From Anne Giles Clelland, founder of Handshake Media, Incorporated, a VT KnowledgeWorks member company:
Inside VT KnowledgeWorks, the VT KnowledgeWorks blog, will celebrate its fourth anniversary on November 30, 2011.
In The VT KnowledgeWorks Blog - Top Ten Posts from Its First Three Years, I shared the top ten posts from the blog's first three years.
In order, according to Google Analytics, here are the VT KnowledgeWorks blog's posts with the top traffic in the four years since its founding, November 2008 through November 2011:
Media Fragmentation and What To Do About It, April, 2009
Meet Audrey Fontaine, Visiting Entrepreneur at Rackspace, September 2009
Portaqua - Changing Lives at the First Drop, March, 2009
Meet the VTKW Global Student Challenge Teams - Artbeating, August 2010
VT KnowledgeWorks Global Student Business Challenge: The Teams, June 2011
Meet the VTKW Global Student Challenge Teams - Ecosy, August 2010
Guide to the VTKW Global Student Challenge Teams, August 2010
VTKW Global Student Business Concept Challenge Showcase of Teams: University of Kent, July 2011
EnergyWare - Pairing Up Green Computing and Business Results, April 2009
From three years of working on the VT KnowledgeWorks blog, I offered this observation:
When we started the blog in 2008, the top source of traffic was "direct" i.e. people knew of the blog and typed in the URL or clicked on a link in an email. Four years later, the top source of traffic is Google. I posit two reasons. One, "Google" wasn't a verb in 2007 but it is now - we all "Google it" to find what we seek. Two, from the beginning, for the VT KnowledgeWorks blog we've wanted what Google wants, "high-quality sites - sites with original content and information." Locally, nationally and globally, those seeking solutions to problems and answers to questions are finding them on the VTKW blog.
From four years of working on Inside VT KnowledgeWorks, I offer these observations about online content.
News matters.
- In its first 3 years, 6 of 10 of the top ten posts featured news of VT KnowledgeWorks events.
- In its first 4 years, 7 of 10 of the top ten posts featured news of VT KnowledgeWorks events.
Social media matters.
- In its first 3 years, prior to the advent of extensive use of VT KnowledgeWorks Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, 2008-2010, 8 of the top ten posts were from 2009, 2 from 2010. On their own, blog posts got tougher to share in 2010.
- In its first 4 years, 2008-2011, the distribution of top posts shifted: 4 of the top ten posts were from 2008, 3 from 2010, and 3 from 2011. By using a blog + Facebook + Twitter strategy - the triumvirate of social media PR and marketing, all indexed by Google - VT KnowledgeWorks extended its reach into prized Google search results.
I'll share more top ten lists and observations as we approach the VT KnowledgeWorks blog's fourth anniversary on November 30, 2011.
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VT KnowledgeWorksencourages and enables creative entrepreneurship world-wide, through innovative curriculum, local business resource centers, and a global network of cooperating regions, all focused on three essential contributors to success: clear understanding of fundamental business principles; access to timely, relevant information; and meaningful personal and corporate relationships. It is a subsidiary of the Virginia Tech Foundation, funded through the continuing confidence and enthusiasm of its clients, sponsors and friends, both corporate and individual. Its world headquarters is in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg, Virginia, USA.
VT KnowledgeWorks sponsors include Attaain, Inc., BB&T, The Branch Group, Handshake 2.0, Harris Office Furniture, Hodges, Jones & Mabry, P.C., Hutchison Law Group, LeClairRyan, New River Valley Intellectual Property Law, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and The Becher Agency (TBA).
I loved reading and reviewing your top ten posts from the past four years! It was a trip down memory lane and it's amazing that it's all GLOBAL – cool!
Posted by: Lindsey Eversole | November 20, 2011 at 03:29 PM