Category: Uncategorized
Discussion: Being Open About Blogging Statistics
As you guys have obviously realized, I’m very open about my blogging statistics. I’ve been doing my monthly “The Best and Worst of…” series since September 2012, about 9 months after I first started blogging. I don’t think statistics are something to brag about or be embarrassed about. They simply are. Why I publicize them is mostly because I like to analyze them and hear other people’s thoughts and commentary on said analysis. It’s nice to share ideas about why some posts are more popular than others or why my views spike/drop in a particular month.
Another reason is because when I started blogging I was looking into what book blogging statistics typically looked like and came up with zero information. I want to help new bloggers have some more realistic expectations about how many hits they’re going to get in the beginning as well as how their monthly stats aren’t going to grow at a consistent rate.
With that said, not every blogger is as open about their statistics. Some are even more open about their statistics and go so far as to do fancy pie charts and graphs about their traffic. It all seems to come down to the individual, which makes sense. Some people like me are a little bit more focused on their stats than others. At the same time, there are people who don’t care about their stats at all. Neither approach is better than the other; they’re simply different.
What I want to know now is: Are you, as a blogger, open about your stats? Why or why not? Do you enjoy it when bloggers share their stats or do you think it’s more of a bragging thing? And, do you think bloggers in general should be more open about their stats?
Discussion: Book Trailers
You know, to me movie and TV show trailers make sense. They get audiences excited for what is a very visual medium. But what about book trailers?
Most book trailers are just visual representations of the blurb that the author copies and pastes right above. They’re getting more and more popular with the rise of social media marketing strategies among authors and publishers alike. Yet I just don’t see the point. I mean, you read the blurb above so why would you need to watch the trailer? Maybe I’m missing something here but as a reader and blogger I don’t feel like they add anything to the whole bookish experience.
What I want to know is: What do you guys think of book trailers? Do you enjoy them? Why? Are you like me and fail to see the point? Let me know in the comments section! This is a topic I’m not really all that familiar with so I’m more than willing to hear both sides of the argument.
The Return of the Weird Search Terms
Yes folks, the weird search terms are back! The number of search terms I’ve received for Game of Thrones is up because of season four premiering on April 6 (yay!) but the number of weird search terms are up again. Here are just some of the weirdest/funniest ones:
unsimulated sex scenes archive
is divergent anti christan
dj mainwolf
the outsiders is a crappy book
opera mad by 4
something bad about women in writing
hateful romance
were slaves buried alive in pyramids
jealous word
use a model to discuss your christmas holiday
can too much reading make mad
just naked people
why is it weird for people to change naked
nude men people
women dislike male nudity
Well, these are all weird. There’s really nothing else to say aside from what is with all the people searching for naked people? No, let me rephrase that: Why do people searching for naked people come to my blog and not a porn site? I guess it’s one of life’s great mysteries.
So what do you think of these search terms? What are some of the weirdest search terms you’ve ever had?
March Kindle Fire Giveaway
As you guys know I don’t usually post about giveaways but I think this is one has prizes everyone on this blog should get a shot at! I mean, if you live in the States how can you turn down a free Kindle Fire? And if you’re like me and live abroad there’s nothing wrong with $229 in Amazon gift cards or in PayPal cash. So go on and enter. Happy St. Patrick’s day!
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We are giving away 2 Kindles!!
The first one is available via the rafflecopter below. The 2nd is available only to bloggers who post about this giveaway. You can find info on how to enter in the rafflecopter.
Win a Kindle Fire HDX, Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash ($229 value)
Bloggers & Authors have joined together and each chipped in a little money towards a Kindle Fire HDX 7″.
Some Thoughts About Book Blogging & Statistics
I’ve had my own book blog for over two years and it’s actually taken me this long to come to the following conclusions:
1. Followers are way more important than daily views (generally).
On a more emotional level, it’s nice to know that currently more than 750 people enjoyed my blog enough to hit that follow button. But what I’ve found in my two years of blogging is that followers really are more important than daily views. Your average person stumbling across a blog isn’t going to leave a comment, but a follower might. Followers are the more engaged, active members of your blogging community and for me that’s why they’re more important than the number of daily hits I get.
Aside from that on a purely marketing standpoint, blog tour companies, authors and publishers seem to be far more concerned about follower statistics than daily hits. When signing up for blog tour companies I’ve only been asked once about daily hits (and I’ve signed up for 6 companies). And publishers/authors are generally not all that concerned about daily hits as long as you have a decent number of followers. I may only average 200 hits per day, but because of my 752 followers I get approved for a lot more review requests than I would if I had only 100 followers and 300+ hits per day.
2. Book reviews suck statistics-wise.
I’ve written nearly 500 book reviews but those are not what bring people to my blog. No, it’s my rants and articles that bring that most traffic. With season 4 of Game of Thrones coming up on April 6 my traffic has experienced an enormous spike because I’m suddenly getting nearly one hundred hits per day on my rant Why Girls Hate Game of Thrones—A Rebuttal. They’re not from people getting mad at the author for the initial ignorant article. They’re from people searching things like ‘map of westeros’ and ‘game of thrones women’. It’s sad to say, but for book bloggers, book reviews are not going to get you very far stats-wise.
3. Blog tours rarely boost traffic.
I haven’t actually taken place in many blog tours yet but I can say that the ones I have taken part in have done absolutely nothing to enhance my traffic. They’re a great promotional tool for authors to get their work out there and noticed in the blogosphere but for us bloggers they don’t really do much. Sure, the host-only giveaways are sometimes a great incentive as well as the fact that you’re getting more free books to read, but if you’re only in it to increase your stats you’d be better off writing a book review.
That’s not to say that blog tours don’t benefit bloggers as well. They’re good at helping you find awesome new authors. Thanks to blog tours I have some new favourite books in Andromeda’s Fall by Abigail Owen and The Collector of Dying Breaths by M. J. Rose. So if you’re not a big statistics fanatic, blog tours can be very beneficial by bringing books you otherwise never would have heard of to your attention.
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If I had to give any advice from this article I’d say to my fellow book bloggers: don’t worry too much about statistics. Sure, keep an eye on them if you want to be approved for those popular ARCs, but don’t let them run your life. The internet is a fickle place and although one week you may have a huge increase in traffic the next week you’ll have a 50% decrease in traffic. Worry more about building your community and getting some dedicated followers and you’ll do just fine.