I’m not convinced you, as readers, care deeply what my top posts for the past year were– or what I consider to be the top posts.
However, for reference, I thought I would catalog the top posts by popularity. Caveat: I left some posts out, as I wanted to stick to “idea” posts. So yes, I’m cheating. My list, my rules.
Special thanks to Christopher Penn for publicizing an easy way to use Google Analytics to find your popular posts.
- It’s Not Just Targeting- It’s Timing: This call to add more depth to simple targeting in media relations struck a chord. The pressure for immediate results can skunk PR timing, but given room to breathe we can tell some beautiful stories
- Do Taglines Matter?: After seeing a Jeremiah Owyang survey that showed a lack of recognition for social media providers’ “tag lines,” I wondered if they really mattered. Not sure I ever really answered the question, but sometimes that’s the beauty of blogging.
- Twitter=Star Trek Facebook=Chrysler: This was such a silly post I almost left it off the list (remember: my rules), but the fact that Chris Brogan linking to it and driving a lot of traffic underscored the fact that the short, silly post actually had a point; were social media audiences beginning to diverge? They were for me back in January.
- Do We Agree Too Much Online? Yes We Do- I Mean, No We Don’t: I successfully defended both sides of an argument- or did I pick them both apart? Anyhow, a good, spirited discussion ensued.
- Social Media Top 5: Brian Solis Gives Me a Headache, Twitter Chat Advice, & Outside the Echo: I like doing my “Social Media Top 5” posts. Should I be discouraged that I have to get to #5 (really, #6- rules) to find the most popular one? Should I bother with the series?
- Social Media Jungle Boston; A Snapshot: An event post- Jeff Pulver’s event, actually- with lots of link love for the speakers. I hope I did them a service. One thing I recall- I was sick as a dog that day, but glad I went.
- Getting Impatient with Social Media: After the “Social Media Rockstars” Social CRM event, I came away frustrated that I was hearing the same stuff over and over. Ha that really improved? Another note: for some reason, this post ha been getting spam comments. Curious, though that seems just useless to me.
- PR? Or Just Social Media?: A favorite of mine. I woke up one day wondering if all my writing about social media left people unaware that I am a longtime PR guy. I don’t think I needed to worry, but it was a good topic.
- Social Media Top 5: Madness! Ethical PR? How to Follow 10,000? PR in Charge of Social Media?: I think overreacting to the tone of one of the posts I quoted might have helped get some attention. It’s all good.
- Social Media Top 5: Goodbye, D*****bags: Should I give more weight to this post because it has only been up for a month? How do you account for that regarding traffic, to try to imagine the traffic this post might get in a full year? I do note that many posts only get traffic for a little bit, then die off. Perhaps a decent reason to revisit some.
As stated above, I did this more for my own reference. However, if you like it, please give a shout in comments. Thanks.
I did a retrospective post, but I tried to pick out posts that I liked, but didn’t get much traffic at all. A second chance to see them, as it were.
Some of your titles are nigh irresistible, so I’m checking them out. Happy New Year!
2nd try…
I like the list. I tried my own variation this year where I focused on posts that I liked but that didn’t get a lot of traffic.
I particularly liked your #4 and #7.
Best wishes for 2010!
Mark– Thanks!
I fished both of your comments out of my spam filter, since you added some thought to the 2nd try.
I considered the “underappreciated post” idea but wanted to give Chris’ analytical method a go.
I also note- as in #10, which was a late post that could rank higher, I had a post just last week (“Faces of Death”) that people liked and even inspired at least one other blogger to post. But, there was no time for cumulative traffic.