My 2016 Blog Achievements

2016 is finally drawing to a close and this will actually be my last post until 2017, as I think it's important to take some time off to relax at Christmas/New Year. In a year where everything went a bit, erm, wonky, all over the world, it's important to reflect on the good moments too. As far as blogging is concerned, 2016 was my best year ever for various reasons. Adamant that 2016 won't go down as 'the year we should delete from history', I'm keeping it positive with my top five achievements over the past 12 months!

1. Without a doubt, my personal highlight in terms of blogging was being awarded Highly Commended at the UK Blog Awards 2016 in the PR, Media, Marketing and Communications category. To be voted for by the public (thanks everyone!) into the top 10 and then be given a runner-up prize by industry experts, was a huge personal and professional achievement.

2. I never feel like it's necessary to reveal my blog's statistics publicly but what I will say is that the current figure for overall page views is triple what it was on January 1st 2016. That means I've achieved double the number of views in this year alone, compared with between May 2012 and December 2015 *pats self on back*

3. My blog's social media presence has boomed. It's unbelievable to think that I started the year with Twitter 1,400 followers (I started the account in January 2013) and now I'm on 6,700. Instagram has also seen a big increase (now I'm at 1.4k compared to 200 10 months ago), and Facebook is nearing 400 likes - by far the hardest platform to build an audience on organically. Of course, it's not all about numbers but it certainly is a motivating factor for me.

4. Rebranding the blog as HD Online and finally moving over to an official domain! Having been hdmusicpromotionuk.blogspot.co.uk from May 2012, it was amazing to finally get a proper 'home' for the blog over the summer. I've also loved being able to reach out and connect to new readers as a result of posting more personal features, as well as my photo galleries.

5. Some may remember that HD did initially relaunch over at hdmusicpromotionuk.co.uk in April, something I meticulously prepared for, building the website myself and coming up with new content/promotional ideas. Unfortunately, I couldn't predict the issues I encountered, which is why after three months I chose to move back to Blogger. I call it an achievement because I refuse to see only the negatives in the situation; I learnt never to rush into a big decision and invaluable time management skills... uni and constant blogging isn't the easiest thing!

So there you have it! Those are my top five achievements for 2016 where HD Online is concerned. I'm hugely proud (as all bloggers should be) of everything I've produced for my blog this year - from the written content to social media and creating graphics to forming relationships with industry contacts, and even dabbling in Youtube!

To everyone that reads HD, has got in touch throughout the year, shared a post, or supported us in another way, thank you so, so much! I wish you all a happy holidays and best wishes for a great 2017.

What do you consider your biggest blog achievements of 2016? Let me know below!