About six months ago I took a closer look at my web statistics to see which posts people were reading.   I was hoping to find some clear patterns of what my readers enjoyed, hoping to use that information to fuel future posts.

This week I thought it would be fun to look at what is rising to the top in early 2010, so here is a list of the most well read posts of the year.

  1. Shake it Off and Step Up – Written last October, this motivational post continues to grow in popularity. 
  2. Marketing Organization Chart – This post dates back to December of 2009.  The ongoing popularity of this post encouraged me to write an entire series on the subject.
  3. Marketing Organization Chart – The second in the series, this post places your website in the center of your marketing, and shows how the other elements connect
  4. Marketing Organization Chart – A Closer Look at Customer Service – Do you notice a theme?   I never expected these posts to continue to attract traffic, daily more than a year after they were written
  5. I Love Logos – Of all the posts I have written on Logos and Branding, why does this one continue to attract visitors?  I wish it was something I said in the article, but the truth is, the graphic draws people. The post features a Nike Logo, which is appropriately named, and whenever people search for Nike, this little post comes up and gets a visit or two!
  6. Building a Brand with Words and Pictures – A relatively new post, this one featuring design work by Taylor and asks for input from our readers.  The combination created records for one day traffic and comments.
  7. Are You a Goose? – People seem to like my motivational posts.  Either that, or it is the animals.
  8. Ten Mistakes Business Owners Make – This is the cornerstone of my Business Planning Program.  With so many external links to it, I actually expected it to be higher on this list.  Surprisingly most of the rest of the posts in the ten week program don’t come close to the top ten, with the exception of the segment on Milestones and Critical Risk
  9. Conversation Starters – Written in September of 2009, this is the only post on the topic of Social Media to make it into the Top Ten
  10. Economic RoadKill – This is probably one of my favorite all time posts.   Another motivational piece on the economy, I recently shot a video on the same topic.

Looking at the lists of posts which rise to the top, one of the things which jumps out, is the popularity of some of the pieces I consider “off-topic”.  I write a business planning, marketing and social media blog for small business owners, but my readers come for the small business motivation.  Looks like I need to add more of that to the mix!