The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 1,500,000 times in 2014. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 64 days for that many people to see it.
Click here to see the complete report.
This blog has completed four years in WordPress.
Though I had an idea that I would be completing four years, I did not think of it much as I was not really bothered about writing about it.
However I received a notification from WordPress that this milestone(?) may be blogged as the blog has some interesting features.
Following are the salient points.
Number of Followers 1447.
Likes 1337.
Categories 117.
Tags 16.683(Did I tag that much?)
Posts 5748
Hits 13,43,820
Comments 3450
Maximum Hits 29803
recorded in a day
Average Hit/day 1832
This is the statistical part of it.
What is more important to me is that I came across very good posts in my search for writing;some of them are found not on the first twenty results of Google search, but are very good in terms of content.
This reaffirms my belief that good articles need not be restricted to the first page results alone.
Probably, these people are also like me, want to share information yet do not know(as I do) the nuances of getting a place in the first Page search results.
Many of my posts do find a place in the first results though.
Good content is always appreciated, more importantly useful.
This I have learnt from the feedback for my posts.
People do write to me to elaborate on a particular subject, which I have blogged about :and in many a case suggest topics.
This is the part I enjoy the most.
I do get criticisms ;fortunately most of them are creative, guiding me towards clarity and research.
Now most of my posts are on the basis of what the readers want and about what I am confident of writing.
I do research.
More than the readers I am happy I can acquire information.
I had an initial perception that writing about a popular topic shall drive traffic to your site.
Now I find that content drives.
Yet writing on popular topics gets you the initial readers and on their recommendations you get established.
Then one can write to engage the readers by writing what they want and about what one is confident about.
I have received queries from some bloggers that they have a personal blog and in their opinion they are not getting the Hits as they should, in their opinion.
My answer is that if your content is useful and interesting, Hits will come, though it might take some time. none can say how long.
Some of posts dating back to 2009 are Hits now.
Thank God, I did not delete them;on the contrary, I update them frequently.
Updating a Post is important.
Another reason why some personal blogs do not Get Hits is the fact that people are not interested in your woes and happiness, unless it is dramatic.
Expression of personal emotions alone will not guarantee you Hits or readers.
It is the general message that others can learn from such instances, with adequate proof or sources will interest the readers.
As usual I have not planned for this post and I have written what has come to my mind off the cuff.
I shall update as and when I get ideas.
And Thank You,
Readers,
WordPress.
I have been receiving emails and in the form of comments, that I write on Blogging, provide some tips.
I do not presume to be a good blogger, but I shall put down some points I have learnt over the past four years, things I have learnt by making mistakes.
Points I make here may be used as a starter and there are good bloggers and more technical savvy people are around, one can seek their help.
Let me reiterate I am a totally ignorant person of Computer and the Internet, let alone the terms like ‘Hosting’ etc.
I am writing on WordPress platform, that too in WordPress .com .
There are others like Bloggers of Google.
I do have blogs there.
WordPress,to me, may not look as flashy and rich as Bloggers,I find that very easy to write and the technical problems like texts disappearing, blogs not being visible ,images do not show,Links not displaying properly are very few and far in between.
And in such cases WordPress attends to them immediately with practically no lead time..
If they have a problem, they let me know and once they are set right, they inform me again.
In some cases, they inform me in advance.
Though Bloggers is very appealing and has a wide variety of formatting, to me it seems, that you have to do it by yourself, and that is too dicey for me.
But WordPress does every thing for me, I just concentrate on writing.
And too many options and I am lost as to what to choose in terms of Themes and Design.
I am told there are some technical reasons for the difference but I am assured by WordPress is that your readership will not be affected by choosing any of them.
Going professional might help in terms of making the site design more appealing and will help one monetize better.
That is your choice.
So long as the platform on which you write does not give you headaches in terms of not displaying your posts, your search results appear on the Internet, your problems are attended to immediately that Hosting should do.
Be it WordPress or Blogger.
I have not detailed about the other Hosts as it would beyond the scope of this post.
This , again , is a question of personal choice.
If one wants Glitzy you have it..
But the more Links, Widgets, complicated Designs, the loading time becomes slower and that affects your Readership.
Keep the Widgets to the essentials to keep the reader engaged, from his stand point, not your own.
Apart from Meta description, Log in details,Follow,provide Widgets for Categories,Tags, Archives,Recent Posts,Top Posts and anything more is optional.
If your post is Photography oriented check with the Hosts for tips.
Too many Links in a Page or even in Home page affects the Loading time of your site.
The purpose of a Blog is to be read, primarily.
Make sure it is simple and readable, with reasonably standard fonts and size”do not use fancy stylish fonts, they may appeal to you, not necessarily the reader.
Avoid high lighting(actually this point should come under ‘Content‘) or keep it to the minimum and Caps is strict”.No No”
I started off with DePo Masthead Theme of WordPress(three columns, I like it very much).
Then as my son told me repeatedly that my Blog looked like a scribbling pad, I switched to WordPress Sunspot Theme.
It looked very good to me.
In a week I started receiving suggestions that I change the design to some thing simple and more readable as the color combination was affecting readability.
Now I am using the Theme ‘Able’
I received feedback it is good.
I have used almost all of them,Google Chrome,Mozilla,Safari et al.
Google Chrome and Mozilla are very good.
Mozilla has very rich features in terms of easy sharing tools and convenience in writing .
But where Google Chrome scores over is that Google Chrome feels light to touch while Mozilla is heavy.(This is the best I can describe this point, I do not what it is.
So I am with Google Chrome for writing and with Mozilla for sharing.
More posts on Blogging follow.
I started Blogging in August 2009.
My knowledge of Computer and Internet was and still is sketchy.( In fact my son who is a Product Manager in an IT multinational tried to teach me;well I could not understand any thing!)
I just waned to write.
There are two types of people around me,one that states my opinions/advice is good and they welcome it, they are a minority)
Majority felt/feel that I offer my opinions on every thing under the Sun whether it is Right or Wrong,Correct or Incorrect.
In Life, I have found that offering opinions is unwelcome whether it sought for or otherwise.
The opinion seeker wants his/her opinion/views confirmed.
If your opinion is different unnecessary argument ensues.
I wanted to deal with the problem my way.
Start Blogging.
Nobody can hurt you, for they are not near you for one and for another people tend to accept views /opinions of others who are not close to them.
(For abusive comments,I keep quiet).
Some times I am surprised that people accept my views and do ask my opinions.
Secondly I wanted to be heard.
Whether some one likes or not doesn’t matter.
Gregariousness and being heard is a basic instinct.
Many a Relationship breaks for want of hearing and listening.
What do I blog?
It comes under three categories.
Information I feel is useful to others.They are linked straightaway to the information,possibly with a couple of reputed links.
Second,I blog on a Story on any subject about which I have some idea, with my comments.
Thirdly I write on a subject/topic I feel I am proficient( for example Time,Health issues,parenting,Relationships,Indian Philosophy,Hinduism,Christianity,Religion) .
( even this post has Links)
Another point is that I do not know what I am going to write.
I write as the subject appeals to me.
I also contribute comments to Standard Magazines/Newspapers/Journals.
Some times I Blog them with the original story.
The purpose is to share what I feel.
In fact I do not prepare a draft, edit and publish.
I just write and publish, at times forget to spell check
My brother’s daughter tells me that my writing is forceful and language bordering on violence in expressing my opinions( she should know ,she was a Professor of Sociology):yet she likes it.
And my copy is raw.the same view was expressed my by son and many of my friends.
One of my Readers suggested I that my comments must be longer.
Well,I am what I am .
I want to thank Readers and Subscribers and Commenters on the day of my reaching One lakh Hits.
To top it all,I enjoy blogging .
That’s enough for me.
Related:
It is an ongoing discussion whether Grammar is for Language or Language is for Grammar.The point is is both are important.After all Grammar is meant for easy comprehension by all of the language by setting forth general rules..However, as language evolves due to evolution of sociecy/values/usage of words need to be accommated.Bottom line is the communication must be lucid and without ambiguity.It may also be noted that writing grammatical English need not necessarily be constued as archaic or laboured.Thoughts can be conveyed elegantly following Grammar-For example-’Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety; Other women cloy the appetities they feed , she makes most hungry where she most satisfies’(Shakespeare-Antony and Cleopatra).See. how grammar and going away from grammar(most hungry, most satisfies) makes the passage beautiful.
What a treat to read! It is not a sin to follow grammar nor is it necessary to be grammatical always.The end result should bring joy to the reader;after all literature and any form of writing is an Art and it must be aesthetic.
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