Because we are the first to get online the results of the Springfield Town Meeting vote each March, this blog always gets its most visits of the year during the 48 hours following the opening of the polls. Last year there were a total of 7,162 page loads recorded by our tracking service those two days.
Here are yearly web traffic statistics from the past four years;
| Year | Page Loads | Unique Visits | First Time Visits | Returning Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 8,939 | 4,926 | 3,690 | 1,236 |
| 2010 | 33,276 | 18,632 | 13,041 | 5,591 |
| 2011 | 202,460 | 94,879 | 66,199 | 28,680 |
| 2012 | 408,069 | 182,269 | 124,148 | 58,121 |
| 2013 | 77,842 | 35,729 | 23,703 | 12,026 |
| Total | 730,586 | 336,435 | 230,781 | 105,654 |
The big jump in interest after 2010 is attributed to removing commenting restrictions. Before that move, only registered readers could comment. We were lucky then if we managed to get one comment a month. The site got so boring that it was decided to experiment with removing all restrictions. It soon became arrarent that most people would rather pass on commenting if they have to register or sign in but at the same time prefer a community news blog that features lots of comments from readers. Thanks to all our readers for your interest and those who take the time to post positive or polite critical comments here that make this site so much more interesting than it was the first three years.
I agree, and I think the other eight people who comment on your blog do as well!
ReplyDeleteI guess you have been hit in the head too many times at work on the hill Boss Hogg.
DeleteWe are legion....
ReplyDeletethanks ed great place for us to have a voice!
ReplyDeleteWell, just food for thought, most (including myself), choose to post without signing in or "signing" because of safety for their families in a town where most do not feel safe anymore.
ReplyDeleteYeah right, a town of 8,000 flocking in these numbers to a free webpage - bullshit. Whatever your numbers are, nearly 75% are spam hits, this is even the case on pages that actually cost you money to maintain.
ReplyDeleteOur tracking service is StatCounter which is technologically sophisticated enough to filter any visits from spammers out of our page load numbers. When this blog does get a spam comment, I have tried to go look it up from its post time, but there is no record of anyone clicking on a comment form at that particular minute in time. Most spamming operations are automated because the percentage of response they get in terms of new customers is so tiny that at least in the case of typical spam offers, its not worth the time for any human to keep posting for hours on every blog they can find. StatCounter is able to differentiate between visits from real people sitting in front of a personal computer and one programmed to do automated spamming.
DeleteHere is a link to a list of everyone who visited this blog last night between 10 p.m. and 1:18 a.m. I think it shows it is quite possible for this small town blog to get 7,000 page loads over a 48 hour period during this, its heaviest traffic two days of the year.
http://spfldvt.awardspace.us/SVNstats-030513e.html
Your comment reminded me of the time our Springfield won The Simpsons Movie Hometown Challenge contest. Some folks in competing Springfields cried foul. Our video got more online votes than we have residents, this win can't be legit.
I check this blog at least twice a day for incoming news and many times, forward the link to family and friends. Also, the publib library has this site posted in several places for patrons to "stay informed".
DeleteSorry for the typo. I meant public library.
DeleteHow popular?
ReplyDeleteAs popular as a fish-fry fart in a Photo Booth.