While 2020 wasn’t an ideal year in many aspects, it was a lovely one in its way. My youngest daughter started JK this year, homeschooling with the rest of them – my older daughter is in SK and my son is in grade 4. I retired from teaching voice and piano lessons this year, and I haven’t missed it for a minute- though I did love it! I found that it was no longer the break and change-of-pace that it once was. At the beginning of January I began teaching my kids to play the piano, though, and they’re doing so well!
As I look back on this year of blogging, I’m very pleased and excited with the progress of my blog! Since the middle of December there have only been a handful of days when I’ve had fewer than 20 people visit But First We Craft. It wasn’t long ago when I was thrilled that someone visited my blog ALMOST every day.
The Stats:
My stats are, in my opinion, excellent. They’re not major blogger excellent – you hear the stories of people getting more than a million views in their first year – it’s not like that. But I love to look at my stats and see the growth. For example, in the first year of my blog (2018, April to December) I got 604 visitors and 1981 views. In January alone of this year (2021) I got 888 visitors and 1161 views. That blows my mind!! In 2020 I had 4527 visitors and 6194 views. You can see the graph here:
Isn’t it beautiful?! One awesome anecdote about my stats is this: You may recall in February of last year, in my post about 12 Ways to Prepare for Easter, I told you that I gave up social media for Lent. I was concerned that my stats would drop because of my lack of involvement, but I wrote, “I don’t miss [social media] at all, although I fear my blog will suffer without me posting things. But I’ve given that fear to God, knowing that, if he wants my blog to flourish, He doesn’t need me to be actively on Facebook and Instagram to do it🙏.” Well, in April there were 641 views on my blog, the highest yet. And not only the highest, but more than TWO HUNDRED views more than any other month. And April remained the month with highest monthly views until November. What an answer to prayer!
And the countries (oh, the countries!) who have joined in the fun! As of today 98 countries have visited But First We Craft! The most recent being: the U.S. Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, Bermuda, Ecuador and Bahrain. Here’s a pretty picture of a day when many countries visited! Can you name all 10?
For the first time Canada, my home and native land, didn’t provide me with the most views (that’s okay, guys – there aren’t that many of us😊). The U.S. came in first with 3385 views, then Canada with 1767. In third place is the UK at 231 (isn’t that adorable? God bless them).
Now, (drumroll please) here are the most popular, and YOUR FAVOURITES!!
Instagram Faves:
Number 1: Mother’s Day!
Number 2: As For Me and My House we will Serve the Lord.
Number 3: Last Day of School Pictures
Facebook Faves
Number 1: First Etsy Order I Sent Out of North America
Number 2: How to Make a Paper Torch
You can read it by clicking here!
Number 3: Frozen Birthday Party
Blog Faves
Number 1: How to Apply Vinyl Decals on Glass
(Photo credit to my Mum 🥰)
Number 2: Look What We Made Sign
Number 3: Dry Erase Board from a Picture Frame
So thank you, dear friends and followers! I love to write these posts, but I REALLY love when I get your responses to my crafts and posts! Please leave comments, I’d love to connect with you! Starting with: Can you name all ten countries? or Which was your favourite post or picture this year? or Have you made any of these crafts?
Thanks a Million! ❤ Jessica
But First We Craft 