10 Most Popular Posts of 2018

Hi gals, and Happy New Year!! Woo Hoo! Here’s to all the blessings in 2019!

Can you tell I’m a little ready for 2018 to be over and a new year to begin? As I mentioned in yesterday’s Looking Back at 2018 post, this past year was both one of the worst of my life and one of the absolute, without a doubt, blow me away best. But I’m ready to put the worst way, way, way behind me and move forward.

I have no idea what kind of year most of you had. I do know of a few of my readers who lost loved ones, faced health challenges and weathered some storms with a grown child. But I’m sure that all of us encountered a few really rough days and at least a hand full of sweet, blissful ones. My prayer for you as we head into the new year is that you will feel God’s presence through both the storms and the sunshine.

As I continue to take stock of this past year – my first year as a style blogger – and as I take a little breather from my normal fashion or instructional posts, I thought I’d share with you my 10 Most Popular Posts of 2018.

Now here’s what you need to know about these posts. I didn’t take a poll. These weren’t voted on by you, the readers. That would definitely be a better indicator of the “most popular” or most liked posts.

But these are the posts that were visited the most throughout the year. These were the posts that pulled readers to my website. In fact, you may have first shown up here because you chased one of these posts down, either through a Google search or Pinterest.

Truly, 45% of the pages that are viewed on my blog are from Pinterest searches. That explains why I keep asking my readers to pin my posts to their Pinterest boards. It works! So thank you, to those of you who have pinned my posts or who have shared them on your Facebook feed.

Well, let’s look at the posts that are drawing people to Dressed for My Day.

The 10 Most Popular Posts of 2018 at Dressed for My Day

#10 – What to Wear to a Christmas Cookie Swap + What to Take

I am so glad this post ranked in the top 10 because it’s actually the only fashion post that did. And the fact that it’s a collaboration with my sweet friend Susanne from Thompson Hill makes it all the sweeter.

Any time bloggers collaborate with one another we get a little boost in our pageviews. Many of my regular readers headed over to Susanne’s blog and many of hers came to check out my post. And, if we’re lucky, some of those stick around. I’m so glad that some of you gals found Dressed for My Day through this post. And thank you for sticking around!

I think the reason this post did so well, besides the fact that it was a collaboration, is that a lot of people probably put the words “cookie swap” into a search engine, including Pinterest, and came up with our post. Yay for smart SEO practices!

#9 – How to Dress for Your Personality

It’s kind of funny to me that of all the Dressed for My Day…My Way posts, this one is the only one to make it in the top ten. And it’s one of the last ones I published.

Honestly, every post in this series was very popular and sent me a lot of traffic. We all seem to be on a hunt for more information about how to dress our individual bodies. I know I have been.

I learned so much from this series, and I hope you did, too. I’m putting it to bed now, but I’ll definitely be doing others similar to it. At any rate, as a new fashion blogger restocking her closet after a significant weight loss, I needed the information in these posts to help me identify my own personal style.

I think the fact that this particular post did so well indicates that when push comes to shove, we most want our clothing to reflect our personalities. Yes, we want our clothing to enhance our body types and camouflage our body variations, but more than anything we want our clothing to tell others who we are.

#8 – Winter Coat Roundup 2018

As I said in yesterday’s post, it’s pretty hilarious that Winter Coat Roundup 2018 is one of my most popular posts. I wear a coat maybe ten days out of the year. No joke.

I think I managed to roundup some pretty and stylish coats at various price points, but I kinda pity the folks really searching for winter coats and using this Arizona blogger’s picks. (She said sheepishly.) Did any of you gals purchase a coat through my winter coat guide? I’m curious. Boy, I hope they turned out okay for you!

#7 – 10 Tips for Wearing Leopard Print Without Going Wild

Because I personally love wearing leopard print, I loved this post.

I don’t think leopard print or any of the other animal prints are going anywhere any time soon, so this post should continue to do well. The reason I wrote it was because I came across so many women who, surprisingly to me, were “scared” of wearing leopard print. Perhaps they felt like it would overwhelm them, steal the show or look a little trashy. And I completely understand those fears.

But I think this post puts those fears into perspective and supplies realistic tips for wearing animal print with class and good taste. I hope you gals have enjoyed wearing at least a splash of animal print somewhere in your wardrobe. If not, go back and visit this post pronto!

#6 – 7 Ways to Elevate Your Outfit from Simple to Stylish

This is one of my favorite posts, too. So I’m glad it resonated with other women.

I think we’re all looking for simple, easy-to-follow and affordable tips that we can use to elevate our look. In this first year of style blogging, I’ve spent hours “at the feet of” other, more experienced fashion bloggers and personal stylists. Especially the personal stylists. I find them on YouTube and through Google searches. They all bring different tips to the table. And what I give you in posts like these are the tips that really resonate with me. The ones that work for our age group and budget.

Anyhow, if you haven’t read 7 Ways to Elevate Your Look from Simple to Stylish, you might want to take a look-see now. Hey, and this one really is a good one to pin to one of your Pinterest boards if you haven’t already. It’s worth a refresher now and again.

#5 – Mother of the Bride or Groom Dresses

I knew this would be a popular post when I wrote it. Being the mother of a child getting married is such a sacred season in life, but one we enter into with very little knowledge of how to handle it.

While this post about what to wear and do as the mother of the bride or groom may not be the most popular, it does continue to draw at least one or two people to Dressed for My Day…daily.

You better believe I’ll be either updating this post and re-posting or even re-writing it in the near future. My son and his fiance have finally set a date for next October. Yippee! So then I’ll be able to write this post with experience and not just research!

#4 – Fitness Plan for the 50+ Woman and Why You Need One

This is one of two fitness posts that ended up in the top 10, and that kinda tickles me, too.

I got a little amused when I discovered that two of my fitness posts ended up, not just in the top 10, but in the top four because evidently most of you gals don’t like these posts. Ha, ha! Yeah, I’ve sneaked a peek or two at the reader surveys as they’re still coming in, and the fitness posts are definitely the least popular among my regular readers. But evidently they pull women who are desperately seeking fitness information to the blog.

Here’s the thing, gals. I’m going to keep writing these. I feel like I’d be negligent not to. So maybe I just need to hone in on the questions you all have about fitness. Give me specific questions you have about fitness, and I’ll try to research and answer those in upcoming posts.

Meanwhile, if you missed A Fitness Plan for Women 50+ (and Why You Need One), you might want to check it out now. That would be a great place to start the new year!

#3 – 5 Shopping Mistake We All Make and How to Stop

I think we all like posts where the author admits she has made mistakes. LOL! Well, I confessed to five of them in this post.

I re-read this post just now. Y’all, this is good stuff. Before we start doing any shopping for the spring or hitting any more sales this winter, we all need to read this thing again!

#2 – FASTer Way to Fat Loss and the Older Woman

You probably assume the reason this post is so popular is because I’m almost constantly sending people to it in my other posts. Ha!

No, the reason FASTer Way to Fat Loss and the Older Woman is so popular is because there are so many women out there – including many of you and me – who are constantly struggling with our weight. But it’s not just our weight that is the issue. As we age, we lose so much of the fitness we’ve enjoyed in the previous years. And we’re desperate for information that helps us get healthy and stay healthy.

I know some of you are tired of hearing about the FASTer Way to Fat Loss, so I am going to try to do fitness posts about other things this year (and they all sang, “hallelujah!!!!”). BUT I will not stop advocating it as a good system for not only losing weight but also building muscle, maintaining vigor and eating healthy. It’s just the best I’ve found. And yes, we older women can do this thing!

Now, drum roll please!!!!!!!!

#1 – 9 Tips to Help You Look Great in Photographs

When I shared in yesterday’s post that this post on looking good in photographs was the number one post for December, I had no idea that it was also the most popular post of the year. Go figure!

Do you know why I think this post resonated with so many people in just one month to become my number one post for the year? Because we live in a world where taking photos is a daily thing! Okay, I may not take photos daily. But some people do.

In fact, I received this comment on this post just yesterday:

“Jodie {from Jodie’s Touch of Style}shared your post with me weeks ago after I commented on her blog about how stiff and unnatural/uncomfortable I feel being photographed. I think Jodie and her moms are so natural and fun in all of their photos. So glad she shared this post with me. Going to pin it and keep it handy to consult over and over.”  ~ a new reader

What I Learned

Like I said, these are not necessarily the posts my loyal readers loved the most. So I don’t really want to put too much weight on this list. Yes, I want to draw potential new readers and subscribers to my blog with good reading material that meets felt needs. But I also want to provide those of you who check in here regularly with posts that resonate with you on a consistent basis. So there’s that.

In fact, let me know what you thought about these posts. Are these the types of post you like to read here on a fairly consistent basis?

But I do see that these posts cover the variety that I’ve tried to supply here at Dressed for My Day, too. So that makes me feel like I’m doing something right.

Anyhow, more than anything, I think it’s just interesting to look back and see what resonated with people. I hope you enjoyed some of these posts. And if you missed any of them, today’s a good day to go back and at least bookmark them.

Have a blessed and happy day!

Blessed for My Day

May we not spend so much time looking back that we miss the good and miraculous things God is doing in the now. Yes, let’s learn from the past and appreciate its lessons, its beauty and its significance. But let’s look forward with anticipation to seeing the Lord work in new and amazing ways in the future.

And let’s allow Him to do something new if He wants to. Let’s not put God in a box of our making, limiting His scope, His creativity or His ways. Instead, let’s trust that our never-changing God knows what He is doing, and that He is doing something good indeed.

Thus says the Lord, Who makes a way through the sea and a path through the mighty waters, “Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.” ~ Isaiah 43:16, 18-19