Happy Saturday, everyone!
Am I milking the opportunity to wrap up 2022 for all it’s worth? Quite possibly 😁 But hey, regular content is regular content!
Anyway, as a nosy person who absolutely adores math, I’ve always been beyond fascinated by others’ blogging statistics. I love when people share them, I love hearing their reasoning as to why they think a particular post did well, and I love theorizing along with them and pretending I know stuff about Search Engine Optimization, when in reality, I have no freaking clue whatsoever.
So, despite the wariness I’ve always felt about publicly sharing my statistics – I mean, what if people derisively look down on me because their blog is doing so much better? Or, even worse, what if they beat themselves up over their posts not having as many views as mine, even though their content is probably vastly superior? I am basically guaranteed universal hatred either way! – I’ve decided to jump on the bandwagon and go into full on analysis mode.
Like, I can’t be the only person who thinks this kind of stuff is interesting, right? The insights we could gain might well be worth everyone hating me, so I guess we had better get this over with!
I. The Basics
(Let’s start with some basic facts!)
#1 In 2022, I had a total view count of 47,133, which I feel like is remarkably high considering I did nothing whatsoever to promote this blog.
In fact, I feel like the LESS I did, the MORE results I saw…
Despite me being on hiatus throughout basically all of July, November, and December, my stats barely took a hit 🤔 Which I suppose means that it doesn’t really matter whether I post or not? Or that you guys missed me so badly that you suddenly started digging up all of my terrible old content? (You know, those posts that have ginormous blocks of paragraph-less text, incredibly cringy writing, and no pictures… 😅)
I don’t really know, but I find it fascinating nonetheless!
#2 If WordPress’s statistics and my counting skills are to be trusted, I got views from 168 different countries this year.
Of course, you’ve got to be a tad skeptical because there are people – such as myself, for example 😎 – who don’t like the internet knowing their actual location and use a VPN to trick it into thinking they live in some random other country. But still! I’d like to think I’m doing okay at appealing to a diverse audience!
That being said, though: Those 1,910 German views are extremely worrying… Those better be attributable to foreign VPN-users because I definitely don’t need that many people from my country reading this! Like, what if some of them actually know me? What if they are secretly reading all of my thoughts behind my back? The mere thought is absolutely terrifying!!
II. My Top Ten Most Viewed Posts of the Year
(And what I think of the fact that they ranked so highly!)
#1 My Very Spoilery Thoughts on A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
Here I am, doing my best to provide you with quality content, and then the one post that makes up over 20% of my views is a rant review of what is basically fae porn Hunger Games fanfiction 😅 Don’t think I’m not judging you for this, audience! However, since I am the one who read this book in the first place, I suppose I’m one to talk. And it’s not like I don’t adore reading/watching Sarah J. Maas rant reviews myself…
Anyway, I guess the popularity here simply comes with Sarah J. Maas being such a huge name? And when ACOSF won the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards for “best fantasy”, it probably got an even bigger boost!
#2 Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag 2021
Both of my 2021 and 2022 Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tags did incredibly well this year. When you search “Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag” on Google, they are among some of the first results to appear, and – as is quickly becoming a pattern in this post – I have no clue what I did to achieve this 🤨
However, as great as the books featured in these tags are, I’m fairly sure the only reason people searched for them was because they needed the questions to do their own versions. Those big spikes in my June and July statistics? Well, those can pretty much be solely attributed to the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag. So yeah, I don’t think the sudden popularity has anything to do with people actually wanting to read my posts, unfortunately.
#3 Unpopular Opinion Alert: The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake Was a Major Letdown
Apparently, rant reviews of incredibly popular books with mediocre plots and their fair share of smut are my thing now? 🙈 Is this really what you people want to see??
Honestly, I feel like this review is mostly a whole bunch of unstructured word vomit. Writing it was deeply therapeutic, though, and has helped me find so many people who didn’t like The Atlas Six, either. So I should probably count that as a win!
#4 Our Experience Using StoryGraph as a Buddy Reading Tool || A Discussion by Line @ First Line Reader and Naemi @ A Book Owl’s Corner
I’m not really sure why this post took off the way it did. Maybe because there isn’t that much content on StoryGraph out there yet, meaning this ranked highly in search results? Or maybe because Line helped me write it? Seriously, if I had been on my own here, you would probably have gotten a way less structured, way longer, and less interesting post. Besides, Line reblogging this gave me an opportunity to steal views from her blog as well, so maybe that had something to do with it? It can’t be that hard to be better at promoting posts than I am…
Whatever the case, this turned out to be way more popular than I had expected it to!
#5 Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag 2022
See, I told you these were popular! Even if I still don’t understand why! Explain it to me, someone! 😩
#6 I Read Every Shakespeare Play: Here’s My Takeaway
Finally!! One of my own favorites has actually made it onto the list! To this date, I am still incredibly proud of this post and of how many people I convinced to read Shakespeare because of it. Shakespeare is simply awesome, guys, and his plays deserve all the love they can get! 🥰
Though, in all likelihood, the majority of views on this probably stem from desperate students trying to get last-minute intel on Shakespeare essays they’ve got due…
#7 What Do You See in Your Mind When Reading?
This post – or rather, its absolutely fascinating comments – is also one of my personal favorites. I still can’t wrap my mind around the fact that there are people out there who don’t think in images! 🤯
And I guess my viewers are similarly flabbergasted by how different people’s brains work? That’s the only real explanation I have for this post still going strong over two years after I wrote it.
#8 Series Review: The Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb
Even though I don’t particularly like writing them, reviews seem to have a way of worming their way into my most viewed posts. However, since The Liveship Traders were my favorite books of 2022, I don’t begrudge them their spot on this list at all!
As to why this review in particular is so popular, I am not entirely sure. Maybe because it’s so freakishly long that people who forgot what happened in this series and want to continue on with The Realm of the Elderlings like using it to jog their memory?
#9 Spoilery Book Review: Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
Apparently, people simply like me going on and on forever about long fantasy books? 🤷🏻♀️ I don’t know why this one is so popular, either, but I guess I’ll take it!
#10 Book Review: The Betrayals by Bridget Collins
The Betrayals!!! 😍😍😍 Honestly, I don’t even care why this post is getting all those views – as long as The Betrayals receives the love it deserves, I’m happy!! Go read it!!
So yeah… I guess our takeaway from this should be that people like my reviews? Especially if they’re about smutty fantasy books?
III. My Top Five Favorite Posts of the Year
(Featuring posts written in 2022 that I think deserved to take their place among those top ten most viewed spots but didn’t! 😭)
#1 The Ultimate Step by Step Guide to Designing a Bestselling Book Cover
I’m seriously offended that this isn’t more popular, okay! It’s a masterpiece! You could be out there designing brilliant book covers!
(Also, I nearly choked on my own laughter while working on this and feel like that grievous endangerment of my life merits some reward. Just saying! 😜)
#2 What If… ? || What Synopses of Popular Books Would Look Like if I Were the Protagonist
I’m actually a bit relieved that this didn’t get more views because anyone who has read it is probably doubting my sanity… But I just had so much fun putting myself into different literary scenarios!
#3 The Know Your Buddy Tag || featuring Line @ First Line Reader
To be fair, one of the posts I co-wrote with Line did make it into this year’s top viewed ones. But this is better than our StoryGraph discussion, alright?! I can honestly say that I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun writing a blog post. (Even if this one did end up teaching me that the majority of you guys have been heinously mispronouncing my name… 😜)
#4 Recommending Books Based on Weird Duolingo Sentences
I mean, what do you expect? Of course anything that combines languages, weirdness, and books is going to be a favorite of mine! This one was pretty popular with the crowd as well, though, so I guess I can’t complain! 😊
#5 Detrimental to Your Mental Health? || A Discussion on the Downsides of Being a Book Blogger
Posting this one took some guts. I wouldn’t say I never get personal on my blog – I do – but I usually try to keep any negativity contained to a sentence or two in my wrap-ups. Whining about something deeply beloved by my audience, something I claimed to be one of my hobbies, seemed risky…
But, even though this post isn’t anywhere near the top in terms of views, it was incredibly well received by the bookish community! It is currently my most-liked post of all time, and the comments on this were really thoughtful and uplifting. Overall, I’m very glad I wrote this and that so many of you were able to relate! 💙
What do we learn from this? I don’t really know 😂 Possibly that I’m clearly not a good person to ask for advice on promoting posts, since the ones I want to do well aren’t necessarily the ones that are massively popular.
Still, I found it really interesting to look at some of these statistics in more detail and hope I didn’t bore you to tears with this! If you have any theories as to why my views look the way they do, I would love to hear them!
And I would also love to hear from YOU! Do your most popular posts match up with your own favorites? What kinds of posts do well on your blog? Have you noticed any difference in engagement depending on how active you are? I would love to know!
A Book Owl's Corner 
Hey, you question yourself a lot! Mid year freakouts are famous for a reason, everybody is in worried sick if they’re the only ones who haven’t read much productive and half the year is gone by so it’s nice to read how other people have done. And ngl it’s pretty much the most popular bookish tag anyway, even i absolutely love it.
And the monstrosity! How could that best selling book post not be there in the list, I’m offended too 😤😤.
And hey, your views are actually pretty great 🤩.
I’ve never actually seen my statistics, i think it might be fun though 🤔.
Or not since they’re probably too low 💩.
Your reviews tho, can’t question them being here because hey, i live for some of them ahem!
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I still find it mid-boggling that Mid-Year Freak Out Tags are THIS popular, though! Like, yeah, I enjoy reading them, too, but I always find people’s end of the year wrap-ups way more interesting… And the honor of being my favorite tag probably goes to the Unpopular Opinions Book Tag, which I feel like is also pretty popular 😁 Yet none of those come close to getting the kinds of views my Mid-Year Freak Out Tags have 🤔
And ahhh, yes, I’m totally with you! 😫 My bestselling book and my bestselling cover deserve to be on that list together! The only explanation I have is that they must be so popular that WordPress couldn’t handle the number of views they’re getting, which is why it isn’t displaying them properly 😇
And yes, Nehal, statistics are fascinating! 🤩 You should totally look at yours and let my nosy evil self know which of your posts is the most appealing to your readers 😁 Like, my bet would’ve been on that amazing period of yours, if you hadn’t gone and deleted it 😤😜
And it’s nice to know you like my reviews 😂 Even if I have my gnawing suspicions that you only like reading them because of the weird fantasy names they feature…
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OH YES THE UNPOPULAR OPINIONS TAG IS MY FAV TOO!!! I just love people ranting 🤩🤩. Mid-year comes second best then hehe.
Omg lollll probably 🤣.
I’ll try seeing the statistics when i open my laptop tomorrow. Dunno if my phone shows it. And ikr, that post probably would’ve made it in the top 5 most viewed 😂.
No no, they’re also because of the amazing commentary obviously 😂.
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Ooh i found a few. For some reason, the reading habits book tag turned out to pretty popular idk y 🤔.
The top viewed post is 5 annoying habits of readers i can’t stand 😂. Well, I’m glad about THAT at least.
The overall views are nowhere as good as yours but well.
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Ooooh, interesting!! My Reading Habits Book Tag barely has any views at all, but that’s probably because it was published so long ago 🤔 Or maybe you’re just weirder and more evil than I am, so that your reading habits are more interesting than mine? 😜
I LOVED that post about annoying reader habits, though, so I think its top spot is completely deserved! 🥰 I adore ranting of any kind, remember? 😂
Also, I feel like I still posted a lot more than you did this year despite my many hiatuses 🤔 So maybe that drove my views up? In other words: You should provide us with more content, Neigh-hal! 😁🤗
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My reading habits might be weirder than yours 😂. I guess. But you’re still not any less evil than me.
Thank you, thank you!
And eeeep yeah true 😭. I wanna post more too!
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YES, EXACTLY!! RANTING IS THE BEST! 🤩😂 We really need more tags that enable us to do it… 😈😁
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I love stats like these!! 😍 And don’t worry, I don’t hate you for having way more views because I think people can sense your positive personality so they are just drawn to your blog automatically 😁 You don’t need to do any promoting!
I have to say that I’m affronted that I didn’t single-handedly manage to put Denmark in your top five countries! There’s a goal for 2023 😂 Looking at your blog 2,000 times should be doable.
I’m personally very happy to see your Atlas Six review so high, though! Like, it proves that there are so many other people like us out there. They were just in hiding before we read it 😄
I think your theory about the StoryGraph post is right. The buddy-reading tool was pretty new at that point so we were probably among the first to create content about it. You’re still giving me way too much credit, though, and I doubt you got all that many views from me reblogging it 😅
But I also don’t understand why those last five posts aren’t more popular because the creativity behind those is just top-tier! I would have thought the Duolingo one would be higher because people talk about that owl a lot 😄 And in case you’re curious, my Know Your Buddy Tag was actually number four on my list in 2022. That was you bringing all your views to my blog 😂 For the third year in a row, my number one is the post about Intelligent Characters in Fantasy Books and I still have no clue why!! I’m just as clueless about number two because that’s my spoiler-filled review of The Empire of Gold and that’s literally just word-vomit with no structure or graphics 🙈 But I guess reviews are popular.
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I’m very relieved to hear you don’t hate me 😅🥰 Although I also don’t feel like I deserve all those views – like, why would thousands of people want to read an endlessly long reaction vlog to a terrible Sarah J. Maas book when they could also go for a Harry Potter Lost in Translation post???
However, before you get too affronted, I should probably mention that those views by country feel a bit fishy to me, too 🤔 Like, I just went back and checked, and according to WordPress, I had 131 Danish views last year – which is probably pretty low considering you think 2,000 should be easily doable 😜 Also, I apparently have no views whatsoever from Denmark today? So unless you neglected to mention that you’re currently abroad somewhere – In which case I am extremely jealous! 😫 – you’re probably very good at staying incognito. You can’t convince me you could have written your comment without having read my post first!
When you put it that way, though, I guess it IS a good thing The Atlas Six review is popular 🤣 I was already seriously doubting whether we had read the same book as everyone else, so yes, seeing some agreement is probably proof that our reading tastes aren’t that abnormal 😇
However, you deserve that credit for the StoryGraph post! And of course, I am very flattered to hear that your half of the Know Your Buddy Tag did so well, too. Although I still think it’s a travesty that your Empire of Gold review could outrank a post that includes Romeo G. Detlev!! 😤 I mean, I did also enjoy reading that review, but in spite of Jamshid being in it, it just can’t compete, you know?
But I guess what we can learn from this is that we probably spend way too much time editing? Word-vomit with no structure – which pretty accurately sums up my reviews as well – is perfectly fine! 😂
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Okay, I see I have a long way to go if I aim to reach those 2,000 views 😅 But I’m not abroad! I wrote that comment on my laptop at home like I always do so I don’t know why WordPress didn’t notice I was there. I mean, in my head I was thinking about trips I’m taking in the fall but I don’t think WordPress is clever enough to detect where my head was at 😆
If it makes you feel any better, my first Lost in Translation post is my number three, right after Empire of Gold. They don’t stick around for Romeo though. I had to go so far down the list to find it that I didn’t bother to count 😅 But you’re right, even Jamshid can’t compete with that. Especially considering the Lost in Translation post required about four times the amount of work 😞 Still, that post has the best and only fan it needs 😉
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That does make me feel better! 🥰 Although I won’t be satisfied until all of those posts have a top ten spot – so maybe I should work on that while you get your own 2,000 views in? 😂
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Yes! The same the less I do the more views I get, it’s good because those months where I don’t post or decide I want a break now look after themselves.
I’ll never be able to work out what makes a post do well….my most reads often surprise me and are never the ones I want to do well 😂🤷🏻♀️
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That’s so interesting! I’m really curious as to whether that means our views would have grown even further if we’d kept at it or if it really doesn’t affect anything if you take time off. It’s really too bad we can’t just clone our blogs and test both scenarios! 😂
I’m totally with you on not being able to predict which posts do well at all, though. I mean, there are probably some sorts of indicators, but I’m just way too lazy to further look into it. I’d rather keep writing whatever I want to write! 😁🤷🏼♀️
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Same, I long ago accepted I’m never going to stick at or enjoy writing for search engines so why stress about it, am also, too lazy 😂
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I love looking at Stats and am definitely in awe of the amount of views your site gets. It is really interesting speculating on why certain posts are so much more popular than others though. Most of my posts are weekly memes like Stacking the Shelves and the views remain relatively constant. My two most popular views though were my reviews of Georgette Heyer books as part of the 1929 and 1954 club. There will be another one coming in for the 1940 club so we’ll see if that carries on the trend. Here’s hoping that you have another successful year of blogging!!
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I do also have my fair share of posts that get next to no views, so I am also astounded by the level of popularity some of these achieved! 🤯 It’s almost terrifying how many people have read that A Court of Silver Flames review, for example! Although I suppose a lot of that is due to Sarah J. Maas’s notorious popularity and not my review itself…
It’s really interesting that reviews are among your most popular posts, too, though! Maybe this simply happens because they’re more “long-lived”? 🤔 Like, people probably won’t be that interested in a three-month-old stacking the shelves post but go looking for book reviews whenever they finish a book, even if it’s years after the review was written.
Still, I think the most important thing is to be writing content we love, not something that will get lots of views 💙 So hopefully, that’ll work out for both of us in 2023!
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I think that you are definitely correct about the longevity of posts. The ones that get the longest lasting views are the review posts.
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Bravo for a great year in blogging!
I don’t pay much attention to stats. I enjoy reading and writing reviews. People reading my blog is a perk. A compliment.
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Thank you! 💙 I actually think your outlook on views is the perfect one – I definitely don’t blog for them, either, and simply write whatever I want to! Or, at least, whatever kind of post I think I’d love to look back on in the future. Like, reviews are always a PAIN, but I love having them once they’re finished!
I do find it fascinating to look and analyze those stats, though. Especially when it completely puzzles me why something is popular! I’d love to understand how WordPress’s algorithm works at some point! 🧐😂
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I began blogging and writing reviews over at Blogger in 2007. In the beginning years, I fretted about viewership and other stuff. I try and not do that anymore. It is an enjoyable craft. I love books and talking about them. Most of the people in my little world, family and close friends, are not readers like me. It is wonderful to talk books with other kindred people. Enjoy the weekend.
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Yes, I am so thankful for all the wonderful bookish conversations my blog has enabled me to have! Although my entire family is actually pretty big on reading, too, so I’m lucky to have other readers to talk to in real life as well 🥰 But you can never have too many discussions about books!
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I ADORE your ultimate step by step guide to designing a book cover post SO MUCH, it’s absolutely hilarious!!! And the downsides of being a book blogger is one of my favourites as well, I was so glad that I wasn’t alone in all the struggles 😂
Love this!!!
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Aww, thank you, Suhani! 🥰 I loved writing those posts, so it’s nice to hear they’re being appreciated!!
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I don’t normally look at my stats because I tend to judge myself too harshly – but after almost a year away from my blog (and even before that I only returned from another year long hiatus for a couple of months) it would be interesting to see what sort of change happens by the end of this year. That is, assuming I stick to my current plan of posting twice a week and don’t vanish for months on end again lol
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Oooh, that does sound like an interesting comparison! I really feel like going on extended hiatuses should have an effect, but since my stats barely changed at all, I’m no longer entirely sure… 🤔 If you do end up looking into this a year from now, I’d love to hear your takeaway! But, first and foremost, welcome back to blogging! 💙
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i’m very nosy like you and hence i loved this post! i keep trying to be more transparent with my statistics as well hoping it encourages others to show theirs haha. although i do make monthly blog reports for myself, i haven’t really done a year one for 2022 and after reading your post i feel like making a similar one of my own!
about rant reviews: i think they’re popular because when people dislike a popular book, they go in search of negative reviews to know they’re not alone. second, not many people post entire rant reviews! rave reviews are pretty common because we love talking about our fav books but if you wrote an entire post on a book you didn’t like? you must have HATED it and we need to know why haha.
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Haha, thanks, Sumedha! I always love how transparent you are about your statistics in your own posts and definitely would not be opposed to you doing something similar! 👀 Consider my nosy self eagerly anticipating that wrap-up! 🤣
True, I definitely think you’re onto something about those rant reviews. I personally love them way more than other reviews as well – there’s just something so satisfying about people venting all that frustration 😂😇 Besides, when I really love a book, I usually also won’t actively seek out other reviews. It’s sort of pathetic, but I kind of feel like I don’t need a third party intruding on our harmonious relationship, you know? Although I do love WRITING reviews for books I love, and if I happen to stumble across other people’s reviews by accident, I will read them and probably become obsessed!
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NAEMI IM VERY LATE (OOPS SORRY) BUT THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN TO READ I LOVE IT?? also SHHH why do you question anyone not loving all the stats THEYRE THE SOLE LOVE OF MY LIFE, THE PRETTY LITTLE GRAPHS AND THE PATTERNS. they’re just fascinating like that. I LOVE. Also as someone who’s eternally in love with rants of any sorts I THINK THEYRE VERY INTERESTING TO READ AND USUALLY ALSO END UP BEING HILARIOUS OKAY. Plus someone else hating a book that i hated (especially if its populat and overly well loved) too MAKES ME FEEL LESS LONELY AND POSSIBLY GIVES ME MORE POINTS TO HATE IN IT?? it’s tonnes of fun like that (I say while I nostalgically remember all the hours I wasted searching up every single negative review I could find of Harry Potter and the cursed child after reading it 2 years ago merely because hating on it was hugely satisfying)
BUT HA I KNEW THE DUOLINGO BOOK RECS WOULD BE AMONG YOUR PERSONAL FAVORITES. Like it deserves. OH AND I MUST GO CHECK OUT THAT SHAKESPEARE POST AND THE PICTURES IN YOUR MIND ONE AND ALL THE OTHER ONES TOO SO EXCUSE ME WHILE I GO DO THAT. DID I MENTION THIS WAS THE MOST ENTERTAINING THING TO READ OF EVER??
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Haha, I’m glad you got enjoyment out of this, Anoushka! 😂 And I’m actually very much in agreement with you on rants – I adore them, particularly when I hated a book, too! Trust me, “hours” doesn’t even cover the time I spent on other people bashing Cursed Child – I was in so much shock after reading that that seeing other people tear it apart made me feel so much better! 😭🤣
Also, it makes me so happy to hear you approve of the Duolingo post! 🥰 I had so much fun writing that and then there are the comments from other Duolingo users who also came across questionable sentences… Of course, I always love being confronted with questionable foreign sentences!! 🤗
But anyway, I’m glad you enjoyed this and hope you like those other posts just as much if you do end up reading them! 💙
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