It’s my annual blog post review! I love looking back and seeing what my most-read posts were. It helps me to figure out what everyone wants and what I should focus on writing in the coming year. This is my sixth year of blogging and I’m very proud of my blog. I aim for it to be both useful and enjoyable. It’s my little bit of the internet that I’ve created for you. A place where you can get good, sound advice and information on health-related topics. It’s also somewhere that I share what I’m up to and how my life is going, in an open and honest way. I always welcome feedback and ideas so never hesitate to comment or get in touch.

The blog had a quiet start to 2020. I was writing my next book and there just wasn’t enough brain power or hours in the day to do much blogging. I picked it up again in April once the book was submitted to the publishers. It’s out in March 2021 and is called Run Well: Essential health questions and answers for runners. I’m very excited about it and I’ll be sharing plenty about it next year that’s for sure.

Like most people’s blogs, by far the largest portion of my views come from search engines. That means from people putting what they want to know into Google (other search engines are available!) and ending up on my blog. This means that my most-read posts just indicate what people are looking for and whether the words on the blog match up. I have a lot to learn about SEO (search engine optimisation) and that’s on my to-do list for 2021. After search engines, most of my 2020 traffic has come from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – in that order. I haven’t done any adverts on these platforms so these are purely people that follow me and see my posts about new blogs and click on them. This is my lovely engaged audience who I think about when I’m writing. I’m so grateful for their loyalty and enthusiasm, we have some great chats about the topics on social media too.

Here’s my 5 most-read posts of 2020:

1 How to Return to Exercise After the Flu. I actually wrote this in 2018 but it’s the third year in a row that it has taken the top spot. It’s about flu in general and not about Covid-19 – that didn’t exist when I wrote it! It’s not rocket science, just sensible advice that it’s hard to find anywhere else. It’s so easy to get carried away and try and get back to normal too quickly. I’ve had a lot of feedback about how useful it is. I did write a post for netdoctor about returning to exercise after Covid-19 which you can read here – do bear in mind the situation may have changed since it was written!

2. Quick Question – How soon can I swim after giving birth? This is another one of those questions that it’s hard to find the answer to. It’s the sort of thing that a patient would have asked me and I would have realised I didn’t really know because no one had taught me. So, using common sense and medical knowledge I put this together and it’s obviously a much needed subject considering it’s made it to number 2 in my 2020 blog chart.

3. Exercise and the Menopause. Another blog that just keeps on giving. I’ve written a few blogs and done some IGTV posts about the menopause in general but this post has got the most love. In part this is due to someone, somewhere with a large following mentioning it on Facebook. Over a few days my blog exploded with people being directed to this from Facebook. I’ve got some other menopause posts lined up for next year too – it’s a much needed and underexposed topic.

4. Dogs as Running Buddies. People love their dogs! This is a post from three years ago but it’s still in the top five. I think runners who are thinking about getting a dog look online to get advice about breeds and how to run with your dog. I’m still running with Honey and published a post about this again very recently, maybe this will turn out to be just as popular.

5. Quick Question – Why does my nose run when I exercise? The Quick Questions are doing well on the blog this year. I’m glad because when I started the series I really wanted it to be helpful. If you have any quick questions you want to ask then please let me know. Runny noses when you exercise are common and annoying and I hope I’ve helped a few people through this blog!

So, that’s my top 5 for 2020. I’ve enjoyed getting back to more regular blogging after the short break for book writing. There’s always so much in my head that I want to share with you. I’m going to be blogging more about my own running and exercise in 2021 along with plenty more Quick Questions. I have restarted my Active Woman Interview series too so do get in touch if you’d like to feature in that.

Thank you everyone for supporting me and reading this blog, I really appreciate it and value your time and input. Raising a glass to more blogging adventures in 2021.

Featured image: Free photos from Pixabay

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2 Comments

  1. That is a really good selection of inspiring posts. My most read post is how many things you can fit in a matchbox!
    I know what you mean about the engaged audience on social media. Those are the ones I think of when I write too – they’re not the ones interested in how many things you can fit in a matchbox!
    Happy new year and I look forward to your posts for 2021 – not to mention your new book!

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