Learning to love statistics
I’m as much of a lurker as the next person. I read enough blog posts that I generally don’t leave a comment unless I have something to add to the conversation. So I can understand that a lot of readers don’t comment, being pretty bad at commenting, myself.
I publish a number of posts to which I don’t expect comments. I also publish a number of posts to which I hope readers will respond.
I try to follow the "rules" promulgated in the comments to one of my posts, a while back. My blogger buddy—you know who you are—patiently explained that, if I read my statistics, I’d realize that most people read blogs at the office, and, therefore, there’s no point publishing posts after Thursday night and before Sunday night at the earliest, since they won’t be read until Monday anyway. (I still haven't quite figured out the finer points of reading my statistics, so I hadn't realize that.) In other words, I shouldn’t expect comments over a weekend. So I try to avoid posting after Thursday night and before Sunday night. (Notice that I waited until almost 6 PM on Labor Day to publish this, since it's likely that few people will see it before returning to work tomorrow anyway.) My blogger buddy also explained that posts with photos are more likely to attract readers’ attention. So, when I want responses, and the post lends itself to having a photo added, I try to add one. My blogger buddy also patiently pointed out the blatantly obvious fact that posts at the top of the screen are the most likely to be read, so, if I want to be sure that people notice a post, I should try not to publish another one for at least two business days.
But what do I do when a post that was at the top of the page for two and a half business days, came with three (later four) photos, and was included in a subsequent "link collection" post, still gets no comments?
Simple—I check my stats.
Last week (as of Friday), my blog had 340 visitors . Neat! I’m delighted to know I have such a nice group of readers. Welcome, and enjoy!
posted by Shira Salamone at 5:42 PM
5 Comments:
Hi again! I'm getting back into the swing of things as baby-hiatus gives way to back-to-school!
I think that all around, there's less commenting and less posting going on in general - can it be that people are growing a bit tired of blogging?
This is a busy time for a lot of people; school starting, summer vacations winding down, work load picking up. And the High Holidays approach.
And yeah, some of the "old timers" are a little blogged out.
I broke my own rules and published one of the posts that I've been working on for a while on a Thursday, and then I put another one right on top of it!
RaggedyMom, I'm bad--I haven't commented on your blog since I wished you congratulations on the birth of Little Raggedy. Glad you're slowly but surely getting back up to speed.
Mark/PT, I guess I should take time-of-year into consideration, too. Oy, another rule--to break, occasionally, as you were saying. :)
It is a shame, but probably inevitable, that people get "blogged out," eventually.
I've been a bit blogged out lately, plus busy. Stats rock, though. :)
It's that time of year - people getting back into school affects kids and parents, and job promotions/responsibilities/training kick in.
Hmm, methinks we're all a tab busy at the moment. :)
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