Has It Been That long? (Year One)
Exactly one year ago, to the minute, I relaunched my website with a new URL. That meant I had to start from zero, well, almost. I got to keep everything I’d learnt before. It was like cheating… So, how has it gone?
Year One
If you’ve been with me since the beginning, you may well remember my Dr Stone takeover to relaunch the Otaku Author. That’s right, twenty-four episode reviews in twenty-four hours. Good times indeed. Luckily, season two of Dr Stone starts soon, although you can probably expect one episode a week as I don’t have a time machine… yet!
I remember how hard a decision it was to switch URLs, but looking back it was absolutely the right thing to do. Otaku Author fits the duality of my brand where I’m a massive anime otaku and an author. Admittedly, the author side of things has taken a bit of a back seat thanks to the pandemic and having to home school the kids for half-a-year. Amazingly, I managed to survive and keep the blog running.
So, now that the Otaku Author is one year old, I thought it might be fun to look at how things have gone. Before the switch Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba episode 19 was my most successful post. When I unpublished my old site, I saved all my old posts and some of them have returned, some will return, but many will never see the light of day again. Of course, I brought my Demon Slayer posts back with a fresh set of eyes and some new images. Ironically, episode 20 has been my most successful post on this site…
Amazingly, my SEO rankings didn’t suffer too much and with the posting schedule I kept for the first two and a half months, I managed to get back to where I was pretty quickly. It definitely helped that I had so many posts that were either ready or almost ready to re-release. I was also able to take everything I had learnt from the last blog (and the ones before that) and channel that into this one. It’s like completing a video game and then starting again. You get to breeze through all the problems.
Who wants some statistics?
Considering that this site is now officially one year old, these stats may be surprising, hopefully in a good way, but I figured it’s good to show so that anyone considering doing something similar can make that decision without worrying too much. Also, I like stats!
In my first full year, I managed to get just under fifty-thousand views. When I made the switch, I had conservatively estimated that I would get twenty thousand in 2020! I am delighted to have more than doubled that and the trend is still on the up, so who knows where I’ll be a year from now.
It’s worth adding a couple more stats to this. It will help give it some context. I published six-hundred and nine posts. My goal for 2020 was to have a one a day average… Guess, I overdid that too. In the beginning, I was posting three times a day and then I slowly brought it down to one a day. There were actually thirteen days in which I didn’t post anything, but then I got itchy fingers and had to put an end to days like that. This has undoubtedly helped me recover my SEO rankings.
Plans for Year Two
I’ve just recently made a little bit of a switch to my schedule and that will continue. There will be a weekly update on my writing progress as I attempt to get a web-novel ready for launch. Hopefully, that will happen early in the New Year, so watch out for that. On top of that, I’m mixing my time between older shows that I loved and a couple of newer shows each season. Not being completely controlled by the weekly release schedule is great and will help me with my fiction writing time.
I’ve been blogging for ten years across a number of different platforms, sites, and formats, and at long last, I feel like I have the one that I am comfortable with. The one that truly reflects me and my goals. I have so many plans for the future and look forward to eventually sharing them all with you. So, thanks to everyone that’s been on this journey with me so far, whether you had to put up with the Dr Stone takeover or joined me more recently. If you’re reading this post, all I can say is, thanks and here’s to the future!
Congratulations on your anniversary!
Thanks. It’s been a crazy year. I don’t know how sane I would have been without this blog…
Congratulations on the first anniversary!
” I feel like I have the one that I am comfortable with. The one that truly reflects me and my goals. I have so many plans for the future and look forward to eventually sharing them all with you.”
Double congratulations on this! That’s got to be a great feeling!
Thanks. I’ve been doing this on and off since 2010 and have gone through a number of different blogs. It’s kind of frustrating that it took this long, but then would it be the same thing if I hadn’t gone through the iterations.
It’s great being in a situation that makes me want to write posts rather than feel like I have to. Looking forward to seeing where I am in another year…
Congrats on the anniversary!
I do remember you talking about switching it feels like so much less than a year for me! Like 5 or 6 months ago or so!
I don’t know how to SEO but at the end of the year I will have had this Domain for a year and 2 months or so and I am will only be at 35K visitors by then! So you really did great!
It’s great that you have found a platform that suits you so well! I look forward to see you tackle some old shows as well! I have found out I get a lot more response on old shows than on new shows and a fair bit more interaction! Plus indeed you can plan those in as you want and just gives you a lot of freedom! So great choice there!
I look forward to congratulating you with the second anniversary!
Thanks! The pandemic has made everything fly by while also seeming incredibly long… it’s a paradox pandemic.
I’ve found that with older shows too. I think it’s because it’s more likely that more people have seen it and it stands out as few others are talking about it at that time.
Plus I love being able to schedule them ahead of time and not have to worry about trying to watch and review episodes as they air.
Thanks again.
Congrats on a year!
Thanks. It’s been interesting, that’s for sure!
Congratulations! ? Happy Blog Birthday! ?
Thanks, digital cakes for everyone. ?
And cupcakes! ? Your blog has been a joy to keep up with, keep on writing! ?
Thanks again. I couldn’t give up even if I wanted to. I tried not posting on a couple of days and that didn’t last long.
It’s become quite the addiction for me, too! Ha-ha!
Congrats Lynn! well earned, the trials, errors and hard work have paid off for you.
I don’t want to make this all about me as it is your moment in the spotlight. I admire the way you could plough on with your blog, as you made it to run alongside the blogging community instead of your blog being the centre or try to be. I tried that and it hasn’t completely worked out xDD. I’ve kind of rekindled my drive for blogging, I guess I’ll be taking leaf out of your book. Keep ploughing but not too lose that touch with the community.
Thanks. And for sure, a lot of this year has just been head down and keep on going. It definitely helps that I think I’ve found a format that is easy to stick to. Well, until I get a better idea anyhow.
If nothing else, I hope this shows that it’s never too late to start over or shake things up. Every iteration is just another lesson to learn from.
I do try to read as many posts as possible too and I’m sure that helps in many ways.
Congrats on the anniversary!?
I remember always thinking how do you manage to publish so often.. now that explains it a bit.
Thanks. I’ll need to do a little recount, but I’d guess about 30% were posts that I’d salvaged from my old site, although every one of them was re-edited and refreshed with new images.
I only have my reviews of Heaven’s Lost Property and Highschool of the Dead in my drafts from before, so pretty much everything from here on with be brand spanking new.