I’m devoting a few minutes in the first few days of 2026 to blog reflections and a look at 2025 stats.

2025 Blog Reflections

Stats

Since I started blogging in July of 2017, I’ve experienced a steady increase in views. 2024 views took a dip but I’ve regained my momentum in 2025 with some robust viewing stats. Did you also experience sluggish blog views in 2024? Blog views in 2024=237.9k vs. blog views in 2025=281.8k.

One anomaly re stats in 2025 is that I took the month of October off because my mother died. At the very end of the month, I limped back with 4 posts. Well… in October, I SET a NEW RECORD for MONTHLY Views (even before I posted those 4 posts!). What?! Bloggers strive to keep churning out new content, but it seems that Evergreen Content was the hero in October.

Since July of 2017, I’ve written 1,478 blog posts and have received 1.5m views. The most viewed post in 2025 was the Book Club Kit for James (26.8k views); the most viewed book review in 2025 was The Correspondent (15.3k views).

WordPress

Aside from WordPress no longer automatically sharing to Twitter/X, there have been few issues with the platform in 2025. I’m comfortable with Block Editor after an exasperating transition, so I’m happy to be past that! Every week, I update one old Classic Editor post to Block Editor. I doubt if I’ll ever get them all updated at that rate, but at least it’s something.

Social Media/Promotion

With the arrival of Threads, Blue Sky, and Story Graph, I’ve added to my social media promotion and tracking tasks. {{{{{sigh}}}}} How are you all handling social media/promotion and tracking these days? Have you fully embraced the new platforms and jumped ship on the old, or are you straddling the fence with me? I have followers on each site, and I don’t feel right about ghosting them.

Most of my blog views in 2025 came from these sources: Search Engines 162.6k; WordPress Reader 3,302; Pinterest 1,584; Facebook 1,012; Twitter/X 543. Links to my socials are found near the end of this post. It’s strange that Facebook generates more views than Twitter/X because I spend far less time engaging on FB.

Blogging Goals

In 2026, I continue to be satisfied with my blogging routines and overall progress. I treasure the bookish friendships and blogging connections! I wish I could tell you how thrilling it is to receive a comment or a share! Your feedback, likes, shares, and kind comments mean the world to me. Thank YOU for your continuing support!

• My FREE Book Club Kits have received many views and I trust they have been useful. I’d love to hear from you, if you’ve used one for your book club! My initial goal was to create one per quarter and I’ve only created six. My blogging goal in 2026 is to work toward creating quite a few more. They are time-consuming but rewarding! See my FREE Book Club Kits here.
• I look forward to Blogiversary #9 in July!
• I would love to increase my number of blog followers in 2026. If you enjoy my reviews and bookish content, please consider following the blog! That way you’ll receive an email notification and never miss a post. THANK YOU to each one of my current followers….it means more than you know! #GiftABLoggerByFollowing #TellAFriend #FreeReviews
• I have always used Goodreads, StoryGraph, and (my own) Excel spreadsheet to track my reading. This year, I’ve decided to use the “official” and “paid for” Reading Tracker from Sarah’s Bookshelves Live Podcast. I want to see how their “professional” tracker differs from my crude one! So far, I like it because it includes a dashboard that automatically calculates and tallies data for me without laboriously counting it up. A few of the podcasts I listen to offer paid reading trackers, but after a few years of listening, I’ve decided my reading tastes align more often with Sarah and her guests than others, so I’ve decided to support them, and I am now a Patreon (which gets me the reading tracker). I’m sure if I took an Excel class, I could make my own tracker! Another goal for another year!
• I started a new monthly linkup opportunity in 2025. I’d love to have more participants in 2026! Link up one of your review posts that features a memorable character with my Captivating Characters posts on the last Friday of every month. Check out the 2025 posts here.

---

QOTD:

Do you look at year-end stats??

---

Let’s Get Social!

Find me at:
Twitter/X
Blue Sky
Instagram (Threads link in bio)
Goodreads and StoryGraph
Pinterest
SubStack: @carolreadingladies
Reading Ladies Book Club on Facebook

---

---

Wishing you a tall stack of 5 Star reads and robust blogging stats (if you are a blogger) in 2026! Happy New Year Book Friends!