Closing out 2011 I took a look at Google Analytics to see how JapanTravelMate.com performed in 2011. The growth was great, increasing steadily every month. Getting in the swing of the “best of” lists that are all too common around the new year, here is the top 5 most popular articles from 2011, based on unique page views…

#5 – iPhone/iPad app reliably recognises Kanji

http://japantravelmate.com/iphoneipad-app-reliably-recognises-kanji/

Published on May 27 and has had 2250 views since. Over 90% of this traffic comes from Google.

In 2011 I started learning kanji and couldn’t find much good information on how to reliably interpret kanji. After many conversations with long-term expats in Japan and a few iPhone session, I found out how to do it!

 

#4 – Why travel to Japan? Top 10 reasons to go and visit

http://japantravelmate.com/why-travel-to-japan-top-10-reasons-to-go/

An “evergreen” article from 2010 with 4050 views in 2011. Almost all of this traffic is a steady flow from Google.

This was the first article I ever published about travelling Japan and actually existed before JapanTravelMate.com ever did! I used to blog about my Japan travels on my personal blog, but the articles became very popular so I made the decision to make a dedicated Japan site.

 

#3 – Sushi train restaurants in Japan

http://japantravelmate.com/sushi-train-restaurants-in-japan/

Published June 6 and was viewed 4100 times in 2011. Three quarters of these views came over 2 days from a Japanese search engine portal.

I was always a fan of sushi train restaurants in Australia, but they were so huge, cheap and delicious and Japan I had to do a write up about them!

 

#2 – Why go to Japan?

http://japantravelmate.com/why-go-to-japan/

Published May 15 and had 4150 views in 2011. More than half of these views came over just 2 days when a Japanese news site that referenced this article.

Although I was happy with my original top 10 reasons to visit Japan post (#4 above), by now I had actually lived in Japan for a few months and a bit more concise and informative.

 

#1 – Is It Safe To Travel To Japan?

http://japantravelmate.com/is-it-safe-to-travel-to-japan/

May 3 – 6000+ views. Although most of the traffic comes from Google, in just 3 days more than 1000 views came from a Japanese news site where the article was featured.

This article was contribute by a guest author. So it just goes to prove that guest posting works! The contributor must have received a fair few clicks!

 

But I think this article should have gotten the top spot…

Reactions to disaster – 2011 Japan Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami… I wanted to do a different type of article to tell people that it is safe to come to Japan.

Published in June 2011 I asked a simple question to a few people living in Japan and posted their responses in this interview style article about their experience after the great earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11, 2011.