Number nine…number nine…number nine.
It is hard to believe it has been nine months since this blog started as I still remember those first posts like they were yesterday.
A lot has happened since then and almost all of it has been really exciting. I’ve learned a great deal about blogging but still have so much more to learn. As an added bonus, I’ve been able to earn some money at the same time.
Fun With Numbers
With these monthly blogiversary posts, I like to take a look at a few metrics to monitor the growth and success of this blog.
- RSS Subscribers :: The last month has seen a nice jump in the RSS subscribers and I have surpassed my goal of reaching 150 subscribers. At the end of last month I was hovering right around the century mark but as this blog turned the calendar on nine months the RSS subscriber count stood at 165 RSS subscribers. This is one of the most important metrics in my opinion and the fact that I have moved right past my goal of 150 subscribers is very encouraging, although now I have set the bar at 200 RSS subscribers. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to subscribe now!
- Traffic :: This past month I received a considerable increase in unique visits and page-views, although a good deal of that was the result of two posts. For the month, Google Analytics indicates there were 8,823 unique visits and 18,063 page-views. These are the best numbers for one month outside of the time that I hit the front page of digg. The two posts responsible for the most traffic were the posts about the Starbucks ass hairs and the treasure of photos that I found at StumbleUpon. The funny thing is that the post about Starbucks was purely random and just something I found funny and threw out there, never expecting the huge response that it received.
- Technorati :: I have to be completely honest in that the Technorati rating has really lost my interest and I find that I rarely check their site anymore. Earlier on in the life of this blog, I would check Technorati on a daily basis but that is no longer the case. This month my ratings have improved, including an authority of 321 and a ranking of 15,345. It is nice to see the Technorati ratings improve but I don’t imagine that I will be checking this too much more than once a month for these update posts. What do you think about Technorati? Does it matter anymore?
- Alexa :: The steady progress with the Alexa rank has eased off a bit as my ranking has decreased to 87,274. I’d been moving closer to my goal of dropping below 75,000 but this past month was a step in the wrong direction. Even though the Alexa rank is essentially meaningless, I still like to see the number improve so this was a bit disappointing in an otherwise exciting month.
Perfect Ten
While I am not sure what a perfect month of blogging would truly entail, I am looking forward to the tenth month of this blog being even more exciting than the previous nine.
The holiday season is here and I have been exploring a few new Interweb ventures outside of this blog as I continuously try to build a portfolio that will replace my current income. Over the next few weeks I am sure that I will mention a few of these initiatives and let you know how they are progressing.
Similar to last month, I am going to refrain from setting specific goals with regard to the metrics discussed above but instead will extend the offer to all of you to let me know if I can help you and your blogs in any way. If you have specific questions about anything, feel free to ask via comments or through email.
As I close this monthly recap, I would just like to thank each and every one of you again for making these last nine months so much fun. Wherever you may be in the world, please have a safe and happy holiday season.
Photo credit: jppi
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
In some cultures, nine months is incubating period and the child starts to live an independent life after that. Here is hoping that your other ventures too take off and help you do what you would rather be doing. My best wishes for your success.
Those are some great numbers, and you well surpassed me in RSS subscribers 🙂 Congrats! I would not be surprised to see you hit 200 in a short amount of time, and over time you’ll eventually be able to let this take over your day job.
Not sure about others, but I’m always interested in hearing about your other ventures, so if there is no sort of confidentiality about it, please share! Community feedback on a new venture is always helpful 🙂
Your blog love child is all grown up! Does the Mrs. know? 😆 😉
@HRS :: Thanks for the kind words and support!
@Dave :: I’m very much looking forward to the day where my blogs can take over my day job and support my family. As for the other ventures, it really isn’t anything all that big so I will try to plan for a post or two in the near future.
@Stephen :: Lol, she knows and is waiting for the day that it moves out of the house! 😆
some nice figures there, and glad see ur RSS feeds going up
congrats it will be a year after 3 month. And the points are good. thanks
Very nice! 200? You’ll get more than that in a short time I bet. Always a pleasure coming here. Nice job buddy!
“Nine” is considered to be lucky in many cultures. Nine is a perfect square, there are nine planets. There are many anecdotes woven around number nine, which I cannot recollect at the moment.
However instead of going nuts over the numbers, its time you should concentrate on some serious traffic building measures. Bookmarking your site on social media websites is one of the quickest methods to generate immediate traffic.