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Here we are closing out another year.  Hard believe that this blog is almost two years old!  Wow, so much has happened in the last two years both in my life and in this blog.  For a tradition started last year here are the top ten posts written inbased on pageviews.  In a year that we wrote 159 posts we are talking about content in the top 6% here!

So let’s take a look.

1. The Great Keynote Meltdown of - This post was nominated as a most influential post inby a higher ed community and was linked to from many influential bloggers around the web and a controversial mention in the Chronicle of Higher Ed.  Since I write on this blog I’ll toss my two cents out and say that the Chronicle and reader comments really came out in that article as clueless.    Anyway great article by Director of Web Marketing and an experience that anyone who attended will not soon forget.
2. Web Development Tools. What’s in your web toolbelt? - Associate Director’ post from way back in January continues to be a page people visit daily and a staple of advice for anyone who is serious about Web Development.
3. Is Your University Using Twitter to Its Fullest Potential? - Another early in the year post where Director of Web Communication helps individuals get a grasp on how to leverage Twitter.  If you are still struggling with this, you might want to check out this post.
4. Summary of the newE-expectations summary for higher education - This Noel-Levitz research report provided lots of insight into student recruitment, but as with any report it never hurts to have an expert go through it and break down what all the material means.  We have Director of Web Communicationto help our reads with that.
5. Understanding On-Page SEO for a Higher Education Website - In preparation for presenting on SEO, I wrote this post in a string of posts about SEO.  This one really took off although it is important to mention its Off-Page SEO companion as just as important.
6. sex…Sex…SEX! Now I Have Your Attention. - This provocatively titled book review post by Head of Marketing has gotten quite a few visitors searching for sex multiple times.  Hopefully the content provided them the value that they were looking for!?  Anyone looking for information about Neuro Marketing should check out this post.
7. Feeling Naked: A Tale of the Disappearing Facebook Fan Page - Director of Web Communicationtells us a horror story of what happened to her school’s presence on the juggernaut known as Facebook.  Although it didn’t make the list, the follow-up post is also worth mentioning in this threadProtecting your College’s Intellectual Property on Facebook.  This follow-up post was actually a guest post by Web Manager.
8. Social Networking Research: 99% of 18-24 Year Olds are on Social Networks - I remember writing this post as a reaction to some research I discovered on another site.  It was actually one of the easiest and quickest posts I have ever written so it’s kind of surprising to me to see the long term value in it.   This just goes to show that timely and relevant information is important to your audience.
9. Café New Paltz - 5 days in - Of the many posts written by Director of Web Communicationabout Café New Paltz this was the most viewed.  If you are thinking about setting up or creating a social network for your recruitment efforts you should definitely take a look at all of these posts.
10. Easy ROI on Facebook Ads - I’m a big believer that PPC (Pay Per Click) and online ads are a VERY untapped marketing channel for Higher Ed in general.  Facebook Ads are one of the cheapest and can easily target your specific audiences with visual ads.  Head of Marketing tells us exactly how to measure the return on investment from these ads.

Bonus: Older Posts People Still Care About

Not surprisingly, we have some older posts that have stood the test of time and that fit right in with these other posts.  These posts show the true power of SEO and creating remarkable content.

1. The Use of Social Media in Higher Education for Marketing and Communications – Director of Web Communication’s guest post from the summer oflaunched a true social media guru.  It also was the most viewed post ineven though it’s 18 months old.
2. Google Analytics Filters: Helping you Better Segment, Clean, and Understand your Data – This is anotherpost that was actually the second most viewed post in 2009.  Like Rachel’s post, it could be said that this post launched me as an authority on Google Analytics, something that I’ve made numerous presentations on, including an upcoming webinar in February.
3. What is the Best Multi-Client Instant Messenger Software? - I named Digsby my winner back then, and I still use it today so this one still holds up.  Of course Mac or Linux individuals will still have to look for something else.
4. Tracking Flash with Google Analytics and Example - Associate Director’ very first post on this blog continues to help individuals get everything they can out of Google Analytics around tracking flash.

Hopefully everyone is looking forward to a BIGand a whole new decade!  We always have big plans, so stay tuned for our annual recap if you are interested in where this blog has come and where it is going.

Photo Credit: Sculpted Mirrors by Cold Press Publishing