This is the history blog's third State of the Blog Address. This, however, is not your ordinary blog update. Last year, the second State of the Blog Address was published to provide an annual report on the progress being made by this history blog. This year, the newly established tradition of publishing an annual address continues with the third address. This is the 29th update article published by this history blog. For many who may think this is just some chest-beating and chair-raising, then I am probably doing mine. However, these small successes are owed not only to a single author writing somewhere in the archipelago, but also to the tens of thousands of readers who even bothered, because I may be an army of one, but we have empowered thousands to know and appreciate their history. These people must know that they have been part of a larger movement to restore our national memory, because a nation without history is like a person without memory.

Why October?

New name, new logo It portrays the site's initials

It has to be recalled why the annual address has been delivered every October of the year. While the anniversary is in December, on October 4, 2014, the Filipino Historian (FH) began as The Young Filipino Historian (TYFH), which revival was first announced on September 29 of the same year. The task was not easy as this blog focuses on a discipline that is not really popular in the Philippines. There is also fierce competition presented by older and better organized, although usually trivialized, history blogs and websites. What can a "single author writing somewhere in the archipelago" do? Still, while the situation seemed hopeless, the restoration is on. This is where our story begins.

Not expected to outdo in the near future what has been achieved in the first two years, the bar at the time was quite low. However, it is to be found out that this is not your ordinary history blog. Going beyond simple trivia and speculation, the blog featured details and analyses that are not to be found among leading history blogs. Most of the articles also have a reference list to encourage readers to confirm what they have read and to establish authority for this history blog. Relevant images and videos were added wherever possible to keep articles from appearing bland. What is aimed here is to show that history is not only about dates, personalities, and places. There is more to it than meets the eye. These methods, however, had kept the article generation of the blog relatively low compared to most blogs.

In the first two years of this blog, it has recorded a monthly average of 52 views. In the next three years, the blog has recorded a daily average of 106 views (up from 34 views a day as of December 2016), and the trend continues to hold. As of June 2017, the blog has exceeded 12,000 views in a month, a performance which may well solidify a spot for the Filipino Historian in the Top 50 blogs in the Philippines.

Rising the ranks

One million miracles in 2018

Facebook page as of 2017

On October 29, 2014, the official Facebook page of this history blog was launched. To date, the page had exceeded 1850 followers. This means an average growth of 12% per month since the second address, a quicker pace than last year's 9% per month. For the information of many, unlike other "popular" blogs and websites, even those dabbling with history, the Filipino Historian does not, and will not, buy or purchase followers and views for the sake of popularity. Until now, the author has no means to acquire its own top-level domain, which may further boost its search engine optimization. What was achieved now by this single author is hard work, coupled by the irreplaceable support of thousands who grew to love and appreciate history through this medium.

Twitter page as of 2017

All time statistics reveal that Facebook has been the largest single source of views for this history blog so far. Views from Facebook account for 50% of the total all time views of the blog, up from 23% last year. The following year, on October 27, 2015, the official Twitter page of this history blog was launched. From 5 followers last year (2016), it has increased to 14 followers. While Twitter remained insignificant in contributing to traffic for this blog (around 0.1%), it is seen as one of the possible growth areas in the coming years. Other rising traffic contributors include Google (8.7%), Wikipedia (0.19%), and Blogarama (0.13%).

Also last year, it has been projected that the Filipino Historian will reach 500,000 people by 2017, and a million people by 2018. This history blog has made this as its short-term vision for the next few years: "a million miracles." As of October 10, 2017, we have broken through 800,000 impressions in social media, whereas the target for the year 2017 is only 500,000 impressions. As the year arrives at its final quarter, these signs help our lone author gain confidence that a million people can actually be reached by 2018, and the miracle be achieved. Of course, the service to the people of the Philippines and the world does not end. As we approach five years of public service, it is envisioned for this blog to reach as many as possible to fulfill the greater good of history.

Satisfaction ratings
The exact question used in the survey is: How is your experience with the articles? There are four choices: Very satisfied, satisfied, unsatisfied, and very unsatisfied. More than 99% of the 242 respondents were very satisfied, and less than 1% were satisfied. For the first time since 2014, there were no unsatisfied ratings. Respondents increased from the past year (2016), and ratings remained sky high (it was 97% from 2014-2015, and 98% from 2015-2016). On October 10, 2017, a new year-long survey was launched. You can rate your experience with the Filipino Historian at the sidebar.

A national blog for the Philippines
On November 24, 2014, the blog began to officially record its reach throughout the Philippines partially through Facebook. This is the first result received by the blog. Darker areas meant there are more readers within the province. It is evident that the blog had only reached some parts of Luzon. Of course, it has to be considered that the blog had to begin from virtually nothing, and it has no tangible team to even consider. This history blog is maintained by a single author.

On June 1, 2015, the history blog recognized that it was read in 35 countries worldwide other than the Philippines, and had double- and triple-digit number of visitors in at least six (6) of these countries since the official count began February 3, 2015. Since then, the title International has been added. How has the Filipino Historian fared after two and a half years? As of October 10, 2017, the blog has been read in 90 countries. It also had double- and triple-digit number of visitors in at least 30 countries worldwide, an increase from 26 countries last year. Meanwhile, the social media outlets of this blog has followers from 45 different nations, up from 28 last year. Despite the increasing worldwide reach of this blog, and the diversification of the topics being covered, it is noticeable that 62% of all time views (up from 58%) and 90% of social media followers hail from the author's homeland, the Philippines. He is, after all, the Filipino Historian.

The itsy bitsy blog crawling up the Web

Filipino Historian averaged 48 (as of 2016) and 28 (as of 2017) in the rankings. The highest rank reached in any ranking website was Top 4.

The following are some of the screenshots to showcase how the blog has fared in leading search engines. All the readers and the followers of this history blog receives utmost thanks from its author.