The Rooster Rules the Roost…

as well as my blog stats and I am totally surprised by that!

I know I am probably the only blogger in the blogosphere (tongue in cheek) who checks their blog to see how the most recent post looks on the blog home page!  I am especially happy with the way my blog page looks so I look at it often.    I log on and immediately go to “my blog”, Oh yes its still there and it still looks good (relief).  Next stop, Site Stats!  I am always curious to see which of my posts are being checked out.  Also, I am forever hopeful that today might be the day I show up on the freshly pressed page.  But more than that I just want todays post to hit the mark with my fellow bloggers.  Next stop “manage comments”, to see if you have  left a comment about what you have read.  I love the comments but the “likes” just tickle me to no end.  Everyone wants to be liked.  (Just ask Sally Field)

From time to time I take a look at my overall statistics just to see if I can figure out what you fellow bloggers are interested in reading about.   The most popular posts on my blog are as random as my blog.  There isn’t really any rhyme or reason to what you are reading when it comes to my blog posts. 

 Have you taken the time to look at your overall blogging statistics? 

While looking at the stats I am surprised to see that there have been over 12,000 views of my posts.  There are 5 posts that make up the majority of the stats.  The top 2 are the same no matter if it’s for the current 7 day period or for the past 17 months.  The next 3 vary just slightly for the same time period.  I am most surprised by the post that comes in at #2 in all time visits. 

Are you surprised by your numbers?  Is there one post that gets visited more often than the others? 

Back in April I participated in the A-Z Blogging Challenge.  The instructions were to post everyday of the month with the exception of Sundays, beginning with the letter A and proceeding through the alphabet.  The beginning of the alphabet was fairly simple; A is for Amaryllis, B is for Birthday, C is for Carvings and so on.  Sometime after “L” the  posts became a bit more difficult to come up with.  The end of the alphabet W,X,Y & Z were the biggest challenge.  However, I finished on time but my brain was blogged out.   I needed a break. 

 Since finishing the challenge I have had the occasional visit to one or another of the alphabet postings, D is for decorating has been fairly popular.  However, there has been one particular post that has had visits almost every day without fail.   Since I published this little post this past April there have been at least 1o clicks everyday and as many as 76 clicks in one week on this one little post. 

 The craziest thing is that with so many visits, 1200+ in number the post has had very few comments.  I wonder what people are thinking they will find when they click on the link.  I wonder if the post contained sufficient information or they left rolling their eyes saying “whatever“. 

…drum roll please….the #2 post on my blog is…R is for Rhode Island Red Rooster!  Can you believe it?  I certainly can not.  There are posts that took me days and weekes to write.  Posts that are emotional and meaningful.  There are posts about Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness…but the winner is…the crazy Red Rooster.  I would never have bet on that in a million years. 

Which of your posts stats do you find most surprising?  Is there one post that you wished received half as much attention as the other? Share your post stat stories. 

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2010 in review..via WordPress

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 3,100 times in 2010. That’s about 7 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 100 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 520 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 658mb. That’s about 1 pictures per day.

The busiest day of the year was December 23rd with 63 views. The most popular post that day was White Christmases in Houston…Surprisingly Yes!.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, digg.com, healthfitnesstherapy.com, en.wordpress.com, and WordPress Dashboard.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for christmas food court flash mob, new orleans streetcar, streetcar new orleans, road sign collage, and texas landscaping.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

White Christmases in Houston…Surprisingly Yes! December 2010
1 comment

2

how the grinch stole christmas or the dirty santa gift exchange… December 2010
2 comments

3

it’s in the trunk… November 2010
4 comments

4

here we go….again… September 2010

5

merry christmas…food court flash mob style November 2010

2010 blogging review…I am not a statistic but I might be a cake

Blogging Year…01
Total Blogging Time… 10 months
Blogs …2
Posts…this one makes 101
Drafts…15
Comments…131
Total Views to date…  3038
My best day… 63 views
My best month… 552 views

You are probably wondering why am I sharing my meager stats with you? It is because I have been obsessed with my stats and  I am trying to overcome my obsession.  If I cannot overcome the constant need to check my stats I am going to have to admit a few things about myself that I am really hoping aren’t true.

Stats don’t make you a good writer or blogger just like money doesn’t make you a better person.  Yes, stats and money can give you status but  when it comes right down to it they are just numbers.  In the beginning they meant everything to me.  Yes both money and stats.  But for today’s post I am focusing on my blogging stats.  Anyway, in the beginning my blog stats were how I was gauging myself as a blogger.  Sad but true!

I would be telling you less than the truth if  I said that I have gotten over the whole stats thing.  But I do think there is more to this than just checking the numbers. It’s about the need to be accepted even if it is by people I don’t know. 

Although I love it when someone leaves a comment and a little word of encouragement that begins to form a cyber friendship I realize that those are few and far between just like true friends.  I am taking that to heart!

I admit I don’t comment on every blog I read.  There are various reasons but generally it’s because the post just didn’t resonate with me.  Which is what I guess is the case with those of you who pop in here and take a look around and leave without so much as a word.  I get it! 

As I have been trying to work all of this out, good or bad, this is what I have come up with. 

My blog is the recipe of my life, my thoughts are the ingredients, my posts are the layers and your comments are the frosting on the cake.  However,  I am not that keen on most frosting.  It has to be a really exceptional frosting for me to get excited.  But, I do LOVE cake!!!  I love everything about cake.   I love searching for the recipe and gathering the ingredients.  I love to measure, whisk, melt, cream, mix, pour and bake the cake.  I love to eat Cake!!!  When I make a cake or a meal for that matter I usually share it with a few special people.  People who appreciate the time and effort it took to create the special something. 

These are the same reasons I love blogging.  My blog is about the things that make up the story of my life.  My blog posts are the inspiration that comes from the people and the things that are part of my life.  My hopes are to build a few cyber friendships, encourage and inspire a few people and continue to grow as a wife, a mother, a friend a writer and a blogger.

I think I finally get it…I am not a statistic…but I might be a cake!

After assessing my statistics on my own, WordPress sent me their review of my Blog for 2010.  I was encouraged!

I am linking up with Mega Monday-Sunday Blog Hop!

9 months and counting…the gestation of a blog

9 months and 70 posts later… It feels like I am just finishing up my first trimester, which would mean this blog has  a 24 month gestation period.   I didn’t realize that developing and nurturing a blog would take almost as long as it takes for an elepahant to have a baby. Lord give me strength and focus.

Ideas may come to you in a fleeting moment  but taking that idea from conception to development requires commitment.  A commitment of not only of time but also of heart and soul.  There have been  times when I have crafted a post that comes from my very soul and I barely got more than a handful of views.  Then there was the post that I wrote on the fly.  It took very little effort and it was the  hit of the month.  I have questioned why I ever began blogging.  And then  the greatest thing happened a blog comment from one of my favorite bloggers.  The light shone from heaven and the angels sang and all was right in my blogging world.

I will admit that I am addicted to checking my stats.  In some sick way I equate my stats with being liked.  There isn’t anything tangible in the stats other than the fact that someone has at least clicked on a post.  There is no way of knowing if they actually read the post or if in fact they felt one way or the other about it, because 98% of the time there isn’t a comment.  But in my somewhat twisted mind I think surely they liked what I had to say, Right? Right. Right!!

My best day as a blogger was the day I had 55 visits.  The second best day is when someone went through my blog posts and visited nearly every post and tweeted them, that day I had 44 visits.  BTW, are they called visits, hits or clicks or something entirely different?

After finding a few blogs to follow and studying the different types of blog posts that bloggers are incorporating into their blog world, I have begun to try a few new things.  If nothing else it is helping me to think outside of the blog box I had climbed into.   These ideas are helping me to think about blogging throughout my day instead of just when I sit down at the computer at the end of my day.

Here are some the ideas I am trying! 

Tuesdays Treats and Treasures…pictures that do not require descriptions.

WOW…wacky, wonderful…something out of the ordinary, a hmmmmm moment.

blogging on the go…a quick blog post about something happening in my day.

friday’s find…something new I discover on a Friday.

As of today I have 71 posts on my blog.  I have had 2050 views.  I have approved 87 comments.  I have discovered that people love posts about food, travel and all things unusual or out of the ordinary.  

How long have you been blogging?   How long did it take you to get into the blogger zone?  What was your best day as a blogger?

blogging…stats r us…

My first blog was March 23, 2010.  I have written 33 blogs, this will make 34.  I began blogging as a way to express the emotions of moving from our home of 12 years in a nice suburb and into a 26′ travel trailer while our house in the country is being built.  In the past 4 1/2 months I have developed an interest in social networking as well as a new hobby. 

As with trying anything new and exciting you take the chance of becoming addicted.  Fortunately or un-fortunately however you choose to look at it, I have become an addict.  Addicted to checking my stats, checking the list of referrers and hoping upon hope that someone will take the time to comment. As of this posting I have had 977 views, 24 comments and 47 views in a single day.  I am not sure what happened that day, but I think one of my friends finally got around to reading all of my blogs at once. 

I enjoy discovering blogs that speak to me and my interests.  I am hoping to build new friendships in the blogging community.  I would love to learn the blogging lingo and how to apply the tricks of the trade to make my blog more interesting.   All the while becoming a better writer and communicator.  I would love for my blog to have a regular following. 

I would love to have a paying gig as a blogger.  (aren’t those people called journalists)

There is so much to consider when blogging; the audience, accuracy of information, branding, content, diversity, conversation, stories, truth, community, listening and integrity.  Just recently I have begun to think about all of these things and how they all play a part in creating something interesting. 

Thanks to Theycallmejane’s Blog I have discovered a few things that I would like to implement into my blog.  The first one is to try to engage those who stop by for a quick peak to interact and leave a comment.  The other is to create a little community with the writers of the blogs I enjoy.  Ultimately helping one another develop our blogs and create online friendships.

Until I get the hang of blogging, I will keep checking my stats and hoping upon hope that when you stop by to take a peek you will leave a comment even if it is to just say …