As Empty Nest Expat blog begins a new year, it's interesting to look back and find out which posts received the most readership. I knew nothing about search engine optimization when I started this blog. I now try to at least make my title have a keyword or two related to the subject at hand.
I'll no longer write a post with a title who's meaning is as hidden as "Good Things Happen to Good People" when it's about UNESCO naming one of my favorite places, Iowa City, Iowa, the third-named City of Literature in the entire world. No one finds the post except those who return to my blog on a regular basis!
For those of you who do read my blog on a regular basis, I want to say thank you. I have learned so much from you and have enjoyed our two-way conversation. If you're one of my "lurkers" and are nervous about leaving comments, please go ahead and do so. I'm constantly surprised when someone will send me an email telling me they took some action based on something in my blog (such as visit or move to the Czech Republic, or picking a particular part of Prague to live in, or going to a particular tourist attraction) and I knew nothing about them reading it cause they never said hello! Say hello - I'd love to meet you (at least the best we can - virtually).
When I write, I write about what fascinates me and I write from the heart. Writing gives me a chance to relive the experience and know it more precisely. I have no idea what you'll enjoy. It was fun to go back and see what posts generated the most readership. If you as a reader can share your favorite posts with me in the comments, I would love to hear your opinion!
Here are some of my top read posts over the last two years. The individual posts to read are in green. I've grouped them under some general subject headings.
Downsizing:
Shed Your Stuff, Change Your Life
Shedding a House and a Full-time Role
A last spin around America before moving overseas:
The Legend of Starved Rock (Illinois)
Wonderful Food Eases a Newly Empty Nest (Madison, WI)
"An Iron Curtain Has Descended" (Fulton, MI)
Czech Housing:
My First Taste of Czech Village Life
Was Living in Soviet Housing on My Bucket List?
Czech Art and Architecture:
It's David Cerny Appreciation Week
Welcome to Capitalism!
Inspiration at the Post Office
Czech Books:
"I Served the King of England"
"The Restoration of Order: The Normalization of Czechoslovakia"
Czech Fashion:
Beautiful Slavic Faces
Tall Black Boots
First Beautiful Spring Evening in Prague
Out and About in Prague:
The Infant Jesus of Prague
Futurista Builds Upon the Past
I Needed Some Cash in My New Neighborhood
Prague Kavarnas (coffee shops):
Pavel's Prague II: Grand Cafe Orient
Come Join Us for Coffee
Fantova Kavarna Waiting for It's Closeup
TEFL:
My First Week of Teaching English
My First Class of Students
Yea! We're done with Our TEFL Class
Communism:
"You Americans Are Obsessed With Communism"
Two Capitalist Running Dogs Visit the Museum of Communism
Disarming the Velvet Revolution
President Obama:
Dear President Obama, Please Come to the Czech Republic
(he did, too!)
President Obama will Speak to the Most Vibrant Part of Czech Democracy: the people
Obama in Prague!
Leaving the Czech Republic (unexpectedly and not by choice):
The Czech Government Denied my Visa
What Just Hit Me?
Why Can't Visa Departments be Like UPS?
Recognition:
Empty Nest Expat Blog Among the Best Expat Blogs
Welcome Wall Street Journal Readers
6 comments:
Hi Karen,
As you know, I'm not a 'lurker' - I do leave comments as you kindly do when you visit my blog! Just noticed that several posts you list in your 'top read category' in this post are not linked. You cannot click on them to read them. They include 'Downsizing', 'A last spin around America before moving overseas' & 'Czech housing'. It is all the ones that are black & not green. As a Wordpress rather than a Blogspot person, I cannot tell you how to correct this but I'm sure you know.
Šťastný nový rok!
Hi Ricky, I've clarified in my post above that the links are in green. What you couldn't click are my general subject headings. Thanks for the tip on readability.
Thanks Karen,
Now I understand!
I guess I've been lurking a bit. hehe. I did leave a comment, but just once.
I'm an expat too- in France, and I'm interested to know how you cope with the lnaguage barrier; unless you speak Czech already. I'm trying to look at your past blogs about any topic as such...
Karen,
Happy New Year and I really enjoy your blog. Like you, I just write about what interests me and what I think my family back in the U.S. will be interested in. I find writting my blog to be very theraputic. Any chance that you'll be coming back to Czech?
Cheers,
Christopher
Kristine, there are no problems with language in Prague because English is so universally spoken. English-speaking expats generally start teaching Czechs when the Czechs are at the intermediate level. Many of my students had studied English ten years or more. I think I used a Czech dictionary once. I had started to study Czech though because of course, the experience is so much richer when you add native language to it!
By the way, I had never heard of your particular heritage until you! I guess that makes you an ambassador for your people.
Christopher, I don't know what I'm going to do. I wish I lived in Prague and could come to Brno and hang out with you and then you could come visit in Prague. I'd love to hear about Brno from a local expat!
Post a Comment