweet!

      Delete
  10. Jana, Congratulations on your 1st blogiversary. We are so lucky to have you as a contributor and a reader. I also thought you had been around a bit longer, but I knew you hadn't aged. Enjoy your cake!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Barbara,

      Aw, you're so sweet! Thank you very much! And let's all enjoy some "virtual cake" together. =)

      Delete
  11. Congratulations on a fab first year, Jana! Like everyone else, I just assumed you've been around longer. You must be a natural! I'm looking forward to reading and following you through the coming year and beyond.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Shelley,

      Thank you very much! I so appreciate your kind comments!

      Delete
  12. I'm in the "can't believe you haven't been around longer" camp. But I'm so glad you are here! Thanks for your help and congrats on a big milestone!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Then I guess we've been blogging buddies for about a year. Happy Blogiversary! Looking forward to many more!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Wendy,

      Yep, that's right! We've been blogging buddies for a year now. And I really do appreciate your friendship and support throughout the year.

      Thanks for the blogiversary wishes Wendy!

      Delete
  14. Happy Blogiversary, Jana! I have enjoyed your blog so much during the past year. Thank you for sharing yourself with us. (And thank you for your kind words for my blogiversary!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lisa,

      You're so sweet! Thank you very much for your kind comments and blogiversary wishes.

      Delete
  15. Happy Blog Anniversary! Many you have many happy posts ahead!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Colleen,

      Thank you very much for your kind blogiversary wishes!

      Delete
  16. Congratulations, Jana, on a great first year of blogging. I look forward to reading more of your posts.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Happy blogiversary and many, many more! I always enjoy reading your posts. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Marian,

      Aw, thank you so much for your very kind blogiversary wishes and comments!

      Delete
  18. I can't believe it's already been a year! Happy One Year to you! May there be many more to follow full of fantastic finds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Cindy,

      I know! How did this year go by so fast? Thank you so much for your sweet blogiversary wishes! Love you guys!

      Delete
  19. Congratulations, Jana! You've accomplished a lot in a year! I love your blog!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Smadar,

      Thank you! You're so sweet! I appreciate your kind blogiversary wishes and comments!

      Delete
  20. Congratulations on your first blogiversary, Jana! Best wishes for many more! Love reading your posts and keeping up with your family's travels!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Yvonne,

      Thank you so very much for your kind blogiversary wishes and comments!

      Delete
  21. Happy 1st Blogiversary, Jana!

    I'm surprised at how much those Blogger stats can tell a person. That's really impressive. I use Wordpress, and I know I have some stats somewhere, but I haven't accessed them yet. I just got a self-hosted Wordpress account through @wptribe, and it's really different from and better than the one my publisher gave me. Check it out sometime, if you would like!

    You have gone a long way with your blog, in only a year! Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mariann,

      Thank you so much for your kind blogiversary wishes!

      Congrats on your new self-hosted Wordpress account. It looks great!

      Delete
  22. CONGRATULATIONS Jana! I had no idea it has only been a year. I thought you had years of blogging behind you. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi John,

      Thank you so much! I very much appreciate your kind blogiversary wishes!

      Delete
  23. Congrats on one year, Jana!!!

    ReplyDelete