My Blipfotos

It's interesting to see which of my Blipfoto entries people have favourited (click on the thumbnails to see them properly):

1. 
   River Kent, Kendal - wintry sun
   26 November 2010
   1
2. 
   Strange sky
   17 August 2011
   1
3. 
   Junior blipmeet
   20 July 2011
   1
4. 
   Through the window
   19 July 2011
   1
5. 
   Grasmere
   12 July 2011
   1
6. 
   Windermere from Bowness
   15 February 2011
   1
7. 
   Trainee cake maker
   14 January 2011
   1
8. 
   Another frosty Cumbrian wall
   07 January 2011
   1
9. 
   Ascot wintry wonderland
   19 December 2010
   1
10. 
    Otter in the River Kent
    03 November 2011

Looking Back: My All Time Most Viewed Posts

It's dawned on me that it would be interesting to look at what on my blog and other sites has been popular. So from now until the end of the year I'm going to look at different areas to see what comes up. Today I'm looking at my All Time Viewed Posts (as listed by Blogger Dashboard from May 2009):


Playhouse Disney: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Minnie's...

17 Mar 2011

1,485 Pageviews

No problem guessing why this top - lots of Google hits 

Countdown to Christmas Day 2: Dear Santa

2 Dec 2010
1,332 Pageviews

Putting photographs of Steve Backshall and a VW California camper van made this an accidental hit

The YES jar - early days

18 Oct 2010
507 Pageviews

I do wonder what people are looking for when they Google this... 

What's in a number?

I am not totally obsessed with the statistics of people visiting my blog but I do enjoy watching the numbers go up! Like many other bloggers I have listed myself on a couple of ranking sites I have liked the fact that my ranking has been going up on both of them:

Tots 100:

 

Wikio UK Parenting:

I know that if I want to make money out of my blogging and attract advertisers or sponsors I need to keep my blog moving up the rankings and closer to the top 100. So how do I go about doing this?

1. Keep writing articles that people find interesting to read (I can see which work through looking at page views and how people reach my blog)
2. Share in blog hops and weekly activities such as Cosmic Girlie's Silent Sunday and Tara's Gallery - not only by posting my own photographs but commenting on others.
3. Publicise my blog on Twitter, Facebook etc and encourage people to follow it with all the available tools:

Looking at my top 5 posts since May 2010 what is working for me so far is:

1. Countdown to Christmas Day 2: Dear Santa - referencing Steve Backshall in an article
2. The YES jar - early days - the search term YesJar on Google is driving readers to my blog
3. A drive through my Derbyshire family history - someone seems to have set this as a regular start page
4. Do we pigeon hole our children early on? -This article was listed on a feminist web site and generated traffic
5. Getting Boys Reading - Competition -A competition always generates more traffic plus referenced Gareth Malone

What other ways do ways do you use to drive traffic to your site?