My most popular blogposts of 2023

Over time, my blog has changed from a blog about family life to one which is mainly about running and books. There’s also a bit about family life and generally growing older and things changing, plus a bit about being a dog owner. That’s what I’ve written about lately, but what have my readers been reading?

My most popular posts in a year are often the same posts as the year before and the year before that, but this year I’m pleased to see there has been a bit of a shift. These are my most popular blogposts of 2023…

By far my most popular post of the year is Athletics age groups explained. Unusually, this was a post I wrote this year (current year’s posts don’t usually make the top 10). Athletics age groups are more confusing than they are in other sports. It took me a while to get used to them, so I thought it would be useful to explain them to other parents and young athletes who are just starting out. Clearly it was useful for a lot of people!

My ballet posts are always among my most popular and my second most viewed post is The RAD Intermediate Foundation ballet exam, which I wrote in 2020. This was also my second most popular post in 2021 and 2022.

My third most popular blogpost was How to organise a year 6 leavers’ event, which I wrote in 2017. It has been pretty popular ever since, because there will always be year 6s and there will always be parents thinking about organising a leavers’ event for them! It was my fourth most popular post last year and my fifth most popular in both 2020 and 2021.

The distinction that wasn’t good enough and then it was is a post I wrote about my daughter’s Grade 2 ballet exam in 2016. It was my fourth most popular post this year and 2021. It was my third most popular in 2022, my most popular post in 2017 and 2018, and my second most popular post in 2019 and 2020!

My fifth most popular post of 2023 was The matchbox challenge, which I wrote in 2016 and is clearly one of very few pieces of information on the internet about how many things you fit in a matchbox! It was my most popular post every year between 2019 and 2022.

There’s another ballet post in sixth place – The RAD Intermediate ballet exam, which is the next exam up from the Intermediate Foundation. I wrote this one last year and it was my eighth most popular post last year. Look out for The RAD Advanced Foundation ballet exam post coming up in 2024!

All three of my kids have done their Bronze D of E, but none of them have gone on to do any more. My post on What to eat (and not to eat) on a DofE bronze expedition, written in 2018, comes up on the first page of Google and was my seventh most popular blogpost of 2023.

At number eight for the year is The Royal Ballet, Elmhurst and rejection – my final ballet post in the top 10. I wrote this in 2018 following my daughter’s auditions to be an associate at both the Birmingham Royal Ballet and Elmhurst ballet school. It was my fifth most popular post in 2022 and my sixth most popular in 2021. It comes up on the first page of Google for ‘Elmhurst auditions’.

My ninth most popular post of the year was from 2017 – Review of Heelys from Skates. I noticed a real increase in views on this one in the two months leading up to Christmas, including one day at the end of November where it was by far my most viewed post of the day. It’s a shame I haven’t done more reviews over the years, because they would certainly have boosted my traffic. I haven’t been offered anything to review for YEARS and even when I used to do them, I was very strict – I would only review things we would genuinely want or need, so I could be honest and also avoid unnecessary waste.

My 10th most popular post is another one I wrote this year – Dog friendly restaurant and coffee shop chains. As a dog owner, it is so useful to know where you can take your dog and it seems like a lot of my readers need this information too. It comes up on the first page of Google for ‘dog friendly restaurant chains’.

So that’s my most popular posts from 2023! I’m pleased to see some differences from previous years. It’s nice that posts I’ve written this year – the athletics age groups and the dog friendly restaurants – are having an impact. It shows that the gradual change of direction of my blog is working for readers, as well as for me.