Lake Atitlan, Panajachel, Guatemala

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Analyzing Stats and Figuring it Out

By now I'm sure you've all discovered Blogger's awesome new feature-- Stats. You can see what your most viewed posts are--even more enlightening than looking at comments, since many people view a post without commenting.

And that brings me to another thing I'm wondering about. What makes a post comment-worthy? Looking through mine, these kinds have drawn the fewest comments--

award posts

book reviews

prize results

On the other hand, posts about blogging and social media get lots of comments. I guess we all have opinions about it, since we're here after all. Sometimes I'll write on a topic and be completely surprised by how it touches a chord and gets a large variety of comments. Other times, it's *meh.*  All very interesting imho.

What have you found to be your most popular posts? Your least popular? Come on, share. Inquiring minds really want to know. Oh, and in case you haven't discovered this awesome new feature, you can add a gadget to your sidebar that lists your most popular/viewed posts. Check it out, pretty cool stuff!

39 comments:

  1. My posts on promoting and publishing get a lot of comments, although my Weekend Sillies rack up quite a few, too. Of course, once in a while I drop a personal post in the mix, and I guess because they're so infrequent, it gathers a lot of comments.

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  2. Regardless of how popular a Blog may be, this is still a "What's in it for me" world. Leave something practical people can use and you'll receive more visits and comments than award posts, book reviews, and prize rsults.

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  3. Thanks for the heads up about the new feature. I'll have to check it out. I'm not sure what type of posts elicit more comments than others. However, it would be nice to know since my blog was created to stimulate dialogue among the writing community. Take care Karen, see you round the bloggersphere.

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  4. I haven't even been able to play around with the stats. Now, I will need to take a look at them to see. lol

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  5. I must admit that I never read award or prize blogs. Sometimes I read a book review, but only if I have heard of the book or the first two sentances are interesting. I always read the personal blogs and social media blogs, but only comment if I feel I have something to add. Most of the time I just read and absorb the information.

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  6. I haven't used the Stats feature yet; I've been using statcounter.com which is a free gizmo and easy to install on a blog/web site.

    I continue to be amazed at what gets the most comments and what gets the least. I tend to be less interested in reading (or writing) anything that's too promo-related.

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  7. For me it's random. Sometimes my posts on writing get a lot of comments. Sometimes my award posts get lots of comments. Sometimes my comic posts get a lot of comments. Sometimes the posts that are viewed the most get almost no comments or very few.

    So I just post what I think is the most effective writing I can produce each time and see what happens.

    Jai

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  8. My most viewed posts are always blogfests post.

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  9. It's a great feature. However, it can twart your goals too. Stick to what you want to do with the blog. It may be the only place where you are just you at your most elemental!

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  10. My most viewed posts seem to be the not-a-mommy-blogger ones now, which is most amusing, as they are really anti-baby posts! As for comments, that seems completely random. I can never tell.

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  11. Makes me want to go find out what my most viewed ones are. My most commented-on blogs are ones I ask for an opinion on a debatable topic, or ones where I mention my kids (go figure). I didn't realize blogger added stats.

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  12. It's fairly unpredictable, for me; although I do find that posts on the week days usually get more comments/views than on weekends. More people online during the week, I suppose.

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  13. I think asking a question at the end of a post generates more comments. Having said that, my most popular posts are anecdotes that strike a chord with certain readers, and fun posts about ads.

    I'm kind of paranoid about seeing my stats though. They have a similar app on Facebook and I just don't want to know how many or which people have been browsing. Best to leave it as a mystery!

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  14. I think its my Friday posts cos that gives people a chance to comment all weekend

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  15. Mine widely varies depending on the days! I think bloggers are out and about Mondays and Fridays less so in between. I don't know if there's any truth in that - weekends are less busy but then that's understandable.

    I must find this stats thingy from blogger - thanks for the info! take care
    x

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  16. My most viewed blog posts are from my contest and guest bloggers and interviews.

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  17. I think that the opening couple of sentences on a post are so important as that's what people see on their blogroll. People latch onto feelings and some of my most popular posts have begun with an expression of how I was feeling.

    Posts about writing problems draw traffic too as people like to identify with those - and help if they can.

    Questions are good too, but for comments and not necessarily traffic. It's rewarding when people respond to a resquest to share their thoughts or experiences and some write lengthy, considered comments.

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  18. What generates the most comments:
    #1) When I comment on other blogs, they come visit mine. The days I comment the most, the days I receive the most comments.
    #2) Short posts.
    #3) Blogging tips - because it's short and how-to...
    #4) SHORT writing posts

    What generates the least comments:
    #1) My critiques - if it doesn't concern them, they don't visit. Also, who wants to read a chapter long post?
    #2) Weekend posts - most bloggers take the weekend off.
    #3) Guest posts - maybe they feel less guilt about not visiting if I'm not writing the post.
    #4) Book reviews - unless it's a book they've read or a genre they like.

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  19. I didn't realise stats was there until you mentioned it, Karen.

    I hate it. I don't need it. But neither do I want to feel like my own reading of blogs is being monitored.

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  20. Donna, I know what you mean about having one's blog reading & viewing monitored. One way to avoid that is to go through Google reader, or twitter or from another blog list, then it just shows where the viewer came from, not who the viewer is. I'm paranoid about privacy myself so I like this particular feature that can protect the privacy of the viewer.

    Clarissa, thanks for the list, and I'm not surprised at all. It makes sense.

    Christine, totally agree on the opening sentences. I view blogs through my dashboard and the two things that determine if I'll click on the post are the title and the opening sentences that show up in the dashboard. Which is why I follow my own blog, because I like to see how it presents in the dashboard.

    Nicole, Which reminds me I need to go check out your contest!

    Old Kitty, I don't usually post on Saturdays, but when i have a boring weekend I will, plus I'll go visit tons of blogs and be disappointed that there's not more people posting on Saturdays! Because they're all out having fun and shopping.

    Joanna, Which is another question I should have asked-- do you get more comments the longer a post is kept up?

    Amy, Once I discovered the Stats I was thoroughly and completely addicted to them. I should have just ignored them!

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  21. I really think it's a mix. I don't know about book reviews, but my award posts tend to do well. So do movie posts. But you're right, the ones about blogging and writing tend to do best.

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  22. My good news posts usually get the most. Bloggers just like to share in the good vibes, I think. What a community!

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  23. My etymology and random fact posts do well :)
    I like the feature. It helps me see what posts people enjoy when they don't leave a comment.

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  24. it seems that if you follow your own interests, you attract people with the same interests. Ultimately, the page views are all about the law of attraction.

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  25. I think that anything to do with cookies will get a lot of views, he he!
    seriously, I've no idea, I comment on most posts I read, seems rude and stalkerish not to, but I'm probably doing it all wrong. i do know from my stats that lots of people who visit don't comment.

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  26. I didn't realize that blogger had a stats tracker. Then again, half the time when I post I'm sort of "talking out loud" so I'm not sure I want to know what people think of that. :o)

    And I can never figure out what's going to attract interest and what doesn't. It's hit or miss. I also figure a lot of times it has little to do with the post, and is more likely a case of it not being "my day" for the fellow bloggers who come and visit the most often.

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  27. I think that my posts on online dating generated more comments than others; I'm not sure why. The ones on losing followers seemed to draw several comments too (I just lost a follower today, sniff, sniff).

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  28. memoirs of my childhood, and a post of random thoughts about everything and nothing are my biggest comment magnets.

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  29. It's an interesting question. The ones that seem to get the least votes tend to be those where the blogger rants on about what THEY think. Those that are most popular ask everyday questions and want to know what the readers think. Not sure where my blog falls within those categories. LOL!
    If you get a mo' do check out my giveaway and guest author interview at: http://scribbleandedit.blogspot.com/2010/11/annie-sanders-guest-author-interview.html

    Do people generally like to hear interviews from guest authors I wonder? :O)

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  30. I hadn't seen the new feature, Karen - I depend on you to tell me these things!

    My most popular posts so far have been a Top Ten TV Shows blogfest and a very short post on my father's birthday in his memory.

    So the biggest draws to my books-and-writing blog are TV and my late father. I can't speak for TV but Dad would certainly like that!

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  31. Sometimes award posts are popular, other times, it's a blogfest. It really depends.... I've also found that certain times, like vacations or holidays, people are busy and don't get around as much.

    I've looked through the stats and tried to find a pattern. So far, there isn't one.

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  32. It never ceases to amaze me how fickle posting can be. Since I have a specialty, Cajun cooking/lifestyle, blog, people expect every post to be about Cajun recipes or life. If I dare to venture out of that niche, which I do from time to time, my stats and comments go down. But, fortunately I get many visits to my archived posts for recipes, so it all kinda balances out. Also, keywords and labels are very important in driving traffic to your blog, which I learned from having two websites!

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  33. As far as my posts go, it seems to have more to do with the time of day that my posts go live. If I post in the morning of a weekday, I receive more traffic than when I post in the afternoon. And weekends tend to be a bust. I guess people like reading blogs during their work hours... Unless they work at my school, and such activity is VERBOTEN.

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  34. my most popular post was a poem i wrote about a love interest and my blog is by no means about poetry...

    but that particular poem entitled 'still high' is one of my favorite pieces so i can see why others like it to

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  35. I get lots of traffic when I do posts in my dog Macy's voice...LOL, maybe I should change my whole format???

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  36. Most popular are the ones about social media, writer's block or general burn out, the short posts or the scannable posts and the ones that pose a good question to encourage comments.

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  37. Whenever I'm giving something away or asking for advice. Next in line is when I'm prodding for opinions on a particular issue in publishing.

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  38. My most visited posts are always based on search terms. For example, any post with Harry Potter in it gets a lot of hits. My most popular post is on meeting The Pioneer Woman and she's an internet phenom, so people must search for her a lot. As far as commenting goes, I've been looking for a rhyme or reason to it, but I can't figure out why some people comment on some posts and not others. AS for me, I try and comment on most blogs I read. :-)

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  39. It really is interesting to see what people respond to. The posts I think are going to be big hits are not always the ones that get the attention. Stats can be addictive though.

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