Okay, the thing is… and this is a thing I have talked about before… but I am a self-confessed stat monkey. Not only because I feel that it somehow validates the insane amount of time I spend writing and doing funny pictures, but also because, according to the book: ‘Getting Published For Idiots’, given to me by my wife when I first started trying to self-publish my books, a popular blog is a selling point to literary agents and publishers… (Oh, and I am also trying to conquer the world)…
So I pay a lot of attention to my stats… and not only because I am self-centered, egotistical and shallow… and I do not like what my stats are telling me.
I know that we all have good days and bad…
I know things fluctuate…
I was on my stats page, and I hit the ‘days’ button, like I always do, just to see how many people had come to see me today, and where they were all from…
109 views, 37 visitors- not bad for a Sunday, which is historically a slow day… and people from all over the world, that is always nice… (I actually use my stats world map like a game of ‘Risk’, trying to conquer the entire globe… and there is no feeling quite like that magic day where you first get a hit from China, and a big chunk of the world gets filled in with color… or you get a hit from some small country you didn’t even know existed)…
(I don’t think this map is accurate for the life of my entire blog, it might just be one year, but you get the idea… ooooh… I finally got Greenland!!! But I think I have had way more than 11,824 total hits from the U. S.)
After looking at today’s stats, and seeing if I had a hit from some new country, I scanned the rest of the single day bars going back a week or so… like I do… It is a crazy graph, with highs and lows, but about average… I had one day with:
27 views from 21 visitors… (well, that sucks)
And one day with:
208 views from 43 visitors… (I rock!!!)
(I had one day, early on in my blog, where I got over 3,000 views, and I still don’t know what I did that day… maybe WordPress just uses a computer randomizer and makes all these stats up)
Then I clicked the ‘week’ button, and did the same thing… with similar results…
One week had:
234 views from 204 visitors
Another week had:
1,200 views from 234 visitors
I don’t usually look at the ‘weeks’, and I rarely look at the months… but then I noticed the ‘years’ button, and realized that I hadn’t hit that for a long time… if ever… so I did…
And this is where it gets weird… I mean, I know our ‘followers’ number always goes up, except in the rare instance where somebody ‘unfollows’ us… and I am fully aware that just because some one is still following you that they might not still be looking at your blog… or even be alive… and this gives us a false sense of security… as if we are constantly getting more popular…
So, imagine my surprise, when I hit the ‘years’ button, to find this…
2012- 30,689 views, 544 visitors
2013- 44,532 views, 8,713 visitors
2014- 53,851 views, 10,608 visitors… so far, so good, right, a steady rise… and then… wait… WTF??? The next bar is SHORTER!!!
2015- 43,360 views… what the hell… that is less than the year before, and the year before that!!!… the only good news is that there were- 11,030 visitors… which is higher than those other years… phew!… wait… am I going up or down??? I am so confused…
It is too early to tell what this year brings. Maybe it will kick ass, and I am worrying for nothing. Either that, or people are reading less… or less people are reading more… or… something!!!???!!!
One last word on stats…
Why is it that the one stat WordPress claims not to keep track of is the number of comments on a single post. You all know I have that post where we are trying to break the record for the most comments on a non-celebrity blog post… but how can we know when we break the record if they won’t tell us what the record is???
This seems fishy to me.
I think we broke that record… that post has 44,332 responses on it… and even if half of those are my replies to your comments and replies, we still did pretty good… sigh.
***A final note***
What I do know is this… the vast majority of my views, visits and comments come from a select few of you that continue to visit my blog… and for that… I am eternally grateful!!!
It is for, loyal friends, that I continue to do… uh… whatever the hell it is I do around here…
Thanks.
***(Stat Monkey is actually a picture from my children’s book: ‘I Like Monkeys’, which I use now and then, changing the words on the sign to suit the new post… This book, and many others, are available, over there to the right—>, in my sidebar, by clicking on the pictures of my books… just sayin’)***
Pouring My Art Out 
I often read your blog when I need a nano-break at work. It’s fun. But I can’t always and don’t always read all your posts, and like Paul I usually just view the first few in a series. I have limited time for reading blogs, and I can’t only read yours! Unlike Paul and CM, I do like the political ones. But I find from my own blog that there are people who comment on my political pieces and people who avoid them like the plague. Whatever!
Personally, I write for myself. I rarely even look at my stats. I care about comments, though — that’s what’s kept me blogging — the interaction.
I do this because if I didn’t… my head would pop and the squirrels would be loosed upon humanity!!!
Please keep doing what you continue to do…Thanks.
no… thank you…
But WordPress does keep track of the number of comments – that’s how you know you have 44332 of them. Imagine having to count all of these comments by hand!
It won’t admit it’s a record, but I’m not sure you could find a WordPress-wide record for most views in a day either.
I think that cleared that up…
The vast majority of bloggers and your followers do not care what you are writing about, and have no intention of interacting with you. I know that sounds heartless, but the math proves it out for just about everyone out there. That said, the bloggers who do care about what you are writing and that do interact make it all worthwhile.
A good chunk of follows thrown at you are bots. They’re not real, never been real. And yes I think blogging is losing its lustre. It never was a road to riches and fame, no matter what the books say. It’s a fun place, a good place, and there’s good people hereabouts, and sure it would help an aspiring writer go somewhere possibly, but it’s a very small part of that success. Much better served putting time into getting an agent, or something of that kind.
The blogocalypse is coming, my friend. The end is nigh.
but… I met you here…
Like I said, it’s the exceptions to the rule that make this all worth while. But those are the exceptions, not the rule.
It is 12 inches long, but I don’t generally use it, as a rule…
And for you, Art, I must say this post makes me feel better about my own stats. Taking into account the much smaller size of my readership, my views are right up there with everyone else’s.
well, that is why I talk about the stuff that nobody else bothers to talk about
Damn, stats dropping?
O——My;
possibly the crack squirrel could help?
cheers, an kisses chris
kisses???
I had thought that would throw a wrench into your world.. ………………. … … . . ……. …. …..
a gut wrench… ha
funny guy………
oh yeah
Sorry, Art, what I meant to say, was ratio of visitors to views. I told you I wasn’t into stats.
I liked the old days when it was only hits…
Have to agree with you.
yes… you do have to… HA!!!!!
You and the crack squirrels–keep on keepin’ on. Can you dig it?
we are climbers and diggers!!!
I happen to like monkeys and am not into stats. I don’t have as much invested in my blogging activities as you do. Comparing my stats to yours would be fruitless. We’re not even in the same league–meaning mine are far lower when it comes to views. However, my ratio of viewers to the number of views, was far higher. What that means, if anything, I haven’t a clue. Baffling to me, was that 2014, for me, was statistically bad. What had I done or not done to account for that?
I am leaning towards my theory that wordpress just makes these numbers up…
Your number of visitors continues to climb – that is the hard part: getting readers. Getting them to look numerous times is another thing entirely. I have to be honest Art, when you get into political shit and start making multiple posts on the same theme, I see the post in my e-mail, check the title and then just delete. I will read the first couple on a theme,but don’t find further variations enough different to read. Love your stories,pictures, babysitting, visiting new places, thoughtful posts, tikicarving, Blacksmithing, etc, etc. I could read your blog over and over and often go back to look at pictures because they are so good that I always will see new detail when reviewing. The multiple variations on photoshopping political characters and even yourself, don’t much interest me and you have been doing more of that in the last year. Sorry to be so honest.
I appreciate your feedback… I don’t know if this accounts for the trends or not…
Are you now becoming a blog critic, Paul? Actually, I think you could make a career of it seeing as you read so many blogs (I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that you haven’t commented on at least once!), and your honesty could be helpful to those of us who haven’t a clue what we’re doing here.
I also don’t care much for the political photoshopping, but some of Art’s other photoshopping endeavors have been quite amusing. I do agree, however, that the babysitting stories are my favorites.
I know that not every person will like everything I do…
Ahhh, CM – no I am not a blog critic. Art asked so I obliged. I used to be a safety manager for a trucking company and in that capacity it was my job to judge driving abilities and skill sets. I did it minute by minute in my job. When I got in a vehicle with a non-work driver I did not critique their skills – knowing that everyone has different levels of skills – all I did was ascertain if i felt I would arrive alive at destination and if the answer was affirmative, I said nothing. If the answer was negative, I would object and if nothing changed, ask to be allowed to get out. Same with blogs – all are different and I enjoy the special attributes of all. If there is nothing special, I move on. I spent years in retail driven by numbers -customers, return business, cost of acquisition, etc.
[snicker] I guess you won’t be riding in my car any time soon, Paul, or at least not for very long. 🙂 But I’m happy that you haven’t moved on from my blog, and hopefully you’ll come back to guest post sometime soon?
Absolutely CM. I owe you many posts – I’ll have one to you this week.My apologies. I haven’t been doing much – depressed – but I’m getting better as the move to Vancouver moves closer.
awwwwwwwwwwwww
Must be something in the atmosphere. Did you read my post today, Paul: https://cordeliasmomstill.com/2016/05/02/its-ok-to-be-sad-even-if-other-people-dont-like-it/
not yet
Thanks CM – it helps to read it.
ha
oh yeah!
This vehicle is a space ship…