Digg, Contests and More :: 5 Months of Blogging

This blog has now been active for 5 months and it has been quite an exciting adventure. In that time I have met some outstanding people in the blog-o-sphere and have learned quite a few things about running a successful blog, which I hope this is slowly becoming.
As my blog buddy MsDanielle mentioned the other day, I really owe quite a bit to all of the people that have become a part of this community with your comments, link love and general feedback. In a funny coincidence of timing, Danielle and I started our blogs on the same day back in March and it has been fun to watch both of our blogs grow, although I have to admit that Danielle is kickin’ my tail when it comes to blog stats.
My fifth month of blogging was certainly an interesting one, as I have continued to see the blog community grow and was initiated into a new group of bloggers – digg victims! Around the middle of the month my post about the exploding CD hit the front page of digg and brought in thousands and thousands of visitors, as you will see in a minute when I share my stats. Before I get to that though, I’d just like to take a second to praise BlueFur.com as you aren’t going to find too many hosts for a few dollars per month that can handle a digg the way BlueFur did last month. Thanks guys!
Another exciting happening here at Derek Semmler dot com last month was the first redesign of the site. After having my own issues with the original theme, I asked for your feedback and the majority liked the theme but agreed that the header needed work. Once I started tinkering with the header, I decided to take the full plunge and overhaul the entire theme. So far the feedback has been very positive so I am very happy with that change.
After 5 months here is where I stand in most of the standard statistical rankings:

• Alexa :: While I understand there are flaws to the Alexa Ranking, it is still important to me because numerous advertisers use this metric as a basis for setting the value of a site. Right now my Alexa Ranking is 113,717 with a reported 4.4 page views per user. Regardless of the possible advertising impact, I like to monitor my Alexa Ranking simply because it makes me feel very proud to see this number continue to improve and makes me feel like I am providing something of value here.
• Technorati :: My Technorati ranking has been on a steady climb in recent months and right now I have a rank of 20,008 and an authority of 225. I’d been hoping for one or two extra links to crack the 20,000 mark before this post but is quite an improvement from the ranking of 32,871 last month. With 20,000 about to fall, I will be setting my goal for 15,000!
• RSS Subscribers :: When my post hit the pages of digg, I saw my RSS subscriber count shoot up to 161 but that was short-lived. It gradually eased back and ended my fifth month with 71 RSS subscribers. Since the digg experience, I’ve been averaging in the mid to upper 70’s on the RSS subscriber count and have a goal to reach 100 subscribers. For those that have not subscribed, don’t forget that I have included a hint on how to get a bonus entry for RSS subscribers in my current contest!
• Traffic :: Wow! Obviously my traffic numbers shot through the roof as a result of digg with 28,673 unique visits and 32,635 page-views! The numbers from last month cannot even compare to this and the exciting thing is that my daily average has improved quite a bit since before the digg. I’ll be doing my best to keep these traffic numbers increasing on a daily basis.

Goals Moving Forward
As I enter my 6th month of blogging, I will be focusing on creating quality content and spending time visiting all of your sites to share comments and feedback. Watch out Saman, your run as top comment whore may be coming to an end! 🙂
With regard to content, I’d welcome your feedback on the type of content that you like to see here. Do you like the posts focused on the Interweb? Do you prefer more of the general life experiences? I haven’t written too much on cars or motorcycles but maybe you’re alright with that. Please let me know what type of content you enjoy the most.
Expression of Thanks
As I wrap up this blogiversary post, I’d like to take another minute to extend a heart-felt thank you to everyone that has become a part of this community. Your feedback and involvement via the comments is truly appreciated and all of the above would not mean a thing to me without all of you being here.
After five months of blogging, I have had plenty of interesting experiences and most of them have been positive! In a bit of exciting news, I will hopefully have an announcement coming in the next month or so about a new opportunity that came about in part because of this site. Stay tuned and don’t forget to subscribe to my full-feed RSS!