Yesterday I listed the 5 most popular articles that I’ve written this year based on pageviews from google analytics. Today I’m going to list my 5 favorite articles of the one’s I’ve written this year. I don’t think there is going to be any overlap (I haven’t actually selected them yet – it’s going to all be real time while I’m writing).
- In Memoriam – Obviously, I hated the fact that this article even needed to be written but it helped me get back into real life again. Until that point I was living in a fog of grief and numbed myself by watching the first three seasons of Battlestar Galactica, which I loved, in a little over a week. I realized after I wrote and published it though that it wasn’t a proper Memoriam. I talked about the illness and what I experienced over the holidays but that I really didn’t talk about her – about how she was a social worker for the mentally ill, how she worked with mentally retarded children when I was a kid, or how she learned sign language to help the deaf kid in our rural town have a better chance in school – that would have been a better remembrance of her.
- How Twitter Can Assist You With Your Job Search – Quite a bit of research went into this article and I thought it could help people looking for work and help prove that twitter isn’t a waste of time. I’ve said many times that I find a lot of my freelance work through twitter. Maybe highlighting it here will bring attention to it for people who missed it the first time.
- 8 WordPress Spring Cleaning Tips: Backups and More – This article seemed to motivate my readers to take care of upgrades, plugins, and database backups that were being neglected. It also had the side-effect of motivating me as well. Two weeks later I wrote about the spring cleaning I did on this site.
- I Loved My Grandmother – As I mentioned in this article my grandmother passed away 20 years ago and I still think about her almost every day. I loved her very much and I loved writing this article about her.
- Using Thumbnails for Excerpts With Query Posts to Make a Custom Sidebar Block in WordPress – This article has a clunky title and isn’t written very well (I’d like to redo it) but it’s one of my favorites because I’m still so excited about using the plugin in this way to create a dynamic sidebar box. And anytime Jeff from Perishable Press stops by to say good job I know I’ve done something right.
So, this list is very different than what google analytics reports as my most visited articles. It might just show that what I like differs from the masses but I’ve known for a long time that I’m not like most people. Most of these, however, have received quite a few comments.
How about you? Are your favorite articles the most popular ones on your site? Or are your favorites different than the ones getting the most visits?
Well Kim learning sign language to help other people is something that really impressed me. She must have been a very special person. As for the twitter post that didn’t get as much attention i think that most would agree that if you made it a list like “10 things to help you blah blah” would have been better. Everybody is bubbling around with the importance of lists. Some articles that you think would be hits might have done better if they were lists. Anyway, as we always say, we write for us and for our fun so keep writing Kim ;)
stratosg´s last blog post – Interview with Kim Woodbridge
Hi Stratos – My Mom was always doing things like that. The main problem is that she always thought of other people and not herself – I wish she had done more of the things that she wanted to do.
Yeah – people love lists. But three of the articles here wouldn’t have worked as lists. Well, I suppose I could have done “3 Awesome Uses of the Thumbnails for Excerpts Plugin” – lol
Awwww, look at little CC.
Thanks for the list, Kim. It really is different from the one that Google created.
I remember all these articles. My personal favorite is still Blade Runner-Gate because of the comment hilarity that ensued. ;-)
Keep up the good work.
Hi Jim – I couldn’t include the Blade Runner article because that was written last year ;-) I decided to limit these to the ones written this year.
Yeah – isn’t CC adorable ;-)
It seems like many of the posts I really am proud of do seem to be the ones that my readers respond to the most, however in terms of traffic, like i said yesterday I should spend all of my time writing about slankets, pickle pops, haggis and stuffing in a cup.
I really like doing the weird food posts, don’t get me wrong, but they aren’t super challenging.
Tracy´s last blog post – My values are what motivate me
Hi Tracy – I get a lot of responses to articles that contain personal information – maybe because people can relate to them – but they aren’t getting a lot of traffic. And I know that many of my articles contain very specific information that is only interesting if you are working on a similar problem.
The food thing still intrigues me – I look for recipes but rarely search for food information.
Your mother does sound exceptionally nice. And it’s never too late to write another memorial if you want to. I’ve always had different tastes than most people, too, and I think some of yours are some of mine (like reading a book a week). The technical articles are much appreciated here.
Dot´s last blog post – Childhood Memories
Hi Dot,
I’ve had a draft for another article about her but haven’t worked on it in awhile – maybe I’ll do it around the burial.
Ever since I learned how to read I’ve loved it. I also have a written list of every book I’ve read since 1991 – I wish I had kept track my entire life :-)
Your wordpress spring cleaning tips article was really helpful for me. It actually motivated me to do a lot of stuff which i had been postponing for months
Madhur Kapoor´s last blog post – Optimize Your PC for Games with Game Booster
Hi Madhur – Thanks! I found it helpful to associate the “cleaning” with an event like spring rather than saying I need to do this and I need to do that. Did you find that once you sat down and started working on your site that it didn’t take that long? Thinking about it was more work than the work :-)
Kim, you wrote what was on your mind about your mom’s passing at the time you were going throught it. How can anyone possibly do anything else than that? It is your journey. And one of the greatest upheavals of your life.
I am interested in reading the one on your grandmother now.
And after May 10th get you to do some of that spring-cleaning over at janniefunster.com
Jannie Funster´s last blog post – Jannie’s Fine!!
Hi Jannie – I know … I just feel like the article ended up being more about her than me.
I read about how busy you are – I’m wishing you all the best.
I’m hear whenever you need me.
Infact most of my favorite posts are not the most popular concerning analytic. My favorite are usually those that I write in my own imagination and without any seo. However my most populars are those with seo .
By the way I like the post of your grandmother most in the list above. :-)
Kurt Avish´s last blog post – Mauritius Horse Racing Tips Week 4
Hi Kurt – Interesting. I wonder if my most popular have accidental SEO ;-)
Thanks for liking the article about my grandmother :-)
Kim, sorry for the late response.
Your favorites are some of my favorites, too. But isn’t it funny how a little throwaway post can generate tons of traffic and comments? Then something that you really worked hard on and are proud of gets the cold shoulder from everybody?
Mike Nichols´s last blog post – Surviving the Recession, Part 4: 16 More Things You Can Do to Regain Control
Hi Mike – You’re not late :-)
It’s really surprising the way that works. I’m writing a “throwaway” one right now and I have a feeling it will be somewhat popular ;-) Maybe it’s true for blog posts too – “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure” lol