The estimated reading time for this post is 5 minutes
4 Years
The amount of time you can:
- Serve one term as President of the United States
- Finish high school
- Complete a university degree
- Train for the next Olympic games
Four years ago today The Wonder of Tech was launched. I still remember how scared I was to click the Publish button for the first time. My dear friend Rachel talked me through it, encouraging me to be brave enough to let the world read what I had written. Butterflies still flutter in my stomach every time I hit Publish, though I don’t need to be talked into it any more.
Good thing for Rachel that I don’t have to bug her about giving me confidence to publish anymore. This article marks the 765th one I’ve published here and that would be quite pesky of me to call her every time…
The Wonder of Tech in 2014
The Wonder of Tech experienced tremendous growth last year in both readership and subscribers. The number of subscribers doubled and the overall traffic was up 21% from 2013, with traffic more than doubling from the previous year in August through December.
The 10 most popular Wonder of Tech articles for 2014 were:
- How To Find Out What Google Knows About You
- Have a Spook-tacular Halloween with Pinterest!
- Hack Attack! What to Do if Your Email is Hacked
- Portable North Pole: Santa’s Personal Video for You!
- The Creepiest or Coolest iPhone Feature You Didn’t Know About — And How to Opt Out
- Marlee Signs – Learn Sign Language from an App!
- In Flight: See Every Plane in the Air Right Now
- Warm Up to a Virtual Fireplace
- 10 Features My Galaxy S3 Has that Your iPhone Doesn’t
- Do Not Disturb – The iPhone Feature You Should Be Using
The articles with the most traffic in 2014 were published in all four years of this site’s existence: 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Topics ranged from apps to privacy to holiday tech and more.
When I publish an article I never know how popular it will be and now I get why I’m confused: there doesn’t seem to be a common thread to the most popular articles.
Visitors came from 211 countries to The Wonder of Tech in 2014 with the most visitors coming from:
- United States
- United Kingdom
- Canada
- India
- Australia
- Germany
- Philipines
- Netherlands
- Ireland
- France
The biggest sources of traffic to The Wonder of Tech:
- Google Search
- StumbleUpon
- Bing
- Yahoo Search
- Google Image Search
- Triberr
- Google Plus
Check out The Wonder of Tech Annual Report 2014 to see stats in a more entertaining format.
In September, with the help of my dear friend and superhero Ashvini Kumar Saxena, The Wonder of Tech got a complete makeover with a new theme and new look. Perhaps this overhaul contributed to the massive growth in readers and subscribers towards the end of the year?
About The Wonder of Tech Now
My goal at The Wonder of Tech is to help readers learn about tech that can help you in your daily life. I don’t accept advertising or sponsored articles, though I receive offers for these nearly every day.
So long as an article helps at least one person, my job is done, though no one will be interested in every article. If you own an iPhone you’ll want to know about iOS apps, but you may not care about Android phone reviews. But I hope that no matter what your interests you find plenty of articles that are helpful to you and perhaps even a bit entertaining.
Articles are published three times a week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I haven’t missed a day yet, though there are times when circumstances seem to demand I do so. Writing about tech requires concentration and focus so can be a respite from challenges of daily life. I plan to continue my MWF publications as long as I can. There’s too much tech to write about to reduce to a twice weekly schedule!
Friends of The Wonder of Tech
It takes a village to run a blog and The Wonder of Tech is no exception. I couldn’t do this alone and I’m very grateful to those of you who make The Wonder of Tech possible:
- You, the readers, who are the reason I run this site
- People who share my articles with others
- Commenters who share their thoughts to generate a conversation here
- People who ask questions, providing the best inspiration for article ideas
- People who suggest apps, websites, gadgets and other tech for me to cover
- Developers who contact me about their exciting tech
- People who let me know that they’ve been helped by The Wonder of Tech
Last year was a banner year for The Wonder of Tech, though not for some of my friends who write blogs. Many of my cherished blogging buddies announced they were giving up their blogs in 2014, making the blogosphere a lonelier place. It’s a bit like a friend moving away to a new town, you promise you’ll stay in touch but somehow things aren’t the same.
Other blogging buddies took an exciting new direction in 2014. Harleena Singh of AHA-Now! revamped her site, adding a community of forum boards and guest bloggers, and featuring her most valued readers in a monthly GEMs of AHA-Now! series.
Adrienne Smith of adriennesmith.net and Engagement Superstar, launched a new product to help others learn to build a blogging community and changed her publication schedule at her blog to once a week on Mondays from twice a week.
Where The Wonder of Tech Goes from Here
The Wonder of Tech continues to inspire me, combining my passions for tech, writing and helping others. As The Wonder of Tech is growing strong, so is my desire to continue to bring you the best tech I can find.
Because my goal is to help readers, I want to hear from you about what you want to see here at The Wonder of Tech. Please vote in the poll to let me know what you want to see here. You can vote for as many answers as you’d like:
Your Thoughts
Please join in this blogiversary celebration and share with us in the Comments section below your thoughts about The Wonder of Tech. Which topics are your favorite? What interests you most? Has The Wonder of Tech ever helped you? Do you have any article ideas for The Wonder of Tech? What changes would you like to see here?
Thank you for being a valued reader!
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* Fireworks image (edited) courtesy of Scott Cresswell via Flickr and Creative Commons
Congratulation on your 4 year anniversary! You have a wonderful blog and should be very proud of it. Not very many bloggers make it past the first six month.
Wishing you much success and lots of fun blogging in the future.
Thank you very much, Silke! Yes, I’m always sad when bloggers give up on their sites. I don’t get it, blogging is so much fun! I know I’ll have to quit someday but I still am excited to keep going. I truly appreciate all of your support and the support of other Wonder of Tech readers who keep me going!
Have a wonderful weekend, Silke. 🙂
Hi Carolyn,
Congratulations & Celebrations 🙂
Wishing you a very Happy Blogiversary my friend! Four years, and still going strong – yes, you continue to inspire and motivate SO many of us, including me.
You know I just completed my 4 years in December too, but haven’t written as many posts as you have, and you are always regular with them – just don’t know how you manage it all, commendable indeed, something for all of us to learn from.
Yes, I’ve known you and this wonderful blog for such a long time now, and seen it grow and get better each time. I cannot thank you enough for the lovely posts you put up, each one of them is full of information and teaches us something. I’ve learnt so much from your blog, as you make the tech stuff so easy for us to understand. So, it’s the right place for non-techies like us too! I just love being here, and you know that.
I did vote, but I cannot pick just 1-2 things I’d like to read here, as everything you share is wonderful, whether we have those things or not – it’s learning something, and that’s all that matters. 🙂
Thanks so much for being here and sharing all that you do, endlessly, with all of us. A pleasure knowing you, and I appreciate the kind mention as well. Yes, starting of the ABC (Aha!NOW Blog Community) with a very active forum has been something new, though still lots to be done with it. Have a nice weekend, and cheers once again 🙂
Hi Harleena, Thank you for your kind words. You are such an inspiration, my dear friend. You have been supportive every step of the way and I’m so glad that we met early in our blogging journeys.
Yes, I do try to write for everyday people, not techies, which is what sets my blog apart from most tech blogs. But they say that if you can’t explain something in plain language that you don’t really understand it yourself.
Tech is becoming an increasingly important part of our lives so we have to learn about it, even if we don’t like tech. I hope that The Wonder of Tech helps people develop an enthusiasm for how fun and useful tech can be!
Congratulations to you too, Harleena, for your four very successful years of blogging. You also had a major overhaul of your site, well beyond what I did here, in creating your ABC community there. I wish you much continued success as you continue. I’m so glad we’re in this together, my friend! <3
Congratulations! You know how much I value the information you share:) I’m coming up to 3 years online, and this year I’m making quite a shift in direction. I, like some of our friends who decided to leave the online world last year, debated about leaving this crazy online world, but I’ve decided to adjust my sails and sail in a different direction online. Cheers! and here’s to many more years.
Hi Kaarina, Thank you, I value you too, you have been so supportive of The Wonder of Tech and wrote a brilliant review of the Waterlogue app! You are so kind to comment and share my posts as well.
I look forward to seeing where your new direction takes you, Kaarina, and I’m glad you’ll be online still in 2015!
Congratulations Carolyn!!!
Thank you, Lee! I really appreciate all of your support over the years.
Happy Fourth Birthday, Carolyn! Wonder of Tech is Wonderful.
love,
Jennifer
Thank you, Jennifer!
Congratulations, Tech Lady!
And thanks again for writing in standard English, so that even us seniors can understand you.
Hi Gramps, Thanks! A lot more people understand plain English than understand tech terms, so it seems like a good idea to write in plain English to reach a broader audience. I am so excited to share great tech with the world that the more people I can reach the better. 🙂
Congratulations on year 4.
Thank you, Jerry! I appreciate you being a loyal Wonder of Tech reader. 🙂
Hi Carolyn,
Congratulations on your 4th blog-anniversary. You are always providing excellent information. I’m sure you will be still growing because ever since you started you have been going strong.
Enjoy this time!
-Donna
Thank you so very much, Donna, for your good wishes and kind words. Yes, I really love writing for The Wonder of Tech and I like what you say about enjoying this time. You’re absolutely right, nothing lasts forever so I should cherish this opportunity to write. I will always appreciate my dear readers who make this even more rewarding!
I am your new 85 year old great grandfather subscriber. Coming in 4 years late I have missed a wealth of information you have Posted over the past years. If you had the proverbial magic wand, I would love to see a link on your home page to an index of titles of past Posts and further sub links to the individual Posts.
Short of this, standard instructions on your Home Page how to best navigate your Post archives would be extremely helpful.
Congratulations on your 4 years of unselfish Ministry to the Internet User World.
Hello Jack, Thank you for your inspiration! Other bloggers have a Start Here! page and I have been thinking of creating one for The Wonder of Tech. You’ve just convinced me that is a good idea.
A Start Here! page will definitely help you navigate this site and find the articles that would be most helpful to you.
In the meantime you can find older articles at The Wonder of Tech in a few different ways. First, you can scroll to the bottom and choose Tags or Categories of articles that you find interesting. You can also click on the Archives link at the top of the page to take you to a chronological list of articles.
But I will definitely be working on a Start Here! page to make navigation easier.
Thank you for being an awesome Wonder of Tech reader and for your inspirational suggestions, Jack! So glad you’re here. 🙂
Carolyn,
Congrats on your four year anniversary! You provide a wonderful resource and a refreshing approach to tech issues, insights and opportunities without the jargon. I scan the teasers on everything you post and find myself clicking through to the complete article almost weekly. It’s been wonderful following your journey, gaining from your insight and enjoying your perspective on items I hear about here for the first time. Thanks for all you do!
Hi Nanette, You have been with me from the beginning and I always smile when I see your name on a comment. Your support from the earliest days of The Wonder of Tech has meant so much to me.
Yes, I do try to cover a variety of topics here so I’m hoping every week readers can find at least one article that helps them in their daily lives.
Thanks so much for your visit and wonderful comment, Nanette!
Hi Carolyn,
Congratulations! I can’t remember now how I found your articles for the first time, but I love reading them. I love the tips and new apps that you discover and share. Here’s to many, many more years to come!!!
Hi Darragh, Yes, I am very grateful to readers who discover The Wonder of Tech, often through other readers who share my articles. However you found The Wonder of Tech, I’m sure glad you’re here!
Congrats Carolyn for completing four years. I wish you live long and after more 4 years I’ll be here again to congratulate you.
Regards,
Hammad Rafique
4 more years; 4 more years! Congrats, I remember those early days being anxious to hit the ‘publish’ button. It seems kind of funny now.
I haven’t even been a good lurker lately; I stay in my PJ’s all day, shave every 3rd or 4th day, what’s a bum to do?
I had lot’s of fun and met some really great people (like you) that I wouldn’t have otherwise so to me, it was well worth the effort.
Best of luck to you and I’m very happy to see you still in the game. My latest passion is still mountain bike riding and according to my wife at my age the window of opportunity has already passed, so I’m squeezing in as much as I can. Going to a place called Santos in Ocala tomorrow; supposed to be one of the best tracks in Florida…I’m excited…:). The wife thinks I’m crazy…but what’s new, huh?
Take care ma’am.
Hi Bill, Yes, you are sorely missed from the Internet. Funny how we saw more of you when you were invisible. How does that work, anyway?
I think I have you figured out now, maybe. So your wife wasn’t thrilled with you spending time on blogging so you switched to spending time on death-defying mountain biking. I bet she wishes you were back to blogging, right?
Thanks so much for stopping by and for your wonderful wishes, Bill. I hope to see you back at billdorman.me someday soon!
Wow, cool to see the results of your 1st term as president…err..tech blogger! For me that milestone is still a couple years away.
Almost 800 posts! Prolific! How many books is that I wonder? All the best in your second term!
Hi AJ, Yes, four years is a very long time. I have thought about what would have happened if I put that energy into writing novels. Fiction is my first love, but I don’t have the discipline for writing fiction. The self-imposed structure of blogging gives me the incentive to keep going. Perhaps that’s why I haven’t missed my self-created deadlines in four years.
Perhaps someday I will be able to transfer my writing structure from blogging to story-telling. But I would very much miss blogging and sharing my passion for tech with others…
really informative web….
the 5th year is going to far better.. than ever!!..
Hi Prem, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Yes, I’m very pleased with how Year 5 is going so far. Thanks for sharing in the celebration!
Hi Carolyn
A big and loud congrats on such a wonderful achievement. You are spot-on saying one can achieve high school education in four years and it does mean now you are a degree holder in blogging after successful completion of almost half decade in this field. I am nearing this benchmarkt and will do this in a few months. 🙂
I am an avid reader of your technology posts and love to visit regularly and check latest updates. This week I could not have visited but was feeling something I missed this week doing and I got this post at FB shared by none other than Harleena our common friend and I dived into it and much impressed to read your great milestones during this awesome blogging journey.
I wish you more success in future and keep sharing your wonderful posts to help us learn more and more.
Thanks a lot
Hello Mi, Great point! I do feel as if I’ve received my blogging degree. Four years should do it, right? Well, I guess I need to go on to a post-grad degree because there’s so much more to learn!
But that’s what I love about blogging, it’s such an intellectual exercise. Just when you think you know it all, you find out something you didn’t know before and then wonder what else you don’t know!
Thank you so much for your lovely comment and wishes, Mi. Always a pleasure to have you here at The Wonder of Tech!
Sixteen years from now we’ll celebrate your 20th blogiversary and be amazed by how much we still enjoy using two tin cans and string to play telephone. 😉
Wow, Josh, do you really think there will be new tech inventions 16 years from now? I’m pretty sure humans will have invented everything by 2020. Maybe then robots will take over and they will be running The Wonder of Tech?
Hi Carolyn,
Sorry for my late response but as you know, I’ve been offline painting for the past 4 days but had to email you to congratulate you and here I am. Happy birthday/anniversary and I’m thrilled you’ve been here 4 years now.
I’m so thrilled and excited to have met you online and you’ve been my “go to” tech queen now for awhile. A lot of my buying decision were because of you so I can’t thank you enough.
Looking forward to 4 more years and beyond of your tech knowledge and information.
Hope you had a great weekend and enjoy what this week has to offer. Be safe now, I know bad weather is headed your way.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, As I said in my article, I am so grateful to you, Adrienne, for the enduring friendship and support you have given me from the beginning. You have been my “go to” friend for stupid questions and I have had plenty of them for you! I chose wisely as you have been a helpful guide to help me navigate the blogosphere. This site would have been a much different place without your advice, Adrienne!
Congratulations on painting your home. I know that’s a big job but you can get daily satisfaction from your hard work. Painting makes blogging look pretty easy, right?
Thanks so much for everything, Adrienne!
Congratulation for your blog 4th Birthday. 🙂 I’ve visited so many times in your blog & its still on my bookmark list.!
Thank you very much for your many visits and for keeping The Wonder of Tech on your bookmark list, Chandan. It’s always great to have you visit here!
Carolyn,
Congratulations for 4 years of awesomeness. It really amazing when we look back to how we started and how we did for years.
Cool. Enjoy this year with a lot more successes.
Hi Atish, Yes, it is fun to look back and see where we started and how far we’ve come. I’m very grateful to the many readers who have joined me in this journey. The Wonder of Tech has been successful well beyond what I imagined. I hope that this site continues to grow as I will continue to try to cover the best tech I can find!
Congrats, Carolyn, on your big achievement: 4 years of blogging with a regular 3 posts per week schedule. If it were not too early in the morning I’d toast you with a glass of bubbly!
I have been following your blog from practically the start on and found so much useful information and tips, especially on photography. You also taught me to be patient with new releases – having fallen once into the trap of over-eagerness to update to the latest iOS version right at the start and swearing *** and %%% – and sit out the baby glitches.
Thank you so much, Carolyn, and here’s to many more!
Hi Barbara, Yes, you really have been with me from the beginning which is amazing. Our friendship has evolved from blogging buddies to Triberr tribemates to fellow Masterminds! Thank you so much for all of your support every step of the way, Barbara.
That’s exactly right, so many people jump in head first to update tech but it’s best to let others work out the bugs. Giving yourself some time lets you avoid headaches and frustrations. If you simply can’t wait to update, then go ahead and do it but know that you’re going to be a tester as well as a pioneer!