Greetings, everyone! I’m a bit of a data geek, and have been looking at Old Spirituals 2019 results. I think it’s interesting stuff so I’m sharing with you.

First, thank you all, especially the regular readers, for helping to make 2019 the most successful year yet for Old Spirituals! Some years the growth has been slow, but last year there was a 49% increase in views across the board! In fact, December 2019 was the best month this site has ever had! I started Old Spirituals in November 2013, and I’m really proud of it. There’s a lot of room for improvement, but it’s come a long way.

What was new in 2019? There were 39 new posts on the site. Most of my posts take 2-3 days to produce. Of course, a series takes much longer. The amount of time required really depends on how much information is available. For instance, it’s easy to find information about Evelyn Nesbit and the Romanovs but I try to find stories that aren’t as well-known and they require a lot more digging and research. In looking at the top posts last year, I wasn’t surprised to see several posts about Evelyn Nesbit and the Romanovs. They’re always in the top 10, even though they were written in 2014-15, because those individuals are eternally fascinating to us.

However, the top post of the year was written on January 4, 2019: Successful 1905 Hoax Still Duping People. It’s really hard to guess what will interest people and the success of this post was a surprise to me. I thought it was an obscure story but it turns out, a lot of people know about it. There were also stories I thought people would really like, but that didn’t generate a lot of views like the series on Mata Hari and the Cruel Murder story.

Apart from the top 10, I wrote many posts about local San Francisco crimes, photography, and my first published book, The Poisoned Glass. My favorite post last year was Recalled to Life, but I can see how many people might find it difficult to look at the pictures.

The other interesting information from 2019 is who visited the site. The United States has had the most viewers every year, which isn’t a surprise since I’m American and probably 70% of the stories take place in the US. Thank you, American readers! Other countries who always have viewers in the top 10 are the UK, Canada, Australia, France, and Germany. I’m so glad you all are continuing to visit. There were four new countries in the top 10, which is very exciting! Specifically, India, Paraguay, Indonesia, and Hungary. I’m delighted you’re here!

This year, I would like to hear from all of you. I’m interested in your reactions to the posts and whether there are any topics or stories you would like to see covered. I’m including a poll at the end of this post to find out which topics are most interesting to you. Please leave comments, too! Beyond that, I’d like to set up a site-specific email and work on the appearance a bit more in the coming year.

Thank you all again for a wonderful 2019, and I look forward to seeing what 2020 has in store for Old Spirituals!