Are You Out There?
It’s hard for me to tell how many people are actually reading my blog. The stats are difficult to interpret for a host of reasons. Just because the stat counter shows a number of hits for a particular article on a particular day doesn’t mean those hits came from actual readers. Some of the hits are undoubtedly coming from “bots” — programs that scour the Web to catalog sites for search engines like Google. Some of the hits are undoubtedly coming from more nefarious sources. About a week ago someone attempted to flood my site with about 150 bogus trackbacks, most of which led to pornographic sites. That same day, my stat counter showed my highest ever hit count for all of my blog entries combined. I don’t think that was coincidence.
So… I’m going to try a little experiment. I’d like to find out how many — or how few — people are actually reading my blog. I’d like to ask (please don’t make me beg!) that if you have been reading my blog with any degree of frequency, please post a comment in this thread. Let me know you’re out there! Tell me what you like and what you don’t like, and what sorts of things might encourage you to post more comments (if you are a reader who comments infrequently — right now I think Bill Mulligan is my only regular poster!).
You don’t have to use your real name. And I will not post your e-mail address, I will not use it to spam you, nor will I share, “rent,” or otherwise let anyone have access to your e-mail address for any reason. I’d just like to find out how many actual readers I have. The only reason I ask for an e-mail address is to help control spam comments. If someone is spamming me from a certain e-mail address, I can block further comments from that address.
If the answer to the question ”how many readers do I have?” is “very few,” that will let me know I need to work a bit harder at driving traffic here.
Thanks, all!
October 18th, 2006 at 1:31 am
Sure, you remember Bill is a regular reader…..
October 18th, 2006 at 1:47 am
Jeannie, my love, I said Bill Mulligan is my only regular poster. He does post more often than you.
I know you subscribe to my blog. I also know you read every entry because you discuss them with me. But you’re my girlfriend, for cryin’ out loud! You’re bound to be a bit biased. I’m hoping to find out how many readers I have that are readers because they like the content, and not my boyish good looks and irresistibly hot body.
October 18th, 2006 at 2:11 am
Bill,
I’ve started to read your blog, in fact I’ve added it to my side bar on my blog. I’ve been meaning to post more, but you know how time slips away when you’re not looking. But I will post more. I know what you feel about wondering who is reading your blog. I’ll go days posting and no one will comment and I have to wonder if I’m just talking to myself. Than other times I’ll get a few posts. It can be maddening in some ways.
October 18th, 2006 at 9:55 am
I’ve been meaning to visit your blog, and this gave me just the impetus I needed. I’ve also added your link to my blogroll, even though I can’t pronounce the name of your blog! As my beautiful girlfriend, Jeannie, can attest, I am a blogging addict. So you’ll be getting some posts from me.
October 18th, 2006 at 11:11 am
Well, you know I’M here!
Probably the easiest way to get more hits is to post more often…but this is from a guy who is barely hanging on himself, timewise. October is a mad month.
SHAMELESS PLUG DEPT– The World Premier of THE FOREVER DEAD is thursday at the Rialto in Raleigh, 9:30. Anyone in the area, come laugh at my acting performance!
October 18th, 2006 at 12:49 pm
I’m reading you Bill!! Say hi to your lovely girlfriend for me!!
October 25th, 2006 at 9:24 am
I check you out from time to time (as it were… ) As one of the few male comics fans with an actual girlfriend, you are, of course, pretty much unique in the world of comics blogs.
October 25th, 2006 at 8:20 pm
I am still here…I think. It’s hard to tell sometimes.
October 27th, 2006 at 2:19 am
Hey, Kathy, we still miss you terribly! I hope Bruce’s new job is going well and that Steven is doing well in school. And we have got to talk about making a trip out to Texas to see you guys.
Has Jeannie called you yet? If not, she’s going to soon.
Say “hi” to Bruce and Steven for me! And you’ll always be my favorite card-playing partner!
October 27th, 2006 at 2:28 am
Well, enough people have weighed in to lead me to believe it’s still worth doing this blog.
Now that I’ve whined about my blog, however, I need to get better about hitting blogs like yours more often! Fair’s fair, after all.
I hope all of you who have blogs have noticed that they’ve been added to my blogroll, by the by.
October 28th, 2006 at 4:39 pm
Hey, Bill!
Nice site. I do a little web design on the side meself, and I must say this place has a nice, clean professional look about it.
October 31st, 2006 at 6:07 pm
Thanks! Feel free to send me links to any of the sites you’ve designed — I’d love to see them.
If you don’t have it already, I’d highly recommend Web Design for Dummies by Lisa Lopuck. It’s a phenomenal book that talks not just about aesthetics of Web design, but also the business aspects, and principles of usability. I’ve just started reading it, but it’s definitely a gem!