In am earlier post I commented on an apparent unexplained decline in blog traffic. The graphic shows visits (yellow) and page views (yellow plus red) to this blog to end July.
All three of my heaviest traffic blogs display a broadly similar pattern. Just as I couldn't explain the biggish increase increase in the middle of the period, so now I can't explain the decline. It's clearly related to changes in search engine traffic.
In terms of apparent reader interests, the most popular posts in July were:
- Saturday morning musings - climate change thread 237 page views
- Report of the NSW Aborigines Welfare Board, year ended 30 June 1940 124 page views
- The importance of cultural activities 83 page views
- Things to watch as the Australian carbon tax debate unfolds 57 page views
- UNE passings - death of Alan Treloar 53 page views
- Carbon pricing & Mr Abbott's end game 50 page views
- The importance of the Commonwealth 47 page views
- George Negus, watermelons & the meaning of words 46 page views
- TAS 2011 Rugby Union Games 42 page views
- Introducing Delos 36 page views
I said that I couldn't explain the rise and decline.
Looking back over past post stats, part of the explanation links to topicality. As Neil found with his Australia's Got Talent posts (Yea, the End approacheth–of July that is, and of who knows what else in the USA…), topical posts do grab attention. An equivalent on this blog would be the post I wrote on the Toowoomba floods. However, part of the explanation links to the sudden disappearance of a single post from the stats - Sunday Essay - the importance of quiet time in a crowded world.
This post consistently ranked number one or two each month for a very long period, scoring 3,750 page views since August 2009. Now its gone. This change is clearly search engine related. Part of the reasons for the post's popularity lay in the fact that you found it if you searched on Chinese Gardens.
Enough of monthly entrails gazing beyond noting that the stats now show the presence of the latest technology in terms of browsers and operating systems including mobile. It's small, but it's there.
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