Yesterday marked my five-year blogging anniversary. That’s quite something, huh? I know it is for me, because I don’t know that I ever intended for this blog to go on for so long. Not that five years is a long time in the grand scheme of history, but it’s long enough to warrant some kind of something. Which is what I’m doing here now…I guess?
In the past, I’ve marked these anniversaries in various ways, and this year I think I’d like to chat a bit about stats. Blog stats, that is. This isn’t a topic I’ve broached here before because it’s never been, in my mind, worth discussing. I’m not here for the stats. I’m here for me, and for you, and that’s all. But recently a friend asked about blogging, using WordPress, etc. I was more than happy to go on and on about all the good stuff blogging offers, until the question of statistics arose. Specifically, the question, “how many hits do you get a day?” I thought for a moment — although phenomenal stats aren’t my goal with blogging, I’m certainly aware of how many people roll through here on a daily basis. I finally answered that I probably average about thirty hits a day. On a slow day, I’ll be lucky to get ten views. On a really good day, maybe I’ll get fifty or sixty.
The astonished look I got in response spoke volumes, as did the actual spoken response of “why in the world do you do it, then!?”
I only paused for second before saying, “I do it for the thirty who care.”
Now look, before we get into the nitty-gritty, I don’t pretend to be all high and mighty and impenetrable when it comes to my blog’s stats. When the blog isn’t doing so well, I certainly wonder why people hate me and think about ways I could do better. I’m happy when the stats are good or are stable, at least. And there’s nothing fun about going from a fifty-view day to a five-view day. I’m not a robot.
In truth, and as I went onto explain, I write because I like it and because I think that a handful of others might like it too. If I wrote for “The Internet,” I’d never get anywhere and be miserable besides. And I don’t think it’s too wild to presume that most hobbyist bloggers like myself would rather connect with a small group of readers who care about one’s content over a large group of faceless users. Hell, the fact that a couple dozen people stop by here on any given day is a damn miracle considering just how circuitous and unpleasant the web can be to navigate these days. I don’t advertise what I do, I don’t sell what I do, and I’m the worst at social media and networking. So having thirty views is a downright awesome day, if you ask me.
So let’s peel back the curtain a bit and talk numbers. I don’t really have a good segue for this, so bullet points it is!
- With this post, I’ll have published 527 articles to date, which includes weekly reblogs from United We Game.
- This year, I’m actully on track to average between 40 and 50 views a day. My best year was 2013 when I averaged 72 views a day.
- Speaking of 2013, that was also my best year in terms of overall views with just over 26,000. This same year I also achieved my highest ever views in a single day: 853. But that was thanks to a Yahoo image search glitch.
- As of today, my total views rest at just over 93,000, and I’ve received 2,600 total comments.
- My top five most viewed posts are:
- 151 problems (and I’m not talking about Bacardi) [33,000 views]
- Super Mario World, Yoshi, and maybe one too many words in all-caps [4,500 views]
- I Don’t Know Jack (Marston): Red Dead Redemption [1,800 views]
- Why I’d much rather be collecting stars in Super Mario 64 than questing in Skyrim right now [1,500 views]
- Galaga and Greatness [1,200 views]
- My bottom five least viewed posts are:
- The story of the stories of the Diabolical Box and the Unwound Future [12 views]
- iTunes Diaries: entry #27: “Strutter” by Kiss [12 views]
- Trying a little musicality on for size [12 views]
- Adventures in Albion, round 2 [11 views]
- iTunes Diaries: entry #33: “Live to tell” by Madonna [11 views]
- My top referrers (that aren’t search engines or WordPress) are:
- StumbleUpon [570 views]
- BuzzFeed [490 views]
- Twitter [460 views]
- Facebook [270 views]
- Gravatar.com [190 views]
Huh, it’s interesting putting all those numbers onto “paper,” because…I like what I see! I hadn’t really looked very closely at my numbers, but truth be told, for a regular ol’ blog that’s specific in some ways and random in others, I can’t say I’m disappointed. It’s also motivated me to continue blogging, something that I must admit has come into question lately, especially now as my free time has dwindled down considerably. I don’t know yet how I’ll continue on, but I will in some manner. And if a few people find a moment in their days to stop on by and see how things are doing here, that’s quite alright by me. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, thank you, all of you, the thirty who care. 🙂
As a finale to this post, and since I’ve been culling through the stats more than I ever have before, I thought I’d share a few of the more amusing search terms and phrases that have brought people to this blog. I don’t think any of mine are peculiarly ridiculous or inane (is that a good or bad sign?), but a select few are worth a chuckle.
realize memory “the only real things are those” committed to writing
(This phrase has three hits, and I’m not even sure what it means.)
balls labyrinth
(Commentary or curse? i.e “Balls, Labyrinth!”)
road runner beep beep now bastard
(A seizure?)
killer instinct skeletor and skeletor killer instinct
(Sorry, but we’re talking about two totally separate things here.)
video games have taken my life pictures
(Have you died? AWAY FROM ME FOUL SPIRITS!)
mechanic smelling stickers
(Mmmm…smells like Pep Boys…)
sex morrigan
(Well, duh.)
gamer language poster
(Damn, in school my only language choices were Spanish, French, or Latin.)
biker shorts (1980’s)
(I just really like the addition of the parentheses. It’s thoughtful.)
et
(I get that this is probably E. T., but the fact that these two letters somehow led a few someones to this blog is totally wacky.)
parker lewis fashion
(Been there, done that. Not proudly, necessarily.)
games ruined my life
(Ain’t it swell?)
P.S. I forgot to add that, like you, I do it for the thirty who care. Faceless numbers are all well and good but it’s the comments/community side of blogging that makes it worthwhile. You’ve got a great community of readers here who consistently read and comment, and again that’s something to be extremely proud of.
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Responding here to both comments (thank you and thank you!), I do appreciate writing for the wonderful group of folks, like yourself, who choose to follow this mess. I know I keep repeating myself when I say that I’m my own worst enemy here — I strongly believe in maintaining my pace here, but that’s often come at a detriment, i.e. I MUST do these VERY IMPORTANT THINGS…but, I have a blog post due and shall therefore IGNORE ALL THE IMPORTANT THINGS. Yeah, that’s not so good. But I am happy that my trials have paid off. If I had to leave the blog now, I’ve be very pleased with its state.
To address “balls labyrinth,” I think that came from a post I did in which I featured an image one of those wooden labyrinth games where you have to tilt the thing to get a ball through a maze. Or…I have mentioned the movie Labyrinth before, and that contains some magic balls…of ones’ choosing. In any event, I’ve never heard of this Tama game you mention, so I may have to go out and do some searching. I do enjoy the phrase “sexy microphone.” It’s very technophilic.
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Five years is a great achievement and something to be proud of! It’s not easy to keep a blog running for so long like clockwork, very successfully too I might add. I should check out your most popular posts as there are some among them I’ve not read.
Those search terms are fantastic by the way. Re: “balls labyrinth”, I wonder if that search could in any way be connected to the obscure Sega Saturn game, Tama: Adventurous Ball in Giddy Labyrinth…? Then again your search result wasn’t “giddy balls” so maybe not.. Anyway, just to add that I recently had a search hit on my end for “sexy microphone” – make of that what you will.
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Happy Blogiversary 🙂 I’m always sooo entertained by the wacky search results that bring people to my blog, so thanks for sharing yours!
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Thank you! 🙂 It’s really amazing to see the ways that people have stumbled across our writings — some intentional but most not. The Internet is a strange place, and it’s kind of awesome that we get to be a part of it!
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Happy Anniversary Cary! It’s amazing how quickly these things seems to creep up isn’t it? Like Simpleek, this post reminded me that I’ll have reached 4 or 5 years of blogging by the time Thanksgiving rolls around. It’s been great working with you for these past 3 (no…4 YEARS! WOW!), so here’s hoping we’re all able to continue on! (BTW am still really enjoying your Play or Pass series!)
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I’m thinking that I might continue with some version of “Play or Pass” next year, but we’ll see. The problem with blogging is not coming up with ideas, it’s finding the time to follow through with them!
Anyway, thanks for the note of congrats. It cool that we’ve been part of this community for so long, and it continues to grow and get better with each passing day. They say that time flies when you’re having fun, so my hope is that blogging remains fun, for all of us! 😀
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Five years is a hell of an achievement! I love the search term nonsense.
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With the way the Internet is these days, it certainly is, so thanks! 🙂
I hadn’t paid any attention to search terms before writing this post, so I was amazed as just how many had accumulated. Most of very boring, though, like “pokemon,” “Mario,” and “Yoshi.” I thought I’d find more nonsensical phrases, but I guess I’m glad to know that most of my readers are literate, haha.
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Congratulations and happy anniversary! I’m with you. My friend asked why I bother blogging about video games… and my answer is the same: it’s fun and the handful of people who stop by to talk make it all worth it!!
Hope you’ll continue in whatever capacity fits into your life. I certainly enjoy reading your posts and look forward to them!!
…now I need to search “games ruined my life” and see what I find! haha
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Of all of the terms, that particular one made me laugh the most, because I can’t imagine a life without games, ruined or not!
And thanks for the encouragement! I think I’ve said before that I’ve been my own worst enemy with blogging, so it’s probably time for me to lighten the load a little. Not sure what that means yet, but I’m in the process of figuring it out. 🙂
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Best of luck! Your devout followers will support you no matter what 🙂
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Congratulations on a wonderful five years. I have a lot to catch up on!
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Thank you! I wouldn’t worry too much about my archives of posts — some of the older ones are pretty crappy. Guess they might be good for a laugh! 😀
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I wonder if I’ll say that about my own older posts when I’ve been at this as long as you have been!
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Guess we’ll have to wait and see! 🙂 It took me awhile to discover my writing voice. And I don’t know that I’ve found it yet, but the point is to keep trying!
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Happy Blogging anniversary, Cary! 😀 Your post reminded me that I have my own this month too, but I just got back from vacation so we’ll see if I can put together a post before the month is over! I’m one of those 30 who come visit very often and I’m always so happy to see something new from you. So please continue in any capacity as your life allows you to. The blog community wouldn’t be the same without you. 😉 FYI, love balls Labyrinth. Should be a new phrase people utter when frustrated!
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Your kind words are too much! :*) But thanks. I love the community we’ve got going on here, and even though I’m not as active in it as I once used to be, it’s comforting to know that you and others have got my back. I think I might have to slow up a little content-wise, but I’ll be sticking around for awhile to come. 🙂
(Also, welcome back! I’ll have to stop by your blog again soon.)
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Happy five-year-anniversary! I just recently reached three years on here. It’s crazy!
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Thanks, and congrats to you as well! It’s kind of amazing how quickly the years have gone by, but it’s all in the name of fun and sharing. 🙂
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Couldn’t have said it better myself! 🙂
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