2016 – The Year in Blog Stats

At the end of 2015 (which feels approximately five minutes ago btw), I set myself some blogging goals for 2016.  Given I had only been blogging a matter of months then, I wasn’t really sure what I was doing (definitely still don’t) so I wasn’t sure what were reasonable goals to set myself.  Looking back, it’s interesting that all the goals I set were based on numbers.  This year, I’ve realised that it isn’t just about the numbers.  While I fully understand that the stats often get you more opportunities, there is more to a great blog than just how many people follow you on Twitter.  So I’m here to review my year in comparison to last year’s stats goals and think about what goals I might set myself for 2017.

Twitter

• My Twitter goal for 2016 was 1,500.
• I’m currently on 1,714.

In terms of the goal I set, huge success!

Next year, I want to continue to grow my Twitter and definitely get involved in more chats.  I love the quick engagement and new people I meet on the platform all the time.  It’s the best and easiest way for me to keep up with people and brands I really love and that hasn’t changed since last year.

Instagram

• My Instagram goal for 2016 was 500.
• I’m currently on 625.

Another success!  (Although by the time this is published, I will probably be back down to 600 because algorithms are *such* fun.)

I’m really pleased with the progress I’ve made with my Insta this year.  I was so worried about having a theme and fitting in with all the other white background / pastel colours that rule the blogosphere, but now I just post what I want to.  And that tends to be busy, bright images.  So if that’s your kind of thing, go check me out!

Bloglovin

• My Bloglovin goal for 2016 was 500.
• I’m currently on 347.

Blog goal fail!

But you know what, it doesn’t bother me at all that I haven’t hit the arbitrary goal that I set for Bloglovin.  I’ve not paid the platform nearly as much attention as Twitter and Instagram, so it’s not surprising that I haven’t grown as much on there.  If anything, it just teaches me that what you put effort into will grow.  I do love Bloglovin for keeping up with other people’s blogs and posts though, so maybe I will give it a bit more love next year.

Other Platforms

I didn’t set myself a Pinterest goal for 2016 because I wasn’t really engaged with the platform at all.  I want to change this for 2017.  Now that the wedding is out of the way, I can stop pining over other people’s wedding pics and use it for other inspo.

I’ve already spent some time tidying up and rearranging my boards and clearing out the stuff I don’t need.  I’ve been reading up a bit about it and I’ve also pinned lots of great content to read in my down time (LOL when is that?).

Design

I promised myself at the start of 2016 that I would re-design Hello Jennifer Helen in 2016 and I have officially achieved that goal!  It may have taken me a little bit longer than planned but hey, getting married kind of got in the way.

Goals for 2017

I’ve seen a lot of other people set themselves goals for their blogs next year that aren’t stat related and as I said at the start of this post, I want to follow suit.  I’m not going to lie, I have no idea how to do that, but I definitely am going to.

I am proud of myself for implementing and (largely) sticking to a posting schedule.  I post on Mondays and Thursdays and having that weekly structure has really helped me plan content.  I also picked up a great blog planner from PaperChicCo that is a bit of a life saver.

I think I’ll give myself the Christmas break to brainstorm about what I want 2017 to bring for Hello Jennifer Helen and get back to you in the New Year.

If you’ve got any tips about what goals you’re setting for your blog for 2017, then let me know!

♥ JH

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