I’m Not Popular

July 30th 2010 / 3 minutes to read

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I get told quite often when I work on a person’s blog, “Don’t look at my stats! I’m so embarrassed, they can’t compare to what YOU must get!”. Ah, if only they knew.

I’ve been blogging here at OSN since November of 2001. Just shy of nine years (I have my archives from 2001-2003 private because it’s embarrassing). Here are my stats:



Of course to some of you newer bloggers, my numbers must look AWESOME right? However these newer blogs I work on, blogs that maybe have been around six months or less, have triple my numbers, of which I’ve spent nine YEARS working on.

Now granted, blogging isn’t just about numbers. I am “rich” in various other ways. I am able to help people, I’ve made amazing friends along the way, and I have a full online community that sustains me where my local community does not.

Blogging Positives

  • I’ve been able to take sites from awful designs to beautiful hardcore awesomeness.
  • I’ve met AMAZING people that I’ve been friends with for years & new people I’m becoming fast friends with!
  • Twitter
  • I’ve learned SO much by teaching myself CSS, XHTML, design, WordPress, ExpressionEngine, MovableType, etc.
  • I’m able to go back almost an entire decade and read how I was feeling, what was going on in my life. So many amazing things happened.
Blogging Negatives

  • I’ve had my designs/code copied, “stolen”, and heavily imitated. Rarely credited.
  • I’ve met people who have lied to me, stolen from me, and attacked me. I met DS1’s bio-dad online. Enough said.
  • MySpace
  • I am disgusted every single day by people who claim to be web designers/developers yet know NOTHING and make MY job harder fixing THEIR screw-ups.
  • I’m able to go back almost an entire decade and read how I was feeling, what was going on in my life. So many awful things happened.


Back when I first started, it was a very elite circle that had domain names because they cost so much and hosting? Oh wow, you were lucky to get 5MB of space and 1 MySQL database for $30 a month! Being “hosted” as a sub-domain was all the rage. I should know as I’ve had my fair share of hostee’s here at OSN.

Now? It’s all about monetizing, ad clicks, page views, sponsored posts, marketing yourself, giveaways, being a brand, and so on. It makes my head spin! People are turning to superficial means to be the latest, greatest, super blogging star with their own book/movie deal.

People have asked me if I’ve ever considered placing ad’s on OSN and for now my answer is no. I’ve never been approached by a company to do a review or giveaway or ad placement. I don’t see that changing in the near future either.

My Questions for YOU!

  • How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL?
  • On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month?
  • Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade?
  • Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago?

This post is over a year old which means the content may be outdated or no longer accurate.

Notes

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Jams

Album Art for Would I Lie to You?

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Album Art for Counting Stars

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Album Art for We Can Work It Out

The Beatles

We Can Work It Out

Carrie

were you ever part of the snuggles board crowd? that’s sort of where i got my start blogging (and being hosted on people’s subdomains!) but i didn’t start calling it blogging until about 2007. i’ve been all over with the domain names and only using my current one for about a year now but i think i’ll stick with it now. the only old work of mine that i can find is my livejournal, i wish i had all my past work collected in one place (i think i made my first site in 94 or 95). and your stats are pretty similar to mine but your bounce rate is like half what mine is so that’s awesome.

Reply to Carrie

No! I don’t think I ever came across it!

Thank you! I am fairly proud of my bounce rate LOL!

I had all of my “official” blog entries from when I first started in March of 2001 at my first domain that I shared with my twin sister. However I wish I had my MANUAL entries from when I had my angelfire site.

Lynda

Your lists look awesome in this post.

* How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL?

I’ve been blogging for about 11 years I think. I started out at heavysigh.com. Moved to digitalwoe.com in 2001. Created soveryposh.com somewhere along the way and blogged there for YEARS. That’s where I was at the height of my “popularity”.

* On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month?

This new blog just launched in May. I hope it’ll stick around longer than some of my other public efforts. In May I got 707 visits. June = 1583 visits. July so far = 2806. I’m averaging 147 visits a day now.

* Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade?

Heck yeah. It used to be ALL about personal blogging. So few people were out to make money and if they did try to turn a buck, we shamed them for it. Now there are SO many blogs, all actually making some money for themselves! When their content is less than spectacular and their design is just… laughable. It’s crazy!

* Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago?

Definitely. There are a lot of niche networking opportunities that exist now that didn’t years ago. It was hard to connect with other people before, but it’s getting easier every day.

Sarah, I think you need to get out there more. Comment on other blogs more. Unfortunately, I have to visit a lot of meh designs and use icky comment systems. I also think you could do wonders monetizing your design skills! You give away too much for free – it’s nice and all, but your blog has a lot of free tips and you could always address more from people’s questions in the comments. You should always charge for WP help – you’d be raking it in. :)

Reply to Lynda

Thank you!!

Oh I totally remember you from soveryposh.com for sure.

Oh wow so in THREE MONTHS time you’re getting the kind of hits I’m getting now LOL!

Oh, I do paid work, I know I am undercharging heh. I make enough per month to feed my World of Warcraft fund and online Weight Watchers lol.

I have a hard time commenting although I’m trying to do better, I think because I feel I’m not smart enough, (when it comes to tech/blogging/wp based blogs), or I don’t want to be confrontational, (on parenting blogs).

Molly

Love your blog!

Blogging since Feb. 2010, averaging 250 hits per day. I would love a new design but I’m not technically savvy and need help!!!! Can I hire you???? Let me know!

Reply to Molly

Thank you! Yes I am available for hire! You can check out my prices and contact me!

jen :)

Well – you just became a *little bit* more popular! I just found your blog (from #31dbbb)

Reply to jen :)

LOL thank you!!

First of all, thank you for posting this. I appreciate your honesty and thoughtfulness in this post. Thanks.

How long have you been blogging?
about 3 1/2 yrs.
Has it been consistently at the same URL? Mostly yes. I love my blogs (I have many private ones). Some I add to weekly, some I post to monthley/bi-yearly. But my public blogs were created within the last year).
On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month? In reference to the public blog (madebybedtimetales) we get about average 45 people come through the blog a day. I’m very proud of that number. Readers don’t allways comment, but when they do we (my sister and I) so enjoy our readers and their contribution to the blog.
Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade? Yes, in the fact that it is more part of my day and who I am than it was before I blogged.
Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago? Ummm… I don’t really know what you mean by this question. It is so easy for anyone to start a blog but not necessarily easy to have it “take off.” There is definitely a learning curve to blogging and each person takes their own pace.

PS I love your blog design. Even the “Submit Comment” button is cool

Thank you so much!

To clarify the “easier to start blogging now”, back when I first started there wasn’t really any scripts to use like WordPress for example or even blogger! It was all done manually or using a script called GreyMatter that was insecure and could take down a server LOL.

I think new bloggers have it SO much easier today with setting up a blog, gathering readers due to social networking (which again we didn’t have LOL).

jen :)

(my last comment got cut off!) Anyway – love your blog – will be back! (and may hire you to help me!)

Reply to jen :)

Sweet! Thank you so much!!

* How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL?
* On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month?
* Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade?
* Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago?

I’ve been blogging for ten years, but I’ve used 3/4 domains in that time. Before 31DBBB I got about 10 visitors a day. Since, I get about 40. I’m not popular at all! lol

Blogging has changed. To me, there is more of a sense of community and making connections

I’d say it’s DEFINITELY easier to start a blog now than it was 5 years ago. We’ve got blogger, blogspot, typepad, wordpress.com, and self-hosting is a lot cheaper and easier.

I remember watching TechTV (god I miss that!) and to be labeled a blogger was RARE. Now everyone blogs LOL!

What a cute blog design you’ve got going on here!
To answer your questions:
How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL?
I have a perso blog I’ve been on for 4years now, but my main blog since januari. Just switched to a custom domain

On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month?
average of about 200 a day… sometimes huge peeks…

Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade?
When I started blogging it was all more of the journal kind, while now, I think a lot blogs are really gotten more article style

Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago?
I think there’s way more info out there right now about how to do things, so yes, might be easier, however, there are many many fish in the water, which might make it harder

Thank you so much!

Oh you are so right, blogs used to be more of the PERSONAL day-to-day, where as now it’s about topics and niches!

I'm a full-time mummy

* How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL?
A: I started blogging (http://imafulltimemummy.blogspot.com/) in June 2009 when I became a SAHM, and migrated out of Blogger in end of June 2010 to my own domain ), and hosted my website on my own server.

* On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month?
A: Monthly average around 4500 visitors.

* Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade?
A: Can’t tell since I only started blogging in 2009.

* Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago?
A: Definitely! More widgets and info shared around.

Reply to I'm a full-time mummy

Thanks for commenting! How do you like the change from Blogger to your own domain?

I'm a full-time mummy

It was great! Finally my own blog identity and no more squatting around on Blogger and getting scared of being deleted all of a sudden (read a lot of these on the web). The hard part was starting my new blog domain on a self-hosted website from scratch. I’m using the Blogengine.net to design my blog and the images are all DIY by myself (SAHM need to save $ :P) so everything is pretty much learn by trial and error from Google. But the end results are worth it! I’m still having trouble with people using IE8 on my blog as they can’t post a comment. Sigh…

Reply to I'm a full-time mummy
Allyson

* How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL?
Since 2001, but I’ve changed domain names several times, and in the early days it was based off of geocities/angelfire/etc. Now, my site is just a simple photoblog, but I think I’ve had my current URL the longest.

* On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month?
Oh man, I don’t even look anymore.

* Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade?
Definitely! More voices now, more variety, more creativity. And, of course, now when you say you have a blog, most people don’t respond with “a what?”.

* Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago?
Yes, yes, yes. If you don’t want to get involved in hosting yourself, you can always start something free with sites like wordpress.com with very little technical knowledge.

Reply to Allyson

LOL oh yes, I still remember being one of the few “bloggers” that got the blank stare and the “huh?” response.

liz

I really know nothing about blogging during “yesteryear”. Ha! BUT I really, really, really, loved Point 4 on your ‘hate’ list because it is SO OM!

Reply to liz

BAHAHA so true. PINK!

LOL, that is EXACTLY what I said to you when you helped me with the WordPress stuff. I really appreciate you putting this out there – stats are one of those things, like ads and giveaways that bloggers all think about but mostly keep to themselves, as if sharing breaks the first rule of Blogger Fight Club or something.

I’ve been blogging since July 2008 (almost exactly two years). I started on a WordPress hosted blog and bought my own domain after a year because I wanted to allow ads. I probably had about 30 regular readers my whole first year. Once I joined Twitter and started commenting on other blogs (I had NO IDEA there were so many out there when I started) my readership grew. I now get about 400 visits a day, but my bounce rate is embarrassing and at least half of those are not unique. My best day ever was 850+ and most weekends I get less than 150. If we’re counting subscribers, I have between 140-150 depending on how generous Feedburner is feeling.

I didn’t know about blogging in the sense we use the word now until a few years ago, but as I discovered more and more awesome, talented people to follow I realized they have all been blogging for years. They started before it was such a “thing” and will keep doing it even when PR companies and product shills forget all about bloggers.

I certainly think as blogging-as-money-making-venture has taken off the internet world has made blogging easier. Although I’m certainly not a purist (see: Google ads, BlogHer ads, giveaways) I still maintain the best and most popular blogs are all about personal writing. I saw a list this morning ) of the “most influential” mom/women bloggers and think it totally proves my point.

P.S. PERSONALLY, I think you should put yourself on the BlogHerAds waiting list. You’d be surprised how often they accept new members and you get a lot of control over what ads are allowed. I felt like being accepted by BlogHer gave me the legitimacy I needed after 18 month of blogger to feel like I MATTER. (Lame, I know.)

p.p.s. Sorry for the ridiculously long comment!

HAHAH love it, Blogger Fight Club!

I worry about how over-saturated it’s become with blogs. I used to be able to follow EVERYONE but after seeing sponsored posts and sponsored tweets and ads after every post and paid links on the sidebar, it turned less from a blog and more into a paid “site”.

I don’t know about BlogHer ads… I’ve been a member of the network for years but never really got into it.

You don’t have to care at all about the BlogHer site or community itself. Lord knows I haven’t logged in in months. I just love that the network pays per page view rather than click, your posts get cross-promoted on other people’s ads, they work to make sure the ad “blends in” with your sidebars, and if you object to certain types of ads (fast food, formula companies, weight loss) you can refuse them.

I don’t work for them or anything :) I just like them.

Catie

I’ve been blogging since ’99 (Oh yeah, 5th grade!). I started out on Geocities and Angelfire, manual blogging. I even continued manual blogging when I got my first domain in 2004, because I actually had NO CLUE how to use a CMS. That was back before I became stupid. lol! I lost all my coding knowledge in the few years that I didn’t have a domain.

I’ve had my current blog since 2008, and average about 30 hits a day. Would I like it to be more? You betcha. But I also don’t want to “sell out” and start doing a whole ton of paid reviews, etc, because who really wants to read that?

As for blogging changing over the last decade- It DEFINITELY has. Back when I started out, “mommy blogger” was a phrase that hadn’t been coined. Now it seems like the web is populated with three types: Mommy Bloggers, Food Bloggers, and Fitness Bloggers. I kind of strive to be a personal blogger, even though I know people might not want to read about what I do all day. (Nothing.)

Reply to Catie

I don’t think you’re stupid! HTML/XHTML/CSS have come a longggg way since those early days. Remember how CGI based scripts were all the rage? Hardcore!

Anna

First I’m going to just say, I get annoyed when people “brag” about hits or mention how hits are up or down in blog posts, etc. I don’t think that’s what you were doing here because you blog about website development and this is one of those topics… but I feel like if people, at least on PERSONAL blogs, get hung up on stats, they are focusing on the wrong thing and blogging for the wrong reason. You should be embarrassed by STATS if you’re writing what you really want to say.

WITH THAT SAID! ;)

-How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL?
Since 2003. For the last five years it’s been at aflux and I don’t foresee a time I’ll ever change my main blogging domain.

-On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month?
I pulled these from Awstats via my cpanel:
In June I had 1801 unique visitors
So far in July I’ve had 2040 but I’ve blogged twice a much this month so I’m sure that’s why the number is up.

-Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade?
Very much so. When we first started out it was about community and now (at least for a great number of people) it’s about self promotion and making money. I miss the old days… I feel like people were more honest then. But that’s the great thing about feed readers! I simply unsubscribe to people when they get that way and stick to reading more “real” blogs or helpful ones like your’s or photography sites, etc.

-Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago?
It’s probably easier now that you have stuff like Fantastico with one click installs.

Reply to Anna

Oh yes, I will never grasp why people will post purely to get “good numbers”.

Oh gosh, the old days LOL. It was such a tight community too!

This Stupid Lamb

Firstly great post! I so agree with all that you said!

* How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL?
I have been blogging hardcore for a year now and yes I have always been This Stupid Lamb

* On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month?
I get about 50 visitors a month. I know it is not all about numbers, but it pisses me off when I see people who blog about nothing and get a zillion comments.

* Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade?
Very much so. It has gone from online journals to ads and brands. Most popular blogs have no substance.

* Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago?
It is easier to create a blog now, but it is harder to get a group of followers because of the amount of blogs out there.

Reply to This Stupid Lamb

I think in some part, it’s about networking as well. How are these people on all the social networks? Is that bringing them the traffic on their maybe, meaningless, posts?

I can see how that would be frustrating!

Lula Lola

I am so completely clueless. I don’t even know how to really check my stats. The graph in the WP dashboard has me at anywhere from 75-200+ hits a day. I don’t even know what a bounce rate is! I’m a blogging imbecile!
I just started blogging in late January, and am a bump on the head away from totally clueless.

Reply to Lula Lola

You would need to use something like Google Analytics or Mint for stat tracking.

Bounce rate is basically how fast someone “bounces” away from your index (main) page. If they explore your site, you get a LOWER bounce rate aka they stick around.

Your stats are wayyyyyy better than mine Sarah. I’ve been blogging regularly since August 2009. I started out with Blogger (yuck), then moved to WordPress. And in January I became self-hosted and got more serious about this blogging stuff. I really enjoy it – when life grants me a few extra hours. I’ve met awesomely talented people like yourself and am so grateful for that.
As for stats, I like looking at where I’m at but I’m not too devastated when they drop or if they aren’t as great as the next blogger’s numbers. What matters is that I’m blogging honestly and staying true to who I am. Keeping doing what you’re doing because we love you!

Kristi, Live and Love…Out Loud
@TweetingMama

Thank you!!!!

I am NEW NEW NEW to blogging and still finding my way. I have tried a few other sites (wordpress and livejournal) but think I have found a home at blogger.
I have 3 followers and 0 comments on every post….I must be boring, oh well i don’t blog too much about my life just about what I read, write, or knit/crochet.
I haven’t paid attention to my stats and am not sure if I really know where to find them. haha.
But from the perspective of one who wanders around blogs and reads them I can say I think bloggers have become more savvy, more willing to express themselves as themselves, then say a couple of years ago.
take care
karey

I do think to some degree, bloggers are more willing to open up because we now have the ability to FIND other like minded individuals due to social networking.

Deidre

I agree with all the blogging positives & negatives. Especially the “being able to go back a decade” well, I’ve only been blogging for 3 years, but I can go all the way back to 2007 & find out what I was doing. Its gonna more amazing 10 years from now :P

* How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL? No, I’ve changed urls a dozen times. Mainly because I was hosted & my hosts kept closing.
* On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month? Not sure. I don’t really keep track.
* Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade? Well I’ve only been blogging for 3 years, but it has changed since then.
* Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago? Yes, because they are a lot more resource sites to help get started. Plus there is places like blogger, myspace, etc.

Reply to Deidre

How have you found blogging to change over the last 3 years?

JoEllen Noble

I’ve been blogging for 9 years. I started out blogging on LiveJournal as a sophomore in high school. It’s funny, when I read back over those old posts, I see how I have changed but have also stayed much the same!

I was on a sort of blogging hiatus for a little while and slowly got back into it on my MySpace blog. Once I had my son I decided to make the switch and put down some roots on Blogger because I felt like MySpace wasn’t the appropriate place for me to post some of things I wanted to talk about.

I don’t understand doing giveaways and gaining followers in that way. Seems to me that those folks are mostly interested in a blog when they can get something for free.

Reply to JoEllen Noble

I tried ONE giveaway in which I actually BOUGHT the product (no one sponsored me LOL) and used my own money to MAIL the product as well. I didn’t get any new readers, new friends, or new… anything lol.

twyla

Here’s my answers for you.
* How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL?
Been bloging only since 2006 through blogspot. It hasn’t always been the same blogspot, I’ve had two or three then wind up back at the first one again just importing all my posts from here to there. Used to “journal” on my website back to 1999, but free websites kept shutting down on me. Hence I flickr.
* On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month?
I recently made my blog “private” or “invited only” due to issues at work (nosy sue-happy people, lol) but before that I got one to two visitors per month and they were usually just my sister and ex-boy-toy. That included feed subscribers, followers, random visitors, etc …
* Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade?
Blogging is my outlet to speak my mind. No one listens so I don’t consider it public information. But as for “changing” me … not sure. Maybe its changed how I type since I hardly ever use punctuation or grammar anymore.
* Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago?
Easier to start now … perhaps. SImply a matter of signing up and voila. Same as it used to be, for blogging anyways. But to get a following? you have to put your “i’m happy da–it” face and keep it on all the time. Once you’re nice to people they expect you to always be nice; one bad/off day when you’ve just got to crank about something and you’re effed; forever shunned.
Sorry to intrude

Reply to twyla

I agree, I posted about it, Bloggers Fear Themselves. We tend to censor ourselves so that we are well-liked, get more friends, etc.

twyla

Totally. Makes me wish I could just be myself.

Reply to twyla
Cate

This is a great post – and I am officially stealing your button for my “blog love” page. :O)
I have been blogging since February of this year. I put my first post up on February 19th. I have increased my posting frequency since then and am now up to 4-5 times per week – sometimes more.
I just peaked at over 4K pageviews per month, 1500 visitors, and about 46% bounce rate. I was just so excited to actually get some traffic!
I’m still trying to figure out what my niche is – I think I’m close – but am mostly having such a blast meeting everyone and reading other’s posts and stories.
I bet it is totally easier to start blogging now than it was 5 years ago. I work for an online retailer (started 5 years ago) and know that so much has become so much more accessible!
So cool to know you.

Reply to Cate

* How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL?
I have been blogging almost 3 years. I guess my personal blog has been 5 years, but for some reason I don’t count that, though I should.
* On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month?
My Enjoy Birth Blog gets about 7000 visitors a month.
My Hypnobabies Blog gets about 6000 visitors a month.
My personal blog, which I don’t really share with people except friends gets about 200 visitors a month.
* Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade?
I don’t really know or think about that. As I have only been doing it awhile.
* Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago?
I didn’t find it hard to start. Though I wish I had started with self-hosting. ;)

Oh yes, self-hosting is THE way to go. You have complete control over every aspect!

LOL thank you!!

I think figuring out a niche is the hardest part, I still can’t figure out what mine is!

Veronica

As you know I am a super newbie:

I have been blogging a month, average 19 visitors per day! woot woot :)
I have no idea whether blogging has changed or not in the last five years.

As for popularity – I guess everyone measures this differently. I dont know what goal metric I would need to reach in order to consider my blog “popular” per se.

I guess more than one visitor a day is good enough for me.

Reply to Veronica

YAY for almost 20 visitors a day! I bet next month it will be close to 100!

Leonor

Hey! Been on vacation the last three weeks but I’m back, so hi! Hope you’re having a great time /w your boyfriend and kids on the other side of the Atlantic, I guess it’s getting pretty hot in the US in August.

Now, on the subject:

As for my infamous blogging career, I’ve had too many URLs already. And I’ve been blogging for 6 years, mostly in French-speaking circles. Getting my hands on the English language though. My new blog is in limbo, trying to get started though.

In 2005-2006, I had an average 10,000 visitors per month. I was 16 at the time and regarded as one heck of a literary genius by most of my readers and affiliates because I gave my opinion on many subjects, mainly politics, sexuality, education and social issues in France… heh. My philosophy and French literature teachers were both avid readers of my blog, we even became friends. When I went to college, I didn’t have any time left, so I gradually abandoned my passion for writing to pursue more… realistic goals, I guess. Plus I had to work two jobs just to keep up with the bills.

Then I realized that blogging is actually much, much more than a simple hobby. I mean, even though I’ve met horrible, horrible people because of my activity online (I guess we all have…) I’ve also made wonderful friends, and got to know fantastic people who are willing to share their views and their life to others.

I like your kind of blogging. It’s meaningful. :)

(Off-topic: so you roll a draenei mage too? ^^)

Reply to Leonor

Hi! We are doing better thankfully, I am really having positive thoughts for this upcoming Autumn!

Oh yes, blogging is more than just… blogging. For me it’s about communication and connections!

OH yes lv 80 draenei mage alliance! I also have a 41 nightelf priest as well.

Pepper

How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL?
I have been blogging since 1997/1998. I did diaryland, I did free hosts, I did hosting on other’s servers, and then I got my own domain. I got my domain Uniquehorn.net 7 years and 38 days ago. I had to look it up. LOL I have had my blog Pepper Scraps for about 3 years. Bought it a domain this year.

On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month?
I average about 33 visitors per day. But I’m not really into numbers, I’m kinda old school blogging is more for me.

Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade?
Oh def! Like you said it’s all about monetizing your blog, how can you become big and famous so you can make money.

Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago?
Oh my yes! As you mentioned to the previous poster wordpress only came onto the scene 5 years ago and you had to have some html and php knowledge to get it up and running and look pretty.

It’s funny I thought your domain sounded familiar and when you mentioned how long you have had it I realized I must have had you in my list of must reads (in my bookmarks, because readers didn’t exist) a long time ago. LOL Somebody called me a legacy blogger the other day and I realized, wow I guess I am, and so are you!

Reply to Pepper

OHHH wouldn’t that be funny! I’ve actually come across old hostees and friends from YEARRRS ago lately and it’s amazing to re-connect!

OMG I love that, legacy blogger! That is awesome!

Pepper

I know we should start a clique! ;-)

Reply to Pepper

OMG LOL that brings me back

Lynda

Haha! It was me that called you a legacy blogger! :) :)

Reply to Lynda
Melissa

How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL?

I’ve had my own domain since 1999, but I didn’t start blogging as such until 2002/2003. I did have numerous LiveJournal accounts from way back (I was an early adopter account) but mostly my domain was a place to put sparkly, badly animated .gifs and cartoon dolls from the Palace. I’ve never kept the same domain for more than a year or two, which I regret in retrospect to be honest.

On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month?

A few hundred a month. I’ve not really tried to increase my readership like I used to do with previous domains. I just write what I’m feeling, doing or want to share. If somebody comments, fair enough.

Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade?Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago?

So much! My first go at blogging was all hand coded with random HTML tags here, there and everywhere. Then there was the amazing (not!) Greymatter and then I stumbled onto TextPattern which I always had such a problem installing, for some reason.
WordPress makes blogging so accessible to everybody, whether it’s WordPress hosted or self hosted.
There’s also, I feel, not as much of a community these days. Back when I started blogging it was almost as if you knew every single other young female teenager who was sharing their lives online. Now it’s everybody and their granny doing it.

Reply to Melissa

OH I was SOOO into Palace from hmm 1999-2001. I even ran my own palace actually, back then you had to buy hosting for it LOL.

True, there isn’t a tight community, there are however tight niches but then you have to figure out where you belong and it’s difficult!

Melodie

My blogging stats are: 250-350 views per day, sometimes higher, sometimes lower, depending on how much effort I put into my posts. 15000 views per month. One thing I don’t think is that great though and something I don’t really understand is bounce rates. I think the lower the better right? Mine are in the 70% range. Maybe because “breastfeeding” generates interest but not time spent hanging around?? Porn interest in the photos? I don’t know. What is it exactly?

Reply to Melodie

Right, when it comes to bounce rates, the lower the better. Basically it means how fast someone “bounces” off the first page they come to. If they browse other pages/posts/the site overall, the LOWER the bounce rate which is a good thing it means they “stick” around.

Maureen

You’ve been in this ‘business’ a long time, girl! :D Your blog is one of my favorite for sure. I love how you add the pros and cons and make them look so purrrty!

* How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL?
I’ve been blogging since 2005 but on Tatter Scoops since August last year.

* On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month?
It fluctuates lol but I’ve seen increasing traffic since I join 31DBBB :D

* Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade?
Oh yes, I remember when blogspot was so plain and a pain in you know where to tweak..

* Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago?
I think so, now there are a lot more sources out there from themes to plugins :D

Reply to Maureen

Aww thank you so much! I haven’t noticed a change in traffic to my site since starting 31DBBB however I have gained a lot more twitter followers.

Keeshia

Let’s see…. I’ve been blogging for about seven or eight years now and have bounced around -a lot-. CarnivalMacabre and Oomlaute have been my longest lived domains, obviously only Oomlaute now as my personal blog. Blogging had definitely come from the background to the fore. I attribute it to it being much easier now to have a blog. When I got into it, a lot of blogs had no cms, they were just coded in by hand, or a very, very basic cms — at least in my little circle of the internet. But now you can use good CMS easily, either on free sites or very easily set up on your own domain.

As for visits, my stats say I get anywhere from 75-200ish visitors a day. I find that had to believe but whatever. I never look at stats too much. I’d rate a blog’s popularity more on its link back and comment numbers. IE: Your blog’s only popular to me if people like it enough to actually comment and put your link on their site. So you’re popular :P

Reply to Keeshia

See I used to base a blog’s popularity based on comments and such but realized that used to be the case in the early days but not so much anymore. NOW it’s based on the amount of ad’s, giveaways, followers, etc.

Michelle

Your blog is a favorite of mine for many reasons. I am surprised by your numbers, but they don’t matter at all. You have what so many of us want – a beautiful blog design, great content, and a lot of heart. You just can’t fake that.

I started blogging almost four months ago, and have loved every minute of it. It’s been the creative outlet I’ve been searching for. Before now I really never paid too much attention to blogs – boy was I missing out!

As for my stats, they’re very small. I get maybe 500 visitors on average a week (according to my sitemeter acct.). Numbers aren’t really what I’m after, sure they’d be great, but I want to connect with people, help people, and learn from people. For me, it’s the ideas my blog fosters, and not the statistics.

Unfortunately I see such a trend in the opposite direction. It seems like it’s all about grab my button, plaster it all over your site, write about me and you’ll have an extra entry in my latest giveaway… Not that I’m opposed to giveaways, but where’s the real content? Some blogs are nothing but product reviews and giveaways – I was looking at a “green” blog tonight that was hosting a green blog hop, and the emphasis was not about connecting with like minded individuals that care about the environment. The focus was on “take my button please and put it on your site and then write about my blog hop, don’t forget to follow me…in very bold lettering. That’s a huge turn off for me, and something that doesn’t make me want to return for a second visit. Do you truly care for living green, or are you simply after bumping up your followers, and increasing your page rank?

It takes a special blog with great content to get me to keep coming back for more. A blog like yours, and blogs by other individuals that I see commenting here as well.

Whew…I’ll get off my soapbox now! Peace. ;)

Reply to Michelle

AWW thank you so very much!!

I think for a blog less than 6 months old, 500 visitors a week is AMAZING!

It’s true though, people want the hits so that they can get better offers from sponsors and turn their blog into a money making scheme at the expense of the readers.

Lindsay @ Just My Blog

I have been blogging since December 2009 (but I think I only had one post that month) and I’m still loving every minute of it. Right now, I have about 800 unique visitors monthly and a total of about 2,500 pageviews. I’ve only been at lindsayblogs.com for about 2 months…before that I was on a blogspot domain. Ick.

Now, I can’t speak about blogging over the past decade because I honestly knew nothing of it until last year. but, even in that year, it’s changed a lot. And I think it’s much easier to get into blogging now than it was five years ago…just because there are so many blogging forums, conferences, blogs, etc etc. It’s a great big world out there. That being said, finding “success” in this blogosphere now is likely much more difficult than it was five years ago because there are so many more competitors.

Reply to Lindsay @ Just My Blog

Oh totally, it’s hard to become a “popular” blogger these days. With the likes of Dooce, Pioneer Woman, and others, it’s hard to compete.

Jamee

* How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL? I have been blogging for just over 3 years. I have not used the same url as I didn’t buy my domain until last december.
* On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month? According to the sitemeter email I got this morning I am averaging 26 visits a day (boo!)
* Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade? I think the mindset towards blogging has definitely changed. It hard to find people now that don’t blog, at least casually.
* Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago? Definitely. There are so many more resources and groups available.

Reply to Jamee

I always joke that if I knew THEN what I know NOW, I would be a billionaire LOL. I’ve found that some people stop blogging 1-3 months in because they feel like “well no one is reading” but a lot of times they may be SUBSCRIBING to your feed but not visiting the site itself.

Christina

How long have you been blogging? 2 years
Has it been consistently at the same URL? yes
On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month? I think maybe 20-30 a day.
Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade? Yes!
Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago? Definitely!

Reply to Christina

Thank you for commenting! Stopped by your blog real quick and omg you seem to be an awesome cook!

Kimm

* . Made my 1st website in 1999/2000 but didn’t really start blogging time sometime in 2001. Purchased PGN in 2003 and haven’t looked back..

* . I get about 20 hits a day even though I haven’t really updated my site in a while. (Gotta love life) When I do blog I get anywhere from 50-100+ hits a day..

* . YES!!

* . With things like wordpress I do think people are getting into the world a lot easier then when we 1st started..

I still find a lot of personal blogs out there who are hit/stat hungry.. They should be happy about how many returning readers they get, then how many hits they get in a day/week/month.

Reply to Kimm

I think there are very few “personal” blogs these days. Generally people start the blog and wonder how fast before they get a movie deal, book deal, sponsors, ads, etc.

angela

I am also a newbie blogger, 7 whole posts in July :). Also doing the SITS 31 day challenge. I really like your blog and ideas, and am stalking you now via blogfrog :). Thanks for all the useful info. I hope I can continue to do this as long as some of you! Have a great day!

Reply to angela

LOL thank you so much!

Damita

How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL?

Erm since 2001 so about 9 years, but I have been at a few different URLs and for two years I didn’t even blog, kind of gave it up.

* On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month?

A day between 30 and 50, month at the mo 400 to 500 which I am pretty happy about

* Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade?

It seems most people are a lot bitchier than 5 years ago, and people like to pick at you for silly things which I dislike

* Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago?

Oh yes it is so much easier

Reply to Damita

LOL love it and it’s so true. I think because back THEN the blogging community was SO SMALL that you couldn’t risk offending ANYONE. These days there’s millions and millions of bloggers so it doesn’t matter if a person is rude or not.

* How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL? – I started out blogging in 2000. I think. I had a few sites on Geocities and a few other sites that I updated manually but! then! Someone hosted me! And I could install Greymatter! I got my own domain and hosting sometime in 2001 (I think; these dates are so fuzzy) and at some point started using b2 (predecessor of WordPress) and a slew of other systems. I’ve taken a lot of breaks over the years. I started blogging at my current domain in late 2006 but did a reboot in 2008. So while I’ve had the domain for nearly 7 years I’ve only been semi steadily blogging there for two years.

* On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month? – I don’t even know. I haven’t been keeping track of my stats because I don’t want to get obsessed with numbers. I don’t have feedburner set up either so I’m not sure how many subscribers I have either. Of course, I only update sporadically and haven’t done much to try to increase my readership. I’m thinking of trying to change that… Awstats says I’ve been averaging less than 500 unique visitors a month.

* Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade? – Yes. Either it has changed or the circles I frequent are just that different. Way back the blogs I saw most often were mostly recaps of what a person did for the day and most sites offered “content” separate from the blog entries. Now it seems that most people have a niche and/or are trying to make money. There’s also a lot more caution (or should be) about what is said because of companies starting to check up on applicant’s online history.

* Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago? – As far as getting the bare bones of a blog running? Yes. WordPress.com and blogger seem to make it fairly easy for people to set up a place to write. You don’t have to do the whole bit of buying a name, setting up hosting, and installing a blogging system. As far as being easier to start a successful blog? I dunno. With simplified blog creation and cheaper hosting plans there has been a major influx of blogs. EVERYONE blogs now. Maybe that’s why there seem to be a lot more niche bloggers.

Gosh. I remember when I would do work for hosting companies on their servers and GreyMatter could bring one down in a matter of minutes! I STILL can visualize the interface though LOL!

Thu Nguyen

Hi Sarah,

You’re right. The new emphasis towards blogging has changed. There isn’t much of the aesthetics anymore because everyone wants to monetize what they’ve got. I myself am guilty of that but I’ll say this, everyday I’m not blogging I feel like I’m letting myself down. Now that’s personal in that it’s not about monetizing anymore but more towards expressing myself and filtering out what’s true to my blogging voice.

I started blogging as a means to an end, now it’s a means to beginnings. Thus, it’s my 3rd month in. I’m meeting great people. I’m excited about what I have because I was unsure of the vision to begin with but now that I’m comfortable, I can just communicate more.

I always encourage my family members to blog because after all, they never knew who else is listening. Whether it’s on a third-party like blogger or wordpress, at least get familiar with it. Overall, it’s good for connection with like-minded which can help you down the line. Another form of communication online.

Reply to Thu Nguyen

Oh I’ve tried and TRIED to get friends and family to blog! I’ve done ALL the “work” so they just have to write and… they don’t lol. It drives me insane because I want to be able to discuss blogging OFFLINE and I have no one that does it that understands! Arg!

Jen

* How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL?
2.5 years. I’ve had three URLs, and I’ve been at the current one only a few months.

* On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month?
I get about 500 visitors per month.

* Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade?
Oh yes. It’s even changed in the last 2.5 years. I didn’t hear much about ads, stats, money back then. Or maybe I was just oblivious.

* Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago?
Hmmm … I think there are more options and there are better options for people with no prior technical skills. So that makes it easier. But I think there is more pressure to do things just so now, and people want to go from nothing to a well designed blog with lots of widgets and added functionality right off the bat rather than focusing on the content. So I think that’s intimidating and makes it harder to start.

Reply to Jen

OH yes. Content. I think that’s why I get so stuck in not expanding to read new to ME blogs. I am tired of sponsored posts, giveaways, and reviews!

Mommylebron

Hey!I have only been blogging since May and I did move from Blogger to WordPress and I hope to eventually move to wp.org.My goal is to build a community of support for parents of children with emotional/behavior disorders. Design wise my blog is lame bacause I have neither the knowlede nor the know how to do it. I don’t care about monetize in and of ítself but if I could that would be great. I’m not trying to get 8million followers, I respond to every comment and communicate frequently on Twitter.

Reply to Mommylebron

It is SO simple to go to self-hosted WordPress! I think it’s fantastic that you make sure to communicate with your readers and followers!!

Terin

I’ve been blogging since 2005 and I’ve had over 10 different domains. On my old blogs, I was getting close to 500 unique visitors a month. I just reopened my blog yesterday, but I hope to make this one my home for some time to come.

Over the past five years that I’ve been blogging things have changed a good bit. Blogs then used to focus on content..and some still do, but mostly it’s about sponsored blogging. It’s the reason why some people blog.

It’s so easy to get into blogging. From LJ to Blogger to WordPress.com. All you have to do is take 5 seconds to sign up and then BAM! You’re a blogger.

Reply to Terin

I seriously can not stand sponsored blogging. It drives me insane! It just seems so… fake… which it is… but still LOL.

Jenny

Sponsored blogging is ok sometimes. It’s how I pay for my dolly habit :P Plus I learned how to hide my sponsored posts so no one ever see’s them on my blog OR in my feed xD

Reply to Jenny
Ashley

I just recently got back into the blog scene in July and it’s amazing how much things have changed since I was last in the blog scene. You really do learn a lot when you’ve been around a while and clearly observe a lot. You know?

* How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL?
I’ve been blogging since I was 16/17, so about 8 years. I haven’t been at the same URL, I was MIA for a couple of years, so I guess I can’t really claim 8 years blogging, but I’ve been around 8 years. My first blog was hosted, but I can’t remember the URL then I finally got my first domain at green-bug.org ROFL. Later, my more known blog was at silencehurts.org (I loved having my site there.) Then, I later got crankheart.com but it didn’t last long before I let it die. I was at my peak with silencehurts.org.

* On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month?
I just opened my site in July, so I don’t get that many. For July I got around 1500 views for the month and this month so far only 333 views.

* Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade?
Oh god yes! People used to be all about graphic design and who had the best graphic layout, rather than who could master CSS the best. People thrived on who got the most comments rather than who was working with public relations and doing sex toy reviews. Not that those are bad in my opinion, but they are a huge difference compared to the old days. I remember back in the day I did fairly well making graphic layouts for blogs and people paying me.

* Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago?
I think so. I think people are more accepting of newcomers these days. Where back when I was in my peak I guess you could say it was a close knit group. The only way you were popular is if you were graphically inclined and could make things other people couldn’t seem to grasp.

Reply to Ashley

LOVE your comment! Oh yes, the sex toy reviews just irritate the hell out of me. I think to a degree people write them to FEEL “special”.

Oh gosh yes! Designs were ALL about the images, these days minimal design is more prevalent!

* How long have you been blogging? Has it been consistently at the same URL?
I’ve been blogging for two years. 1.5 on blogger but i just go my own domain in March

* On average, how many visitors do you get a day/month?

I am far less popular that you! I get about 35 to 40 a day depending on what I write. It’s hard to be consistent because of health problems and kid problems. When I was more consistent (kids were at school) my numbers were like 50 to 60 a day.

* Do you feel blogging has changed over the past decade?

Definitely! I had never heard of a blog ten years ago

* Do you find that it’s easier for bloggers to start NOW rather than 5 years ago?

Absolutely. I know just enough to get myself in trouble. Plus I don’t like code. It made my eyes bleed trying to find a line of trailing html on my site the other day. Turns out it was a plugin that installed itself wrong. It frustrated me to no end that I couldn’t find it within 5 minutes.

I wish there were better tutorials on how to learn HTML/CSS/XHTML. So many teach just BAD code that people are pretty much set up to fail from the start!

Oh yes, consistent blogging is one of my downfalls for sure.

Bec

I’ve been blogging since 2002, in fact I remember you from way back when! I’ve only been blogging at my current URL for three years.

My stats are incredibly embarrassing!

Blogging has most definitely changed. Blogs used to be more like online diaries, now to be popular you virtually need to run an online magazine. In that regard it’s much harder to start blogging, technically it’s a lot easier not to mention cheaper.

Reply to Bec

OH sweet! What domain might I know you from?

Bec

I think I was blogging at fatlilwytch.com

Reply to Bec
Jenny

pffft! Who needs popularity!?! All we little bloggers need is each other :P

Reply to Jenny
Christy @ Adventures in Mommyhood

First I just have to say your site is so pretty :) haha Yes I am a dork I know!
Secondly, I am such a bloggy newb I have no clue what those numbers mean. I mean I can sort of guess but I have no idea how to find that out on my blog. I use Blogger though so not sure if that makes a difference. I only recently learned how to check my stats at all on Blogger and often wish I hadn’t. I have found myself getting to hung up on numbers lately and I need to just pretend I don’t know how to check the stats or something haha.
Found you from Hobo Mamas #CarNatPar

Reply to Christy @ Adventures in Mommyhood

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