What better way to celebrate the new year than to post a link to a summary of my blog statistics! Sounds boring, right? But I find these year-end summaries quite fascinating, and I love seeing what has been going on behind the scenes at my favorite bloggers’ sites. I hope you enjoy looking at mine!
Here’s an excerpt:
The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 74,000 times in 2013. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 3 days for that many people to see it.
Click here to see the complete report.
In fact, I find these summaries and data visualizations so fascinating that I conducted a study last semester with a colleague on how site owners use this sort of data. We focused specifically on Google Analytics as a platform, and we found that most site owners play with the data but have no clear plan for using it to improve site performance. We also found that such data can be overwhelming. There’s so much of it. And while the participants we talked with used Google Analytics, almost all of them supplemented that data with another platform as well, including WordPress Statistics. Because this information is so readily available to all of us who post content to the internet, it will be fascinating to see how we eventually learn to utilize it more effectively.
How do you use your statistics?
Lastly, I want to give a shout-out to all of my loyal blog followers, especially those who commented so frequently and astutely. You can see this if you clicked over to the full report, but just in case you didn’t, here’s a screenshot of my top five commenters.
Thanks to these lovely bloggers and blog readers. You make it worth my time! I am lucky to interact with all of you. Happy New Year!
The Bookshelf of Emily J. 
Am so jealous of your stats! I’m nowhere near your traffic levels (yet). So I think as big a question is how do YOU use your stats (if at all)?
I don’t! 🙂 I used to check them so many times a day just for fun. It feels validating to get numbers, and I always wanted to beat my highest views. My best advice, if you want higher stats, is to post consistently (two or three times a week) to increase your chances of being viewed and your chances of Freshly Pressed. (Maybe you already do this. Just keep at it.) That is what really helped my blog take off with numbers.
Thanks. Have posts scheduled about every 2 days, and I have also got New Years resolutions including taking part in memes, taking part in other people’s posts etc (why should people read mine, if I dont read theirs?!)
Those sound like great ideas!
I have just started to blog, but already find the statistics fascinating! I look forward to my end of 2014 report.
I hope you have a great year. Stick with it!
Jaypurs I am awed by that very large amount yet also galvanised into action as I would like to have an achievement (maybe not quite so large) similar to you by this time next year!
I wish you luck!
Happy New Year, Emily J! I enjoy viewing my WordPress statistics report each year but I think I could use a few lessons on how to use the data more effectively.
I hear you! Me, too. I just look at mine for fun, and honestly, I don’t look at them much anymore at all!
Many wishes for a good 2014!
A greeting. Antonio
Thanks, Antonio! The same to you.
yeni yılın bütün dünyada mutluluk getirmesi dilegiyle
How fun! You were one of my frequent commenters, too! Happy New Year!
Yay! Happy New Year to you!
Happy Blogging in 2014 – thanks for sharing – Happy New Year!!!
Thanks! Happy blogging to you too!
Statistics? Never boring! Or so I tell myself to keep going to the office as that’s my day job, you see 😉 Happy New Year!!
Ha! Have a great new year, too!
I hope my stats will be like this too this year! I just launched my new baby blog, check it out. http://pamieloves.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/love-sparkles/
Best of luck to you and your writing adventure. Enjoy it!
Well done Emily. Your posts attract some great comments, which is a credit to you. Even when I have not read a book you have highlighted, I feel informed from your summaries. Have a grand 2014. BTG
Thanks, BTG! I do enjoy the great conversations we have here, and you are always a reliable and informed contributor. Thanks for being my blog friend!
Great content, so no doubt you have keen followers. Wish you exciting times ahead!
Thank you! What a kind compliment.
Fun! What a great year!
Thanks, Carolyn!
How did you create such a wonderful looking blog… My blog comes out mediocre at best… As far as how it looks…
I just chose a theme that I liked and added my own photos. There are tons of themes to choose from if you aren’t happy with the one you have.
Thank you Emily!!! I appreciate your advice. You have a beautiful blog!
Thanks!
Happy New Year Emily! I really love your blog. I don’t have a lot of people I can talk about books with and I love your insights. I think it is wonderful that you keep it up even though you have such a busy life with your family, work and studies.
Thanks so much, Caitlin! I love have you here and reading and making comments. I think I keep going because I know that I get to interact with such great people like you. Thanks for making it all worth it.
Happy New Year! Don’t you just LOVE infographics?
Definitely. They make numbers seem appealing!
Hpy new year. I created a free blog with wordpress.com. I want to know some of the ways to generate income with the blog. I want to request th
I haven’t monetized my blog, so I don’t know.
Hi Emily
Happy new year. I’m looking forward to reading your next blog and becoming more active with comments. Happy blogging!
Thanks! I’m happy to have you here. Welcome!
I’m really so happy that I found your blog this year and that we ended up chatting and finding weird things in common and blogging together on Literary Wives. You have a wonderful blog and I was inspired in large part by your blog to start writing about books myself. I’m looking forward to reading more from you in the year ahead!
Thanks, Cecilia! I love your blog! In fact, I have a post of yours about mothers and daughters sitting in my inbox that I want to give my full attention to when I read it, so I’ll get to it soon. My ipad broke and is being repaired, which means I have to trek into my basement for a computer. Such a hardship! 😉 I’m glad we are friends!
Aw, thanks, Emily! Gosh, I feel very embarrassed about my mother-daughter post…mainly because it is so personal and I feel naked having written it. The blog host is a wonderful woman whom I’ve become friends with over the last year, just through our writing, and she asked me if I could contribute a post to her mother-daughter series. It was the most painful and difficult thing I had ever written. Anyway, thanks for putting that on your to-read list.