This is going to be my first blog update. Over at Daily Blog Tips they suggest posting your accomplishments, so I’m going to give it a try. I started this blog in the middle of last month (June 2007), but didn’t really do anything for about week and a half. I wasn’t sure really what to do, until I read a few blogs about blogging and finally really got into it in the beginning of this month (July 2007). I’m really enjoying this format of communication and providing information about things I’ve learned throughout the years as a webmaster.
Linkbacks
I entered a contest at Daily Blog Tips and was a runner up with my post The 3 P’s for Creating a Successful Website. This was really great and helped motivate me to really get into my blog. I’ve been featured on a few websites: SiteFever, Theme Playground, and have gotten a lot of link love from the blogging community.
RSS Readers
Thanks to being a runner up in the Daily Blog Tips contest, I saw my RSS readers double that day from 10 to 20 and now I’m up to an average 35. This has been my most watched stat, except you can only really check it once a day!
Comments
All I have to say is thank you so much to all who have commented here at BlueJar. I honestly enjoy the comments the most. It is really great to get feedback from others, communicating and exchanging ideas. As of this writing, I’m up to 133 comments and 46 spam. Spam? Yes spam! I wasn’t getting any for a while, which concerned me. Any site worth visiting ought to attract some spam don’t you think?
Website Traffic Stats
A lot of my traffic is coming from Google. I’ve never seen any of my other websites get indexed as fast as my blog. Pinging is a great little feature to have on a blog! Last month I have had 1,069 unique visitors and 2,393 page views. I’m averaging about 75 uniques a day, but when I’m StumbledUpon I get a few burst of visitors which resulted probably in this high visitor count but less page views.
Goals for BlueJar.com
Now that I have my stats all laid out, it is a lot easier to see what my goals are. It is harder to think of what to strive for unless you see what your stats are. Here are my next month goals:
- I want to create great content that others want to read and link to.
- I want to increase my page views! The page views should be higher than I see them here.
- I want to double my RSS readers to 60, so subscribe now if you haven’t!
- I want to provide a better way to reward my commenters, later this week I will reveal more information.
This post actually has been a great reflection of everything I’ve accomplished since the start of my blog. It has been by far my most favorite website I have started and my most addictive. I am constantly researching, learning about blogging, and communicating with other bloggers. I am glad to have started this journey and hope to keep improving my blog this next month. This blog would not be where it is without the feedback by my readers, so if you have any further comments, suggestions, or questions – I am always open to them.
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Great work! Your first (real) month is going really well. And I really like your “month recap” and how you did this. It creates a certain transparency that isn’t always available on the web, with bloggers even. I’ll be trying this out with Theme Playground, I think.
Again, great work!
Congratulations!
I started talking about how my website was doing about three months ago. I was surprised at the feedback I received from those posts. I agree your readers are extremely important I make a point to recognize my readers through my comments and those that have specific questions I always email them directly.
With my new readers I make a point to visit their virtual spot, if they have one, and leave a comment on a post that I have really enjoyed. I’ve picked up a lot of readers that way.
@Ryan: Thanks! It is really hard to post up the stats when there are so many other bloggers out there in the same boat. I think you should try it too and it really did help me to see that overall the blog is doing well, better than I could have expected!
@Opal: Thanks for the gratzy! I am trying to do the same with everyone that visits and comments. I think its a great way to keep them coming back and to also help each other with our blogs.
Hey, Hey, Hey, I like the self review and the way you laid down your goals, I think I should start doing this on the blog for my studio, Very inspirational!
You have done very well so far! Keep up the good work and good luck with your goals. See you around soon
@Densi-sensi: I see you did already! We need to get you a comments area on your blog and remove that first entry page too :c)… j/k thats your website. I won’t butt in!
@shaun: Thanks! I’m hoping by posting my goal I’ll be able to keep up the motivation.
I like your goals. It is probably the most important thing in any undertaking.
All the best for the future
@Rory: Thanks for your support! I didn’t think goals would actually work, but after writing the post out I realized that it is great to get it down in writing exactly what I’m aiming for.
[...] BlueJar.com Monthly Update: July 2007 GnomeyNewt of Bluejar.com: Webmaster Tools and Guides That You Can Actually Use is new to the blogging scene. Check out her post BlueJar.com Monthly Update 2007 it’s a great way for your readers to see what you’ve been doing. Maybe it will help or inspire them to review their own websites. [...]
Great job so far. I’m sure your next report will be even more impressive. Congrats!
@Brown Baron: Thanks very much!
I’m really enjoying your blog Sarah, so much good information and advice.
The monthly recap is a really good idea too. I’m going to do one too.
@Dee: Thanks Dee, you should try it! That way you can look back on your stats over time. Its a little hard at first to get up the nerve though.
Poor me…My 3month old blog is only just ahead of you in terms of stats….But otherwise, congratz!
DBT’s writing project must have given you a lot of traffic and new visitors - I just missed the deadline by 2 days……so unlucky if you ask me
@TechZilo: You should do some writing contests, it was a lot of fun! Plus it was great exposure like you said. I’m looking for some good ones, but haven’t found any yet. Mostly linkbait contests is all I can find these days!