A year ago I added a stat counter to the blog. It counts:
- Pageloads - which is simply the number of times a browser opens the blog. It's meaningless because I could sit here all day and click refresh and the number would go up.
- Unique visitors - This counts all the visitors to the blog.
- Returning visitors - All who come to the blog more than once.
(The W's along the bottom are for "week." These graphs are from week 46 of 2008 when I installed the stat tracker to week 46 of 2009 which ended this past weekend.)
Here are the unique visitors per week. For reasons I don't understand the blog became much more popular four weeks ago and set a record of 660 visitors last week.
The number of returning visitors is more predictable. Last week I had 336 returning visitors. That doesn't mean I have 336 regular readers because someone who checks the blog every day would count 7 times. Since I know some check once or twice a week and others only at work, it's hard to know how many actual regular readers there are.
Here are the unique visitors per week. For reasons I don't understand the blog became much more popular four weeks ago and set a record of 660 visitors last week.
The number of returning visitors is more predictable. Last week I had 336 returning visitors. That doesn't mean I have 336 regular readers because someone who checks the blog every day would count 7 times. Since I know some check once or twice a week and others only at work, it's hard to know how many actual regular readers there are.
And finally, here's a look at returning readers on a daily basis for the past two months.
Looks like huge variation from one day to the next, right? Each Saturday blog readership is down almost 50% from the weekdays... so a daily chart will look like steep mountains.
What does any of this mean? I don't know. The blog has tremendously helpful for me. Living in the UAE can be a lot of fun but it can also be stressful. Blogging has become my way of processing my world. I've never been able to stick with a journal or diary and I'm surprised I've kept at this for 15 months. The stat tracker has helped. I don't need millions thousands hundreds of readers to be happy but it's good to know a few people read it.
I'm one of your daily visitors! :)
ReplyDeleteI am a unique visitor but I can promise you that I won't be returning. This is just crap.
ReplyDeleteI'm often a daily visitor - but since I rarely shut my computer down and generally just leave up the sites I go to regularly - I don't think that counts? Unless it counts when I'm hitting refresh?
ReplyDeleteKarey, click on my stat counter and click around their site to find how it can be added to yours. I can't find it any more on blogger (where I had it installed.)
ReplyDeleteTo Sandy's question of, "Does it really count me everyday if I leave my computer on?" I don't know. Since I have two computers that go to the blog I've been able to run that test and the answer is sometimes I count and sometimes I don't. If there's a rational reason I can't find it. In Stat Tracker's website info it says you are logged as a new visitor (returning) if you leave the blog and refresh after a few hours. Again, for me that is sometimes true sometimes not.
I've given up trying to understand the nuance of a stat counter, but I do like the general information it tells... few read the blog on weekends... If I post to Facebook I can expect a 50 hit bump, etc.
i'm gonna make my own journal
ReplyDelete