Since I’ve started sharing my blogging stats and income reports, I thought it’d be fun to do a by the numbers post and look back at my 2014 blog stats as a whole. 2014 was an amazing year for a lot of reasons and the growth of my blog was a part of that. So let’s look at the numbers!
Overall pageviews: 206k (as of 9am on December 31st).
Overall sessions: 93k (remember sessions are unique visits from all users)
Overall users: 66k
What I think is so interesting from the image above is that you can really see how my blog has grown over the year. Let’s look at monthly pageviews:
- January: 6440
- February: 4548
- March: 5484
- April: 4843
- May: 5310
- June: 5658
- July: 7112
- August: 8580
- September: 15444
- October: 38325
- November: 57385
- December: (so far) 47480
I’ve talked about the viral post that blew my blog up in September and started it’s current trajectory, but it’s fun to see in visual form. The other numbers I’m interested in are average session duration and pages per session. Those numbers tell me how long people are staying on my blog and how many pages they are viewing. I’m not surprised to see that the average time is just over one minute since most people are coming to my blog via Pinterest — which means that they are looking at the post that got them over here and then peacing out. That is totally fine because that’s what happens when the majority of your blog traffic comes from Pinterest. (By the way, look for a new post soon on how Pinterest helped my blog get crazy traffic). I think that my blog’s design (where you have to click to get the full post) leads to the 2.21 pages per session.
Interestingly enough, when I looked at the year as a whole, I saw that my busiest days were Tuesdays, followed by Mondays and then Fridays. Remember when I looked at the month of November and found that I got the most traffic on Sundays? What I’m taking from this data is that as my pageviews grew, more people started checking out the blog on Sundays. However, this is a stat I’m going to continue to monitor closely. As far as busiest times on the blog, night times are by far the busiest. No surprise here, I already knew that and it’s consistent with how I’ve lately been pushing more posts in the evening hours.
Pinterest remains by far my biggest source of referral traffic. Twitter, Facebook, and Bloglovin are also good sources of referral traffic. However, Pinterest just knocks everything else out of the park — of the 93k sessions that my blog had in 2014, Pinterest was a referrer to over half of them. Thank you, Pinterest! I’m also proud that both Mar and Cynthia cracked my top ten referral source list. I love those ladies and am so happy to call them real life friends in addition to running and blogger buddies.
One last piece of nerdom: 46.4% of my blog readers are reading via a cellphone. 41% are reading via a computer and 12.6% are reading via a tablet. This makes me so glad my new blog design is optimized for mobile. If your blog is not, you probably want to make that move in 2015.
Thank you all for reading and being a part of my journey this year. 2014 was amazing and I’m so excited to see what 2015 brings. If you don’t subscribe to Eat Pray Run DC – you might want to go ahead and do so — you’re not going to want to miss what’s coming next year. Have a safe and happy New Year’s Eve (and yes the Friday Five is happening this week — topic: goals!)
so proud of you my friend! lots more to come in 2015!! 🙂
Mar @ Mar on the Run recently posted…Mar on the Run… is 2!! (& Giveaway)
aw, thanks lady! 2015 is gonna be a good year. can’t believe i’m typing 2015!!!
Cool!! Well done lady – love your blog 🙂
Jennifer recently posted…Year Ahead – 2015 Goals
thank you – i LOVE your 2015 goals — such a great list!
Awesome, I love this! It’s amazing how far you’ve come in 2014. I did a little looking back and I have 2 steps forward then one back all the time. Love that yours is steady!
Cynthia @ You Signed Up For WHAT?! recently posted…Find Your Passion: Fitness Goals Recap 2014
thanks – there was a little up and down but the general trend is up and i’m really happy with that. that viral post really kicked it all off for me!
It is so crazy how one post really gave you an insane boost. But, obviously your content is quality because in the following months you were able to maintain those rates and even grow some more! You rock! Congrats and Happy New Year!
Lisa @ Lisa Runs for Cupcakes recently posted…Year of Running 2014
yeah – I was worried about a drop off, but it’s held pretty steady. Happy New Year, Lisa!
Your growth this past year has been incredible! I’ve loved following along, and learning some tips for both blogging and running along the way. Here’s to an even better 2015!
Kathryn @ Dancing to Running recently posted…January 2015 Monthly Goals
It has been a crazy year in terms of blog growth and I’m super excited to see what 2015 will bring! 🙂
Yay! That’s so exciting, Courtney! Way to go!!
Tara @ Running ‘N’ Reading recently posted…Running Review 2014
So exciting to see your blog’s growth over the year! I am looking forward to your Pinterest post. I’m not on it but feel like I should start a Pinterest & Instagram account. I hate FB passionately so refuse to do anything on there, and Twitter is just unmanageable for me. So I pretty much only do my blog, which is why I’m considering Pinterest & Instagram. Happy new Year’s eve!
Jennifer @ Running on Lentils recently posted…New Year’s Menu + Exciting News!
Yes. Get on Pinterest. TODAY! 🙂 Haha, I’ll break it down more, but Pinterest is awesome free blog advertising and a great way to connect!
Happy New Year Courtney! It’s been great reading your blog and seeing it grow. Here’s to new adventures in 2015! Cheers! 🙂
Daisy @ Fit Wanderlust Runner recently posted…I’m Coming Home!
Happy New Year — thanks for the encouragement — hope you had a great New Year’s Eve 🙂
Wow! Awesome stats! I love the content on your blog! Great work! Happy New Year!
Kara {MaineGirl2runs} recently posted…Running Highlights of 2014
Thanks Kara – it was a great year! Happy New Year!
What great growth Courtney! I am one of those statistics that reads your blog via my cell phone so thank you for making it mobile friendly!
Yay!! I’ve started to read more blogs via my phone as well so I appreciate the feedback 🙂
interesting, thanks for sharing! I need a viral post, lol
Jennifer recently posted…My Best Recipes, Workouts & Bloopers of 2014 – TheFitFork.com
Haha, we all do! You’d be surprised – mine came months and months after it originally was posted 🙂
This is so cool!! Congratulations!!
Love all the tips and you are going to rock it even more in 2015!
Happy New Year!
🙂
Natalie recently posted…The question is why?
Happy New Year to you as well 🙂
Congrats on a successful year!! I’m not really great with pintrest so I’ll make that a blog goal for next year… I read from my iPhone! Excited for 2015. I already subscribe 😉
Jess@Flying Feet in Faith recently posted…WisdomWednesday: Goal For 2015 Is To Be Last
Thanks for subscribing! And Pinterest is such a good thing for bloggers 🙂 Happy New Year!
Wow, that is impressive. I can’t believe the jump you had. I can’t seem to figure out how to use Pinterest to my advantage. I’m pinning, but no one is repinning!
Sue @ This Mama Runs for Cupcakes recently posted…My Year of Running and Racing 2014
Keep being consistent — you just never know! 🙂 Happy New Year!
Your blog is great and your hard work is paying off! I’ve wondered if having snippits for my posts would be better for page views. Thanks for sharing this with us, and Happy New Year!
Janelle @ Run With No Regrets recently posted…WIAW: Holidays in Nebraska
Give it a try and see what happens – you can always change it back if you don’t like it! 🙂
Thanks for sharing what you’ve learned through your blogging journey. I’ve been following you and finally decided to take the blogging plunge myself. I’m looking forward to re-reading your blogging tips and putting them into practice. Mucho appreciation for your expertise and willingness to share!
Tiffany recently posted…Introductions and 2015 Goals
I’m excited to see what 2015 holds for you and your blog! Happy new year
This is always fun to look at! Congrats on the growth of your blog! I was about to ask what you did in September before I scrolled down and saw your viral post. Here is to 2015!
What a great year of growth your blog had! I love how well you’ve analyzed your traffic, and what brought it to your site.
Debbie @ Deb Runs recently posted…Ten Benefits Of Being An Injured Runner
This is so fun to see – thanks for sharing and congrats on the exponential growth! 😉
Coco recently posted…Come Look Out My Window