history-ph first State of the Blog Address

The Young Filipino Historian: First State of the Blog Address

This is the blog's first ever State of the Blog Address. This, however, is not your ordinary blog update. More than a thank you article, what makes this extra special besides its length is the fact that this is also the 50th article to be published by this blog. Including this article, this history blog also published 11 articles updating the audience of past achievements and popular articles by month. It is fervently hoped that the rationale of these updates be appreciated and understood by the audience. Small successes may these be to many, but let us consider that you are always to be entrusted with small things first.

October restoration

The logo adopted in 2014.

   From December 2012 until September 2014, this history blog received only a total of 1,088 views. On October 4, 2014, The Young Filipino Historian (TYFH) was revived with the President Forever series. The series of three articles, to date, only received a total of 289 views. However, after 17 months of marked inactivity, it also marked the beginning of a new era of restoration and emergence for this history blog. This is where our story begins. The task was not easy, and this blog focuses on a discipline that is not so much popular in the Philippines. There is also competition presented by older and better organized, although usually trivialized, history blogs. Still, while the situation seemed bleak, the campaign towards restoration was kept running.

Not expected to outdone soon what has been achieved so far, the bar at the time was quite low. In the first two months (October-December 2014), 20 new articles were published but they are not expected to garner anything significant number of views. However, it is to be established that this is not your ordinary history blog. More than trivia and speculation, the blog featured details and analyses that are not to be found among leading history blogs. Most of the articles also have a reference list to encourage readers to confirm what they have read and to widen the library lists of readers on history. Relevant images and videos were added wherever possible to keep articles from appearing bland. In fact, some of the views of the blog came from people redirected from their image searches. What is aimed here is to show that history is not only about dates, personalities, and places. There is more to it than meets the eye. These methods, however, had kept me from churning more articles than the current rate that has been maintained.

From December 2012 until September 2014, an average of 52 views were received by this blog every month. For the month of October, it is only expected that more or less 100 views be recorded for this blog. Even this is a dismal output in blogger standards today, but looking at a standpoint of someone who has set a low standard, this already meant an increase of 92.3%. However, a surprise had occurred. The blog received not 100, nor 200, not even 300 views. Views for October amounted to 472. This meant an 807.7% increase. An overwhelming number it was at the time, but it is yet to be assured that these numbers were maintained. This time, a new standard was set: 500 views for the month of November.

Once more, another surprise. The blog received not 500, nor 1,000, not even 1,500 views. Views for November totaled 1,607. This is an increase of 240.5%. This is where the history blog began. We started very small, virtually nothing. Now, a year has passed since this October restoration. From October 2014 to September 2015, this blog garnered an average of 1,398 views. Monthly views peaked in September 2015, when the blog had obtained a record 2,636 views. This is 62.3% greater than the past monthly high in June 2015. Evidently, we have come far from where we started, but this is not to say that the work is finished. Indeed, much work is still needed to be done. There is a long way to go, and your part in the process has been highly appreciated.


history-ph
   In the same month, the URL for this history blog was changed to http://history-ph.blogspot.com/ and work on the blog began to endow the decent look that it still possesses to this day. The old description was kept: Witnessing Philippine history and beyond. However, on June 1, 2015, a new slogan was description: History to the Philippines and the world.

Ask Al
   In an attempt to connect more to the audience of this blog, a new feature was added on November 20, 2014: Ask Al. This is a feature where readers can ask about history, with an assurance of an answer within one day to one week. To date, it has 16 followers. You can access this feature here.

Satisfaction ratings
   On October 4, 2014, a year-long survey was conducted to ascertain the satisfaction of the readers with the articles being published in the history blog. The exact question used in the survey is: How is your experience with the articles? There are four choices: Very satisfied, satisfied, unsatisified, and very unsatisfied. 97% of the 97 respondents were very satisfied, 1% unsatisfied, and 2% very unsatisfied. On October 5, 2015, a new year-long survey was launched. You can make your choice at the sidebar.

A national blog
   On November 24, 2014, the blog began to gauge its reach throughout the Philippines partially through Facebook. This is the first result received by the blog. Darker areas meant there are more readers within the province. It is evident that the blog had only reached some parts of Luzon. Of course, it has to be considered that the blog had to begin from virtually nothing, and it has no team to reckon with. This history blog is maintained by a single author.

On April 6, 2015, less than five months later, the blog began to recognize that is has expanded enough to assume nationwide coverage. The changes had been notable enough. Indeed, the blog now has readership in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. This is the extent the history blog has reached.

However, the goal has been raised. It is now aimed to further expand that nationwide coverage and finally be worthy to be called a national blog. On October 3, 2015, this is the extent that the blog has reached. The task ahead is arduous, but we have made a good beginning.

International scope

Having double- and triple-digit number of visitors in at least six countries worldwide,
this history blog claimed the title international to commemorate.

   On June 1, 2015, the history blog recognized that it was read in 35 countries worldwide other than the Philippines, and had double- and triple-digit number of visitors in at least six (6) of these countries since February 3, 2015 with the hashtag #International. It had then added the title International. As of October 5, 2015, the blog has been read in 55 countries. It also had double- and triple-digit views in at least 17 countries worldwide, a marked increase from six countries four months prior.

Social media

   On October 29, 2014, the official Facebook page of this history blog (you can like the page by clicking the like button at the sidebar) was launched. To the date of this article's publication, the page had reached 365 likes. Log in to your Facebook now and like the page!

All time statistics reveal that Facebook has been the largest single source of views for this history blog so far. Views from Facebook account for 17.3% of the total all time views of the blog. In addition, thanks to the help of Facebook page statistics, it has been computed that this history blog managed to garner more than 64,000 impressions from December 2, 2014 up to October 2, 2015. This amounts to an average of at least 6,400 impressions on Facebook each and every month. Figures today are still not overwhelming. The blog began from virtually nothing. However, growth in the number of impressions from September 1 to October 2, 2015 show a fair increase of 40.3%. Thus, if this rate is maintained, it is projected that by the end of 2015, this blog will be having more or less 126,000 impressions in Facebook.

The influence of this history blog has not been confined in Facebook. On December 15, 2014, the blog commemorated its second anniversary with the hashtag #TYFH2ndyear. Figures for this is not as appealing since there are only six tweets bearing the hashtag at the time. Still, breakthroughs are being done in Twitter and it is planned that a Twitter account for the blog be made before the end of 2015. A profile in Twitter is projected to further increase the presence of the blog in the said social media site. Here are some moments that this blog has been noticed in Twitter.

History Digest (7,495 followers, 107,612 favorites)
favorited a tweet linked to the August 2015 update

Heneral Antonio Luna (9,905 followers, 9,064 favorites)
favorited a tweet linked to the coup that never was

The Web in general
   Here are some of the photographs to showcase how the blog has fared in leading search engines.

This history blog had nine out of ten top entries in the search engine Google

This history blog had five out of ten top entries in the search engine Yahoo

This history blog had three out of ten top entries in the search engine Bing

There are also instances that certain articles of the blog topped the search entries.

The article on Andres Novales is the among the top entries
for search of "Philippines Independence Day" on June 12, 2015

The series on Alternative Parties crowded the top entries
for search of "Alternative Parties in the Philippines"

The article on Antonio Luna is the fifth top entry for search of "The Coup That Never Was"

The article on Andres Novales is the third top entry for search of "Andres Novales"

The article on Antonio Luna is the top entry for search of "Antonio Luna's Coup"

Once more, I thank each and every one of you. Do not falter in supporting this history blog.