Saturday 20 October 2007

The numbers game


Since I put the ClustrMap on the blog two months ago I've been fascinated by the unfolding of the story that it tells. Back then I was averaging about four posts a week, and the map showed fifty to sixty hits a day - which included those racked up by my own compulsive checking of the blog, of course. Then I had problems with my computer, began posting less frequently, and hits dropped to under ten some days.

Overall (of the times that I checked) the highest number of hits in any one day was in the high seventies. The last time I checked the stats was almost a week ago. Tonight I checked again and my eyes bugged: Visits on previous day = 309.

Huh? Wha... When I glanced at the map itself I noticed little red dots in quite a few new locations.

This is an anomaly, I'm sure. Maybe the map - um - malfunctions at times? I'd really like some blog-canny person to explain this inexplicable surge in visits on a particular day. I've done nothing out of the ordinary, haven't visited the blog in six days, and I can't begin to come up with an explanation.

9 comments:

PJ said...

I used to use ClustrMap a while ago, and I think they don't update the map until a certain percentage of visits has been exceeded. Here's some more info from their FAQ

If you want a more accurate list of visits, you should probably check out sitemeter or something similar.

Lane Mathias said...

Must admit to being a little bit obsessed by my statcounter, especially the country called 'Unknown'. I've yet to locate it:-)

Matt said...

I use Google Analytics, which gives you some amazing details... especially if you're a self-admitted compulsive checker.

kim said...

Did you say something dirty? I got a lot of hits that one time I mentioned ben wa balls (it was for funny -- but it called to the perverts too, ick)

Other than that thought, I've got nothing.

Liane Spicer said...

Thanks for the suggestion, pj.

Lane, that's what I'm afraid of. I added the ClustrMap to see at a glance where the hits are coming from, but ogling the numbers can be addictive.

Matt, that's just what I need :) - more stuff to rivet me when I should be working... I'll check them out.

OMG, kim. That's a new one. I have to remember to be careful - don't want all those porn-crawlers coming over here.

Anonymous said...

ClusterMaps is a source of inspiration and higher numbers along with the greater number of countries visitors come from usually result in more blog entries, which hopefully would be a good thing.

Wordpress has some cool stats and it eliminates the self-checks once you are logged on to your blog.

I agree, stat checking, like mirror-looking, can be compulsive.

Anonymous said...

hey great blog, i follow you from sicily, italy, if it helps your curiosity.

Liane Spicer said...

aka_lol, as if I don't have enough vices, now I've got to add stat-addiction.

anon, thank you and welcome. Love your country, although I've never been there.

Anonymous said...

I keep trying to think of the best way to get the people who visit my blog from Nepal for example to say hello. Who are these people? I guess it could be a Trini...
There might be a particular post that brings people in - for me it's the barfi post. Never knew there were so many barfi-makers in the world.kot