What does WordPress Blog Stats say?
June 1, 2010
I started posting on this blog on 1st April 2010. Two months have elapsed since.
I used Blog Stats, discovered the WordPress features and have been fiddling with Facebook and Google links. The FeedJit link for live feed I could not establish, do not know what was the reason. May be WordPress does not support it.
The ‘ Stats’ and my two month journey was quite interesting.
1. Fact: Maximum hits are scored on Tuesday and Friday.
Most of my readers seem to be serious office goers that are subject to ‘Monday blues’ and ‘Start of Weekend mood’ (assuming my blog relaxes them). What do they do on Mon, Wed, Thur, Sat and Sun is anybody’s guess.
Learning:
Fact is a fact is a fact. Why tire yourself on the other days? Upload the new post on Sunday or Thursday.
2. Fact: Traffic is the same for both the months. The daily average was maintained.
Learning:
Do not visit blog stats page unnecessarily. You are not going to find a bouquet or a bomb there everyday. Do not worry about the Daily and Weekly Stats. There are other important things in life than Blog Stats.
3. Fact: Spams make life hell.
WordPress Akismet module blocks all the spams. I had 6 spams until now. All were blocked by Akismet. But the 5th one has taught me a lesson. It was a smooth mail praising the blog. I was foxed. I opened it, read it and deleted it. Meanwhile it ate away my Vista Home. I could retrieve all the data, but had to freshly install Windows and now trying hard to get accustomed to 7. I suffered a 5 day black out.
Learning:
If Akismet terms it to be a spam, it is a spam. Just delete it. Don’t even read it. If you get praise from unknown quarters, do not believe in it.
4. Fact: There are a lot of ups and downs in hits
I had expected a trend suggesting steady rise or steady fall, whenever it occurred. Readers do have mood swings and periods – of inaction.
Learning:
Dont live in a virtual world! Accept that the sudden peaks and dips cannot be explained – except for Tuesday and Friday.
5. Fact: Number of hits has no relation to the quality of the post.
Learning:
Readers will make you fall flat on your face. They have an in built ability to surprise you.
6. Fact: Readers in general do not like to ratify posts, or comment on or discuss your post (barring a few respected exceptions).
I expected many a comments on some of my posts. I thought readers are very enthusiastic.
Learning:
Wrong!!! Nobody wants to type or click. Either all the readers are very finger-tired lot or Stephen Hawking is the only reader that you have.
7. Fact: People do not like serious content.
I do not wish to believe in the above statement, but the stats say so. The hits just go down after such posts. Earlier on, I remained with bated breath in quandary whether the traffic on my next post also will be affected.
Learning:
What you think ‘Serious’ is ‘Not Funny’ for the readers. Do not expect that readers will read serious posts or discuss its relevance. They are as free as sharks and will do whatever they want to a caged writer.
8. Fact: The effect of automatic messages pasted by WordPress on Facebook, Google et al. remains for one day only.
On the day your post is advertised, you get a spurt in activity. After that, the advertisement loses its charm. A day old post is “Really Old” or “Dead” butterfly.
Learning:
Understand this reality.
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Overall, the two months have been enjoyable.
There were many a personal comments on the first few posts. May be readers thought that I am writing an autobiography. I am Not.
Any and All critique is good. So, please reply and rate posts.
Nikhil and Ranjeet commented on almost all of my posts and kept me going in this initial period. An unknown admirer is sending feeds for my ‘Qawwali’ and therefore other posts from Twitter. Thank you.
I visited a number of hitherto unknown blogs which appeared automatically on my posts. One I have added to my blogroll so that it gets more exposure.
While reading other blogs, I am now considerate, give them respect, and make sure I write a word or two in discussion forums about them. That is what all the bloggers like I think.
Somebody should coin a term “Blego Surfing” or “Stego Surfing” like they have done for “Ego Surfing” – for people who spend half of their internet time on Blog Stats.
PeACEMAKER 
June 3, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Interesting observations. I also see you adding new widgets to the blog page every few days.. including renaming a few (e.g. ‘Cash Register’). Nice! 🙂
1) Hits: For me the best days have been Saturdays and Sundays. I have tried to update most of my blogs on Friday nights or Saturday nights for the same reason.
3) Spams: Yeah.. Akismet really is terrific! I’ve observed that comments containing too many links or long comments are marked as spam. I’ve had a very long comment from one of my friends been marked as spam. I had to shift it to the ‘good comments’ section later.
5) and 7) Posts v/s Hits: That is so true! Some of my personal best blog posts have got lukewarm response.. and some posts which I thought were regular (or slightly above average) have had got very good hits.. and they have continued even after months! Its baffling. I’ve observed that if you put pictures in your posts then you are most likely to keep getting hits on them ‘coz people search for the picture names on Google Images. Also, I agree that people prefer funny or light-hearted posts than serious discussions. Not that this fact should discourage us from writing about serious topics. maybe we should make them more interesting to read! (Lately, you are doing a very good job in that respect.)
The other experiences you mention.. well.. I’ve had them too.. especially with respect to cultivating the attitude to appreciate other people’s blog posts.
June 3, 2010 at 11:22 pm
It is good to hear – anything. Funny, a post on this same topic got advertised on WordPress today.
I am trying to use WordPress.com to its maxxx. But it has its limitations and very curt “Support”. I cant afford a paid blog.
As to widgets, I am trying out all and shall then trim them.
My current subjects are such, that I do not get good pictures to support them on net. I have to make do with whatever I get – For today’s post on Muharram for example. All I can do is may be go to that environment and click some.
June 4, 2010 at 3:51 pm
I have been able to install FeedJIT at last, after I found that the FeedJIT instructions on web are for wordpress.org the paid circuit, and wordpress.com supports only the location of incoming mail for which a text widget needs to be created. The faclity is fine any way.
June 9, 2010 at 10:05 am
Hi Pa,
Quite an interesting read. I have been meaning to read if for sometime now. Finally got around to it. I must warn you against the Spams. Trust no-one but Akismet !
Also, correct me if I am wrong; I thought this blog is for you…and you are writing what you feel like. I never knew that you “care” about what people feel or think. I don’t sometimes, and it does get me into trouble 🙂 LOL…However, I think you need to continue the zest and the “freedom of expression”.
Here’s is another fact for you: Just because you don’t have comments, does not mean people (i.e. me) are not reading the blog. The hits should prove it..
Interesting about the days ! LOL…I don’t know if I have completely stuck to that..I am sue I am the sporadic and unexpected random 🙂
More later.
June 9, 2010 at 11:11 am
Ranjit Thanks. Yes, the blog is for me, but cant avoid looking at the stats and comments. Will try and write as often as possible. Why dont you Rate the posts? No need to write a comment every time. That will make me take more efforts.