Three years ago today I started blogging and I say it every year but so much has happened in the time since. My blog started as a personal post-dissertation project. I was so shy about having created it that I didn’t actually share it with anyone until I’d already been writing for a year. Since then, my audience has grown and I continue to get as much, if not more enjoyment, from writing my blog than when I first started out. I like writing these birthday posts as an opportunity to reflect on what has happened since I graduated and looking at how my blog has changed. Being Buttons is still a very small corner of the internet, but I love the opportunity it has given me to write about the things I enjoy and share them with other people.
In the last three years I’ve had three different jobs and lived in three different places, so my blog has been a useful tool for tracking those changes. I’ve done a lot of travelling in the UK, Europe and even further afield. Travelling to New Zealand in 2017 was a dream come true – it was somewhere I had always wanted to go to and I enjoyed my time there just as much as I had hoped. It’s strange to think that it was less than a year ago as it already seems so much longer. I guess that means it’s time to start planning the next big trip…
The last year in particular has really seen a change in the way I see and use this blog. I’ve moved web host, I have some beautiful new branding (with an official logo and everything!) and I attended the opening of a new museum as “a blogger”. Most recently, I headed to The Bloggers Retreat to learn new things and meet other bloggers. A lot of what I’ve learned is likely to shape the way I continue to develop my blog. As I’m looking to make changes, I would welcome any feedback whether you are a long term follower or this is the first post you’ve read – so please feel free to drop a line in the comments below!
I love viewing my site stats and have a lot of fun looking back at them. Unsurprisingly most of my readers are from the UK, followed by the US but I’ve been pleased to see that the countries my readers come from have been becoming more varied. Belarus, Granada, Qatar and Cambodia are some of the more unusual places my readers have come from – thanks for finding me and reading what I have to say!
Since I started writing back in 2015 I’ve written 175 posts (excluding this one) and 105,323 words. My posts are growing – each year I seem to be writing more for each post.
Post with the most views: Happy Birthday – One year old!
Most viewed post in the last year: Blogging Goals for 2018 closely followed by Preparing for a Big Trip
My first post from my extended time travelling: Impressions of Hong Kong
My final post from my extended time travelling: Impressions of Australia
Thanks for reading!
Well done and keep blogging….!