Read time: 5 min.

I have a passion for maps. The older, the better! I often find myself consulting them as I research, sometimes even from the parking lot of a distant Village Pantry or Signature Inn! Just as surveyors use maps to track a county’s progress, I think it’s important to chart the direction of my blog from time to time. Here’s an update on the journey so far.

I started posting here in September 2022. Initially, I aimed to build a comprehensive resource of research I’d posted elsewhere about state and local history. I published daily except for one frustrating exception, but I did little to promote my work. Consequently, my blog only received 6,085 unique visitors and 10,220 views during 2022, averaging eighty-seven views per post.

Most traffic (67%) came from social media, with a minimal 0.2% from search engine referrals. Despite the low readership, I was proud of my accomplishment and set a goal of reaching 100,000 views the following year.

In 2023, my blog attracted 72,886 unique visitors and 111,162 views, good for an average of 304 views each day. Engagement metrics grew throughout the year. Search engine referrals increased too, accounting for 7% of traffic. While shares to social media still drove 62% of views, the rise in search engine referrals indicated real progress. People were finding me, and I hope that trend continues! Promoting what I write on social media is tiresome, it feels spammy, and it’s not organic.

My favorite blogs immerse me in their archives, and I want to do the same for my readers. So far, I think I am. In 2022, unique visitors comprised 60% of my views. By 2023, visitors increased to 65%. These figures suggest that people who come here are motivated to dive deeper into the blog. If I’m interpreting the data correctly, it’s extremely validating.

2022 and 2023 unfolded as anticipated, but 2024 has brought unexpected changes. The blog is on track to surpass last year’s totals, but it’s happening differently. Previously, I considered posts that garnered over a thousand views the most successful. I had four in 2022. Twenty-eight reached that mark in 2023, with six surpassing 2,000 views and one exceeding 3,000.

This year, one of my posts has exceeded 4,000 views! The next most popular sits at 675 even though the blog averages 330 views per day. Even with peaks and valleys, it’s garnered more than a hundred daily views while maintaining the same ratio of visitors to views as last year. That tells me that more readers are finding my content in small numbers on their own. Lessening results from social media seem to agree, as do search referrals. This year, traffic from search engines accounts for 16% of total views.

I think stuffing this blog with daily posts and content has helped as well. There’s a big rabbit hole to fall down if you’re inclined! Maintaining a regular posting schedule is crucial, too, but sustaining the pace has become challenging. I averaged 1,113 words per post in 2022, but I’ve brought it down to 681 in 2024.

Writing shorter posts is good, and I had a lot of free time to work on them this past week. Regardless, I still have a backlog of content to polish and publish, but that won’t always be the case. Looking ahead, I’m thinking about posting less frequently, maybe once or twice a week to support the deep dives I crave. I’m wary of disrupting my regular schedule, though, so I’m exploring options like starting a weekly podcast, inviting guest writers to contribute, or something else.

None of those ideas are particularly original. In fact, none of them are! I’m not happy with any of them, and I’m waiting to come up with something better if I do start posting less often. In addition, I’m considering branding the blog with a logo and title and upgrading my WordPress plan to access enhanced features. I’m going to run out of storage soon, but going from $96 a year to $300 is a jump. I can afford it, but I want to make sure it’s justified.

Blogging every day has been a fun challenge, and it seems like people appreciate what I have to uncover. I hope to keep it up! All told, my blog’s roadmap shows a dynamic, challenging, and rewarding journey so far. I’m excited to see how things continue to evolve as I navigate its future. Right now, I’m working on posts about Star Boulevard in Raysville, Thistlethwaite Falls in Richmond, a couple new artesian wells, and an illustrated history of Marsh Supermarkets. They’ll all go live soon. Thanks for being part of it!