September 20, 2012: Today we exuberantly celebrate CaptivatingCappadocia.com’s FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!
We thank God that by most every measure this has been a successful first year, and we are proud to proclaim that we are the best Cappadocia website in the world! (Of course, we are not biased in that judgment 
We thought we would take this opportunity to give some statistics and recap the first year. This will give you a chance to see how you compare to the average reader.
CONTENT
* 186 Posts & 13 Pages
* 649 Comments
FAVORITE POSTS
My favorite posts were probably my first series on relationships. I looked back at those posts recently and wished I had written them (oh, I did write them!). Besides those, maybe my hot-air balloon post is second as I enjoyed studying the history of the balloons. I also enjoyed Aaron’s posts on the Cappadocian Fathers (made the cave churches even more meaningful) and Christian’s video of making simit.
TRAFFIC
* Over 12,000 different people visited the site and viewed over 36,000 pages.
* Each visitor spent about 2.5 minutes on the site on average.
* About 65% of visitors leave the site after looking at one page. This is pretty high. We would like to reduce this over the next year. (Goal Alert!)
FROM WHICH COUNTRIES ARE PEOPLE VIEWING?
* United States = 37%
* Turkey = 26%
* UK = 6%
* Canada = 3%
* India & Australia = 2%
TOP 6 CITIES
Istanbul, Kayseri, Ankara, San Francisco, New York, & London (none have more than 7.5% of viewers)
REPEAT VERSUS NEW VISITORS
Each month about 68% of the visitors are new. This makes sense as most people only visit Cappadocia once. They find the website during their research phase and then do not need it after they leave the region.
MOBILE USERS
Around 20% are mobile users. I think this is an area in which we need to upgrade. (Goal Alert!)
TOP 5 TRAFFIC SOURCES
* Google = 40%
* Direct = 30%
* Facebook = 10%
* Stumble Upon = 5%
* Twitter = 4%
From which source do you visit the site?
MOST VIEWED PAGES (BESIDES HOMEPAGE)?
(each of these was viewed between 300 and 750 times):
* About (Here’s the Back Story)
* Visting Cappadocia? Start Here!
* Spice of Life in Cappadocia: 60 Spices Found at the Open Market
* 10 Must-Visit Sites in Cappadocia
* Kismet Cave House Free Night Giveaway
* 29+ Books to Read If You are Interested in Turkey
* 10 Must-Do Activities in Cappadocia
* 3 Days in Cappadocia? Here’s How to Spend Them
SPEED:
It seems to take about 20 seconds to open on average when you first visit the website. This is another area that needs upgrading. (Goal Alert!)
MISCELLANEOUS
* Have not been able to keep track of how many new friends we have made through the website.
* Village School Library Book Project
* Rode in a hot-air balloon
* Stayed in a few nice hotels
* Rode on a Jet Boat
* Interviewed some amazing authors – Seal, Kinzer, Shindeldecker, & Morris (not posted yet).
GIVEAWAYS
We did 10 giveaways and publicized one book that is available free online.
* 40 Books
* 2 Nights at Hotels
* 1 Hot Air Balloon Ride
* 1 50TL Gift Certificate to a local restaurant
* We made very cute and creative videos to show how we chose the giveaway winners. If you have not seen them, we recommend taking a few minutes to check them out- they are all family friendly and most will make you laugh. Click here to go to the video page and let us know which is your favorite.
SOCIAL MEDIA
* Facebook Page: Over 140 Likes
* Twitter: Over 450 Followers and 3400 Tweets
THE FUTURE
In the year ahead we plan to continue what we have been doing. In addition, Lord willing, we will get two books published.
One will be a free ebook of much of the best blog content so that tourists can download all the great Cappadocia travel information at once.
The second will be a Cappadocia travel guide and discount book. We will charge for this one, but it will pay for itself as it will include many exclusive discounts that will allow the user to save more money than they paid for the book.
And we hope to add a feature of letting tourists participate more in the life of the blog. If you have other ideas, do not hesitate to let us know.
Most of all I am thankful to those of you who have read the blog and have been kind enough to write encouraging words. We do this for you and for our local friends, so knowing it has helped in some way is a huge payoff. Our number one goal is to continue to provide quality, helpful content that helps you to have the best experience possible in Cappadocia and blesses the local people who make their living through tourism.
What was your favorite post?
Did you enjoy this post? If so, here’s what you can do. Please share this post with your friends by clicking on one of the buttons below or to the side. Also, you may want to subscribe to these posts. Click here and follow the instructions. One of my goals is to help people who will visit Cappadocia. This is your way to help me meet this goal. Thank you, I am grateful.
Duke Dillard moved to Turkey with his wife and 6 children in 2007. He got an MBA at Bilkent University in Ankara, where they had their 7th child. After 4 years in Ankara the whole family moved to Cappadocia, and this blog was born. We love Cappadocia and Cappadocians and want to help visitors make the most of their time here. You can connect with Duke on Facebook, follow him on Twitter, and/or link circles on Google+. Click here to read more about Duke and his family.
