Socialmaharaj Blogging Report Card 2023

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May 31, 2023

31st December 2023, the last day of the year and what a year this has been. It’s been a year full of ups and downs. It was a good year work-wise, and “almost there” on the blogging front as well. If you’ve been following my blog for some time now, you know that I post this yearly report card with blog updates from the past year. I usually spend the last few days of the last week of the year going through the blog and the stats. So this going to be the Socialmaharaj Blogging Report Card 2023.

But before I get into the 2023 blogging report card,  I want you to have a look at the previous years’ Blogging Report Cards 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015.

Blogging Report Card 2023

First things first, a huge shout out to you – my readers and subscribers for being supportive in this journey. In this age of reels, shorts, Instagram and YouTube, keeping the blog thriving and growing isn’t easy. But when it’s passion, it’s not that difficult 🙂 So thanks again for interacting with the posts, and let’s dive into this year’s blogging report card. 

Areas Of Excellence

In this age of reels, growing as a blogger is tough, but not impossible. To anyone who feels that long-form content is dead, read on. Socialmaharaj got over 16.9 Million impressions on Google which is a jump of almost 50% compared to 10M in 2022. 

We saw over 390,000 unique visitors in 2023 which is again a 10% rise from 2022. If you’re an SEO person, you know that 2022 saw so many core algorithm updates that did affect some numbers but still, we managed to sail the rough weather. 

Lastly, another number that I want to highlight is the domain authority. This number plays a small role in deciding how the blog ranks on search engines. The domain authority stands at 38 and it’s an increase of 5 points since last year. Definitely a good boost. 

Areas To Optimize

However, as they say, there’s always room for improvement or rather optimisation. Below are a few areas that I want to improve/optimize in 2024.

• Blog Posts: Never thought, this would be here. I’ve been blogging for over a decade now and very rarely it has happened that I have not posted 2 blog posts a week. Well, this year saw one week without any posts and a few weeks with less than 2 posts. That meant that I didn’t hit the 100 blog posts mark in 2023 🙁 Last year I posted 105 blog posts and fell short by 10 this year. And this was mainly because of my work. Work kept me busy and traveling didn’t help me much.
• Social Media: I tried being active on social media, especially on Instagram at the beginning of the year but couldn’t keep it up. While I kept sharing stories, I wasn’t quite there with the posts and reels. Maybe it’s the numbers and the pathetic reach I get that have made me disinterested in the platform more than ever. Not that I haven’t made reels, but none of them worked and they take a lot of effort. So all I’ll say is I’ll try to be consistent there.
• Brand Collaboration: While the number of visitors increased in 2023, I didn’t have many brand collaborations this year. And I feel there were two reasons for it. Firstly, I don’t have thousands or millions of followers on Instagram and I’m not giving it much time either. Further, I’ve moved away from the city and because of my work, it’s becoming difficult to keep it up. All I’ll say is that I’ll try to work on this.
• Reading: One of the areas for improvement from the last year was to spend time reading. I did some reading in 2023, but again wasn’t consistent. So that’s again one area that needs improvement. 

Anyways, 2023 was nice, much better than the mid-year when I thought I wouldn’t reach these numbers because of algorithm updates and drop in traffic. I always talk about consistency and I wasn’t able to maintain that. I don’t know if it is my work or the benchmark that I’ve set for myself. But hoping to be a bit more consistent in 2024.

2023 Blogging Recap

Here’s a quick recap of monthly highlights from 2023, if you’re reading this for the first time, this is the perfect way to know what I did in 2023.

January

I started the year by celebrating one of my favourite festivals – Uttarayan in Ahmedabad. The last time I celebrated it was a couple of decades ago. So it was good to be back with childhood friends and neighbours. And guess, Maharaj still knows how to fly a kite! I also visited a couple of restaurants one of them being Food Exchange at Novotel HICC. Read more of my January updates.

February

It was in January itself, that I took a break and went on a solo road trip to Bijapur, Aihole and Pattadakal. I had visited all these places as part of my educational tour back in school, but driving to these places and revisiting them was fun. Moreover, it was during this trip that my Tata Punch completed 10,000 km! Read more of my February updates.

March

One of the good things about India is the festivals, there’s one almost every month! In March, I took my family on a road trip to Hampi. It was a first time for all of us. I didn’t imagine that my 2 day Hampi itinerary would be the most viewed blog post this year. Apart from that, visited a few restaurants in Hyderabad, Jewel of Nizams was a waste of money while Kanga was an absolute VFM! Read more about my March updates.

April

While I wrote and shared about my Hampi stories in April, I did visit a couple of restaurants in Hyderabad. Lord of the Drinks was one, it was the opening of their first outlet in Hyderabad. Another restaurant that I couldn’t attend at the launch was Kembara, so I visited that too in April. Apart from that I also visited the Statue of Equality for the first time. I vowed not to visit it again, but went there 5 times in 2023! Read my April updates.

May

In the first week of May, I took another road trip to Nanded this time with family. It wasn’t my first trip to Nanded, but it was the first time for my parents. Apart from that there wasn’t anything much that happened in May. I was invited to another restaurant The Pink Elephant for dinner and visited a local eatery Babai Hotel in Manikonda. Read my May updates to know more.

June

I cannot recollect when, but I did go on a road trip to Chikmagalur from Hyderabad with my family. This was a long 4-day trip where I was working for most parts of it and exploring otherwise. It was a good outing for my parents, who explored the resort to the fullest. I enjoyed my coffee experience there too. However, the highlight was visiting the temples in Belur and Hallebedu. Read my June updates.

July

Remember I mentioned that my work was keeping me occupied? Well, it was, but it was also making me travel. I visited Chennai to give a talk at KCD Chennai and along with that explored the Shore temple in Mahabalipuram as well. Ate at Kasi Vinayaga Mess which was outstanding. Apart from that, visited multiple restaurants in Hyderabad – Hummus House, Sattvam, Gaurang’s Kitchen to name a few. Read my July updates.

August

August again had a long weekend during Independence Day, so this time around I went on a road trip to Bastar in Chattisgarh. My friends from the tourism industry had been inviting me so I spent a few days there, and I’m so glad that I did! Bastar is such an explored region, right from food to nature and culture. Apart from that, I also visited a couple of restaurants in the city – Brews & Blends, Sage Farm Cafe and Last House Cafe. Read my August updates.

September

I continued writing about my trips from Bastar in September as well but I was also invited to a resort in Bidar, Inspira by SRS. It’s a good addition to the resort space in Bidar. I also went on a road trip to Gandikot with my friend and spent a night camping under the stars. I also visited Ouvra and Hyba – a new middle eastern restaurant at Novotel HICC. Read my September updates.

October

October was exciting becuase I watched a Cricket world cup match live in Hyderabad. Though it was a Parkistan vs New Zealand match, it was fun experience. Also, my work was keeping me busy and I was sure Novebmer was going to exciting but busy. I was also invited to dine at Aqua, The Park Hotel for brunch. Read my November updates.

November

It was the first time in years that I didn’t manage to write even 5 blog posts in a month. But I’m not going to compain, because I was on my first international trip! Yes, I won a scholarship to attend KubeCon in Chicago and then spent a week holidaying in New York with a stopover in Dubai. Couldn’t have asked for a better end to the year! I also flew on Emirates Airbus A380 too! I always thought, that blogging would take me places. Read my November updates.

December

Coming to the last month of the year, I’m still having the international trip’s hangover. It was surreal, 15 days on my first international trip that too in the USA! This month I only shared blog posts from my USA trip, mainly Chicago. I do have tons of blog posts planned, and I’m guessing these would take up another month or so easily. Apart from that I was in Pune followed by Bangalore for a work trip and also went on a road trip to Suryalanka last week. Read my December updates.

What next in 2024?

2023 was exciting work and blog wise. Personally I don’t know, it was an emotional roller coaster for sure. I’m hoping 2024 to be similar or even better when it comes to work, travel, friends and relationships. Fingers crossed for a few things that are in process, hoping they do happen and I have more exciting news to share in 2024!

Once again, thanks a lot of staying by me for all these years and hoping for similar love and interactions in 2024 as well. Wishing you and your family a very Happy New Year, a year filled with happiness, success, prosperity and good health. See you on the other side!