Analyzing Web Traffic
I used to be a habitual stat watcher, but over the last couple years I haven’t kept a close eye on where my traffic as closely. As a result it was a bit of a surprise to learn which of my posts get the most hits from search engines. Using Google’s Webmaster Tools, I was able to get a good overview of what search results are sending people to my site. I thought I would post the results here so that perhaps you can use this information to give you some ideas about what to write about on your blog. Here are the four main sources of traffic I have seen visiting adrian3.com…
1. Victims of Scams/Cautious Shoppers
Whenever I get ripped off, I usually use my blog as a place to vent. Several of these rants generate traffic for me because I am not the only victim in most of these cases. For example, the most popular search on my site is for “Privacy Matters Scam” which I posted over three years ago. Apparently, the fraud continues with that organization. It also looks like the Nebraska gas stations are still up to no good because people are searching for “Cost of Gas in Nebraska.”
Cautious shoppers are also finding my site as they do their homework on local companies like “Mac Shack Fort Collins.” It makes me feel good to know that my posts are more than just rants, and people are finding useful information to help them deal with bad situations.
2. Software Pirates
I was amazed by how much traffic I get from people searching for activation numbers for the Adobe Creative Suite. I wrote a post about my frustration with Adobe, but the traffic this post receives seems to be exclusively people looking for a “Photoshop CS3 Serial Number.”
3. Unique Longtail Content
Unlike the software pirates, it is reassuring that people are finding the unique content I create here on Adrian3. Searches for topics of my essays like, “What to do on your Last Day of Work,” or “How can I improve my dream memory?,” and “Where is Velveeta in the grocery store,” are evidence that their is an audience for my obscure ramblings.
If you have a blog, I would encourage you to write about your unusual, non-traditional ideas because people will find them. Common sense might tell you that a broad post that appeals to the masses would generate the most traffic, but actually the opposite is true. The reason for this is that the popular topics are also the subject of many more blogger’s posts. Competition is much higher for a post about Ashton Kutcher, than it is for a more obscure post about the Ashton Kutcher Camera.
Other longtail topics I have written about include:
iTunes Orphans (A post about how to remove orphaned iTunes Files)
Stop Motion Movie
Good mechanical pencils
MacBook Pro Crashed (I feel for these people!)
4. Original Creations
A good portion of my traffic also comes from people looking for things I have created. This is probably the most rewarding result of my traffic analysis because I really love it when my creations get seen and used. My most popular creations include:
iPhone Control Panel Plugin
Font Burner
Konami Easter Egg
Sofa Control scripts
November 19th, 2009 at 9:06 am
Thanks for sharing; this is inspiring. Not because I’m after a lot of web traffic, but because I’m on the verge of updating my own website, whose content and design seems (to me) to have grown a little stale. The prospect of a redo always reopens the question of site “identity.” What do I want this site to be? A blog? A business offering creative services? An art portfolio? A design portfolio? A place where I can rant about shoddy products and services that I’ve bought? A work of web art in and of itself? Each of these options might necessitate a different authorial “voice.” But which one is my most natural voice? You seem to be advocating using one’s own voice, and trusting that if one has enough to say, an audience will follow. Thanks!