Reflection on blogging in 2024
... and my growth strategy & future plans
No intro this time, straight into data.
In March 2024, I switched from Medium to Substack. The main graph shows steady subscriber growth since then, reaching nearly 200 readers by the end of the year. Not bad for a new platform start.
Traffic Sources and Numbers
The bar chart reveals monthly traffic patterns, with December 2024 hitting a peak of over 3,000 views. December is when I tried to do a challenge and publish new posts daily. I stuck with it for only around a week (lol), but it was still enough to get a nice traffic boost. Turns out that doing more content makes a lot of difference, and I want to continue this in 2025.
People find my content mostly via Direct, quite a lot via Twitter too, I have the blog URL added to my profile there.
Not sure how to interpret the Direct category. Direct is defined as:
When someone types in your URL directly into the browser and lands on your publication.
When someone who is using a web browser anonymously lands on your publication.
When someone accesses your publication via email.
So it could be a lot of people from online searches.
Medium vs Substack
Two recent posts show how different platforms serve different content:
On Medium, the "Simplest explanation of Fourier Transform?" (October 2024) was the most popular. On Substack, it was "My selection of daily-life AI tools" (January 2024).
I'm keeping both platforms because:
Medium: Good for math and physics content, established reader network
Substack: Better stats, more customizable, growing community
How I’m growing my blog
Currently sharing through:
LinkedIn - I usually share AI or startup-focused blog posts there, could do more math content. The audience seems engaged.
Twitter - My most intimidating platform because the audience is very technical. I need to get over my shyness and post more regularly.
Instagram - Mostly friends following my updates. Not really a growth channel, more of a "hey, I wrote something" announcement board. Fine with keeping it casual.
Direct traffic - This one's interesting. People often ask me questions (like "How do I organize a hackathon?") and I send them relevant blog posts.
Email - Decent engagement, but I could be more strategic about my newsletter. Need a better schedule and maybe some exclusive content.
Goals for 2025
Subscriber Growth - Aiming for 5x growth on Substack (around 1000 subscribers). Sounds like a lot but I'm starting from a small base after switching from Medium. Need to be more consistent with content and promotion.
Interview Series - Want to talk to at least 5 interesting people. I already have ideas of who it’s going to be, I just didn’t devote time to interview the people. Stay tuned!
Twitter Presence - Time to stop being shy. Plan to share more insights, even if they're not perfect.
Old Content - Need to revisit and refresh older articles. Maybe add new insights or update with recent developments. Good content shouldn't just sit there.
Promotion - Do more shameless self-promotion. The numbers show people actually want to read the content - I am getting around a 70% read ratio on the posts - so why be shy about sharing it? (Btw “read” as opposed to just “view” is defined by spending time beyond a certain threshold in the article).