Bagger on Blogging

I've just realised that yesterdays post was the 100th I've made since starting this hillwalking blog, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to reflect on Bagger's experience as a 'blogger'.

First, I'd like to pay tribute to Typepad, the blogging publisher - for a few pounds a month they make it easy to publish Bagger and their software is very easy to configure. Over the past year they have regularly added features to improve their service. I've always enjoyed surfing the web and having a blog has encouraged me to log on and find material to share. I've been pleasently surprised by the range and extent of Scottish hillwalking material and there is an ever growing number of sites.

However I am somewhat surprised at the lack of other hillwalking blogs, particularly with regard to Munro bagging. For people working their way through the Munros, an online diary such as a blog seems an easy way to share their experiences. The only diary style blog I've come across is MountainMad.

Bagger is much more about linking to a range of material which I consider to be of interest to hillwalkers. I 'compleated' the Munros a few years ago so I'm no longer ticking off the list - with a young family, my days on the hill are less frequent and sometimes geared around the capabilities of children. One of the great benefits of doing the blog is that it keeps my interest in the hills active even if I don't actually get out as often as I once did.

Among the high spots was being named site of the day by Guardian Online and being mentioned on a BBC website as an example of what blogging is about. The jump in traffic to Bagger after a mention by the 'online big boys' was amazing. Indeed I'm absolutely astonished by the level of traffic I now receive - around 1,000 hits amonth. That with no active effort to promote the site, although for some reason I seem to show up pretty well in Google searches. I'd also like to thank other sites that have added links to me.

I intend to keep Bagger going - as I said, it keeps up my interest in hillwalking even if I'm not getting out on the hills as much as I would like. I intend to add more links to the side bar and to add to my photo albums, two things I've been a bit negligent in doing. I also intend to try and post more regularly. At the moment it's probably around 3 or 4 posts a week. Ideally I'd like to post daily - I'm sure there's enough material.

Finally - in time honoured tradition - I'd like to thank all my readers! I'm astonished at how many there are and I hope you all continue to visit my humble blog!

Comments

[Armin]

Congratulations! ... and keep on blogging!