Backstage at the Blog: S is for Statistics

30 thoughts on “Backstage at the Blog: S is for Statistics”

1. I confess, I scan the comments on my shared blog all the time. Can’t help myself! Ironic- my current career (technology market research) is so far removed from my previous (teaching ancient history) but now I’m all about the numbers, so I pay attention like I never would have. It’s natural, and I think you’ve got the right idea (comments >>> hits), as well as a sensible goal for the year.

   1. Hi Will,
      I’m learning that I’m so much more about the personal connections I make in social media than about the numbers. Fortunately, that’s not altogether a bad thing, but I sometimes question whether it is good time management.
      In the end, I have to ask myself what I enjoy– and the exchanges I have with you guys in the comments are by far one of the most rewarding aspects of having this blog. 🙂

      (Although I have to admit I smiled a little when I saw WordPress sent me an update to tell my that my stats are booming, probably as a result of this challenge!)

2. I love graphs and charts and stats but I don’t like to judge blogs by them. There are so many different ways to follow blogs these days! Feedly, bloglovin, bookmarking, rss, etc, so really interaction could come from anywhere!

   <3

   1. Hi Mia,
      Welcome to A Scenic Route!
      Numbers don’t mean that much to me either, as I feel that I can judge for myself whether something interests me or not. So many blogs, so little time. 🙂

3. You and I have almost the same numbers. When I saw your graph I almost thought it was mine! Hahaha, congrats on the A to Z boost. It doesn’t mean much now but the cool thing is maybe you’ll pick up a few people who will stick around.

   1. I wasn’t sure if I should share my little graph, but I’m glad I did. We have to start somewhere. 🙂
      A to Z has been a whirlwind, but I think I’ve made some great new connections!

      1. Agreed! This is my second time and it gets easier, and the results make it all worth it in the end.

4. Mia brings up a good point. Our blogs can be linked to so many other places that the WordPress statistics are now just one on of many measures on a blogs reach. My goal is to engage with a couple hundred frequent visitors and have a larger group that drops by every once in a while.

   1. Yes, I hadn’t thought about the fact that WordPress only measures one aspect of my blogging influence.
      Your goal is impressive! I’m always amazed by blogs that have so many visitors. 🙂

5. I’m a bit obsessed with stats. lol It kills me when I write what I felt was a good post and I only get 5-10 hits that day. I try not to obsess too much because it just makes me twitch, but since the A to Z challenge started my stats have hovered around an average of 50 views and 40 unique visitors per day, and I’ve picked up about 30 new followers. Not too shabby, I suppose. 🙂

   1. That’s a nice bump up, Tracey!
      I blogged for a long time with absolutely nobody here, and I think about those posts sadly now, because nobody read them. The good thing is, now that I have followers, I can at least link back to my old posts in case someone is interested. I could even fluff them up and re-post them sometime.
      I strongly believe that nothing in writing is ever wasted. 🙂

      1. Oh for sure, no writing is wasted. Even if no one ever reads it, it served the purpose of getting words to paper (or computer screen) and thus exercising your mind for further writing. 🙂

         I am like you as well, though. For the first seven or eight months of my blog’s life the only people reading were my parents and a couple of Facebook friends, and it killed me when I would write what I thought was an excellent post and get no hits on it. Now-a-days I look on the bright side…I have a huge back-log of possible entries in a non-fiction book. ;D

6. I check my stats regularly because let’s face it, if I hadn’t wanted readers, I wouldn’t have started a blog in the first place but I’ve found they can be really contradictory. For example I get a like on the post but it still shows up as no visitors for that day. How can that be even possible? Or I’ve had visits from say 10 countries and it shows I had a total of 7 visitors – someone must be jumping between countries really quickly 🙂
   So I agree, we shouldn’t place too much emphasis on it but it’s nice to look at :0
   Andrea, #atozchallenge Mighty Minion Asset
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   1. How weird to get a like but no visitors! Must be a blogging ghost. 😉
      I usually don’t have time to look at my stats too long, though, especially with this A to Z challenge. I’m to busy hopping around to other blogs!

7. I don’t pay much attention to stats at all, either. I’m more fascinated by what posts get hit and like to wonder why. It’s weird how old random posts suddenly get read a bunch of times in one day. I always figure it’s just bots, but you never know.

   1. The weirdest thing that gets hit for me is a post I did with an image of silver swirls on it. You wouldn’t believe how many times people search for silver swirls!
      Whatever gets me hits, I suppose, I’ll take it. 🙂

8. My stats scare me sometimes…

   1. lol 🙂 Your stats would scare me too!
      Whatever you’re doing, it’s working. 🙂

9. I started the A-Z Challenge with 18 followers and am thrilled that I now have 39. If I get more than ten unique visitors in a single day, that’s a good day. I just checked my stats: Best ever, 36 views. Total views to date, 1405. Total comments, 193. Baby steps, right? And I’m grateful for every single one. What really blows me away are hits from all over the world–like 25 different countries. I always think, wow, someone in (country) is reading this! Whoa!!

   (Maybe one of these days you could do a “how to do screen shots” post. I have NO idea how to do that!)

   1. Shoot, I could have done Screen shots for the letter S! (Gives me an idea for more blog posts though.)
      I think it’s so cool to get hits from all over the world. Thinking about my words touching someone from Australia or Africa or Europe gives me chills of delight.
      Your stats are a really good start, and I’ll bet all your followers will be the kind that stick around. 😉

10. I’m always amazed at how many countries show up on the stats. It is a small world. By the way how do you insert the charts and graphs into the blog. I’ve never figured it out

    1. Hi Susan,
       I used screen shots to get pictures of my charts, and in fact anything that’s on my screen, into my post. I’m really thinking I need to do a post about that sometime!
       The reach of the worldwide web is a wonderful thing. 🙂

       1. and then how do you get the screen shot into the blog? do you just do copy and paste?

          1. Yes, the screen shot is a .png file, which you can drag into the media file like any other image.

11. I don’t follow my stats very closely, though I probably should. I’m just happy when people visit!

    1. Me too!
       I think if I was closer to publication I would probably start to pay more attention to the numbers, but right now I’m just having fun to meeting other writers and sharing the journey. 🙂

12. Nope – got no WOW for ya here 🙂 Other than the WOW I spout when I go to the blogs I follow and read so many great thoughts, creations and inspirations. I was very excited to hit 100 followers, but even that’s quite meaningless since more than a handful are spammers or people who came once and I haven’t heard a peep from since.

    The only stat I look at, and am fascinated by, is the number of countries my readers come from. If I did have a goal, it would be to expand that to at least double the already-WOW number.

    1. You know, I’m thinking it might be cool to display the world part of my stats on the side bar! I just love that I can reach out to people from all over the world and chat with them, if they’re so inclined, right here on my screen.
       Mind-blowing really, if you think about it. Wow. 🙂

       1. Yes it is. I have been able to identify some of my followers and their countries, but when other countries show up, I have no idea who it is! I have seen a few bloggers post that screen once in awhile. It’s kind of fun.

          1. Kirsten – just checked my stat to see my “morning country visits” and have a new one from Aizerbaijan!!! Yeasterday I had my first from Pakistan. What a hoot – they might be spammers, but still a thrill to imagine a blogger far more exotic than spam 🙂

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