some stats
I had been curious for a long time about who's actually reading this thing, and so for the last few months or so I've been collecting stats on site readership. In the spirit of open communication, open hearts and minds, and open-source software, I'm going to share some highlights with you courageous readers.
For a blog that I started out mainly to cut down on repetitive "how is Iceland?" emails back to the USA, I am pleasantly surprised to find that my readership is half Icelandic, peaking at 70% Icelandic a few weeks back. Compare this to 35% or so from the USA. I guess Icelanders' curiosity about what the American in their midst is saying about them trumps Americans' curiosity about the big world across the sea. I've also got around 7% readership in Germany (mysteriously), and a couple percent each from the UK and Sweden. I've also had some one-off hits from countries as remote as Australia and Japan, and as unexpected as Iran.
Over the past month, IR has gotten on average 55 returning and 85 new visitors a week. So it ain't CNN. But it does seem to have a following. And when I write more, you read more. When I stop writing for a week, as I did recently, readership drops drastically. It's a lot of pressure on the shoulders of our overburdened one-man editorial staff. (So keep the comments coming!)
In the last 6 weeks or so, IR has started turning up on Google searches with some regularity. Popular keywords include "Ölstofan" (cozy bar o' mine), "hekla pastry" (of Boston-area fame), and "skyr". "Laugardalslaug", the swimming pool, gets a lot of hits, too. All Icelandic words that are underrepresented internationally, it seems. But my favorite keyword hit has to be "Waingro sound bites". Apparently obscure Heat movie references (which are in no short supply here) really do pay the bills on Google.
For a blog that I started out mainly to cut down on repetitive "how is Iceland?" emails back to the USA, I am pleasantly surprised to find that my readership is half Icelandic, peaking at 70% Icelandic a few weeks back. Compare this to 35% or so from the USA. I guess Icelanders' curiosity about what the American in their midst is saying about them trumps Americans' curiosity about the big world across the sea. I've also got around 7% readership in Germany (mysteriously), and a couple percent each from the UK and Sweden. I've also had some one-off hits from countries as remote as Australia and Japan, and as unexpected as Iran.
Over the past month, IR has gotten on average 55 returning and 85 new visitors a week. So it ain't CNN. But it does seem to have a following. And when I write more, you read more. When I stop writing for a week, as I did recently, readership drops drastically. It's a lot of pressure on the shoulders of our overburdened one-man editorial staff. (So keep the comments coming!)
In the last 6 weeks or so, IR has started turning up on Google searches with some regularity. Popular keywords include "Ölstofan" (cozy bar o' mine), "hekla pastry" (of Boston-area fame), and "skyr". "Laugardalslaug", the swimming pool, gets a lot of hits, too. All Icelandic words that are underrepresented internationally, it seems. But my favorite keyword hit has to be "Waingro sound bites". Apparently obscure Heat movie references (which are in no short supply here) really do pay the bills on Google.
posted by JB at 13.9.05
2 Comments:
Neil McCauley: We want to hurt no one. We're here for the bank's money, not your money. Your money is insured by the federal government, you're not gonna lose a dime. Think of your families, don't risk your life. Don't try and be a hero.
Maybe we can optimize more posts for the rabid fans of HEAT!
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