Analytically Speaking

Project 15 - Day 66

I know who you are. I know where you come from. I know how you arrive and I know how long you stay. I even know what you ate for breakfast. Big Brother is watching. (Just kidding about breakfast. Most likely you don't eat breakfast. You should you know, eat breakfast that is.)

During my most recent stay in SC, S hooked B & I up with Google Analytics. It is a very cool feature that tracks the comings and goings of a web site.

The data available is pure gold for entrepreneurs running on-line businesses. Most of it I don't understand. I could probably figure it out and make charts and graphs, learn all about key words and how to use them, have expensive give-aways like the Pioneer Woman (wonderful blog by the way, you ought to check her out) and transform this blog into one lean, mean blogging machine read by thousands, maybe even millions. Dream big, that's what they say.

But for me checking in with Google Analytics is all about fun. Did you know that I have 3 faithful followers from Mississippi? I don't know anyone in Mississippi. I knew someone once but they moved. Most of you hail from Pennsylvania, no surprise there. But what does surprise me is how many of you there are and how you get here. I know that my oldest and dearest friend logs in faithfully every day from Connecticut. (Thank you A, I may have some news for you soon.) And that -k- in Tennessee is very loyal as well as K in Alabama. There is another group of you from north Alabama that blows me away. Your numbers vary from day to day but there are more of you than I thought. And then there is Maryland. Is that you Chris?

What's really fun is seeing people check in from Canada, Australia, the Phillipines and Russia. Most of these folks don't come back. I must be doing something wrong. Maybe it's the endless display of flower pictures.

Sometimes you don't stay long. It's called the bounce rate and on some days it's quite high.

But on other days you stay and visit awhile, or at least read the entire post. I thank you for that. And then there is the Unique Visitor category. I haven't exactly figured that one out yet. S tried to explain it to me but my mind was wandering and the info must have gotten lost or wandered out the other ear. I think that category should be off of the charts. After all, you are a very unique group of followers.

Google even breaks things down so one can determine how visitors get to one's site. Some of you come directly here. You do not pass go and you definitely do not collect $200. Others of you come by way of links from other blog sites. (Susan your readership is high and I think your readers think I'm you...LOL. Sorry folks a little name humor for my name sister.) Some come from random places I didn't know existed. A lot like purgatory I'm thinking. And a rare few arrive via key words.

Keywords are words typed in during a Google search. For instance 8, count em, 8 people landed here by Googling "Reef Knot." Reef Knot is one of the cottages we stayed in last summer in Maine. Go ahead try it. One of the few things that pops up is my Reef Knot post. Of course these folks don't usually hang around or come back. What am I doing wrong that these good people aren't charmed by the high quality of my writing and the amazing photography? Maybe you better not answer that.

But the most important thing that I have learned is this: some of you like me, you really do. I don't know why but you keep coming back for more. Returning day after day to see what I've been up to. I thank you for that my faithful followers.

I've learned something else too. There aren't 10 of you.

There are 11.