Week-end Review: Links and Question of the Week


Question of the Week: How much attention do you give to your blog stats – and do you talk about them?
Earlier this week, book bloggers were invited to participate (anonymously!) in a survey concerning blogger/publisher relations that asks some questions about blog statistics – not just about your numbers, but about your willingness to divulge them. From what I’ve seen, some of us will provide them only on request, and some of us will share them with publishers when we make a request from them – but unless they’re mentioned in our review policies, we don’t tend to share them with other bloggers. However, Trish from Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’? was willing to bust that particular taboo this week by posting some of her recent numbers.

Some of my stats are mentioned in my review policy, but I do need to remember to check them and update them periodically. My subscriber numbers are public, updated daily, and visible to anyone who visits the blog, thanks to the Feedburner widget in my sidebar – currently, they’re above 500. Feedburner breaks down that information for my eyes only, and also reports bots and browser “hits” that don’t count in the subscriber numbers. Google Analytics tells me that so far in 2010, I’ve had an average of 23 unique visitors and almost 60 page-views per day. What I’m not clear on is how all of this translates into “blog hits,” especially since it seems that more activity occurs via the blog feed than on the blog itself. Does that matter, or are they considered the same thing for stats purposes? Is there a formula to combine these things?

While I’m slightly less hung up on my blog stats now than I was during my first year or so, clearly I do pay attention to them. I know there seems to be a huge spread between subscribers and direct visitors, and I’m not sure what to make of that, if anything. What counts as a “hit” – and is this blog a hit or a miss?

How much do you discuss, divulge, or obsess over your blog stats?


Dispatches: Links from Across the Blogiverse this Week

Because they continue to be discussion (and confusion) fodder: myths about the FTC disclosure guidelines, refuted

Raising kids without religion can create some (unexpected) confusion, or why Easter’s not just about the candy

A measured reaction to the latest mom-blogger reaction; a mother’s reaction to a much more significant issue – bullying

Whether you’re privy to it or not, everyone has a backstory – but eventually, that backstory has to stop being your parents’ fault


Friday Fill-ins #171

Spring 
flowers #2
1. In 1992, I was 28 years old, a newcomer to Memphis, Tennessee, and married to someone else.
2. The very best days are filled with laughter and smiles.
3. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are right now.
4. On vacation is where I’d like to be.
5. The trees and flowers are telling me that I’m probably going to sneeze a lot. (Not really, but it IS allergy season for a lot of people!)
6. There’s a short in that light fixture that just keeps going on.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to going to Vroman’s with Tall Paul to see Christopher Moore, tomorrow my plans include as many hours of the 24-Hour Readathon as I can manage and Sunday, I want to spend some time out of the house after staying in it reading on Saturday!

I’ll be around posting updates during the Readathon, but I may take a day or two off after it!

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