Blogging - is it worthwhile? Do Web metrics have the answer?
Further to my April post about the usefulness of blogging in the Museum and Heritage World, I have been looking at my web metrics to see if they have an answer.
The first thing is the number of visitors has considerably risen. This seem good although this mostly depends upon the number of posts I add. So, by adding material I increase the number of people who pick up the site from the search engines. But this is an index of activity not usefulness.
Looking at the search keywords certainly suggests that the content in my blog would be useful to searchers on the basis of their search keyword. Yet, mostly they are searches of a type you might do occasionally - for example I mention a meeting in a particular pub - someone searches for the pub and finds the details on the blog. Useful for them as the pub has no web site, but highly unlikely that they will ever visit my site again. (I seem to be the main resting home for people searching for Biddles Brothers pub in Clapton!)
Page views etc - these seem to go down the larger the number of total visitors - seems the more you attract the less interested they are on average! If you are hard to find, those who find you are interested and stay longer?
However, some people are spending 45 minutes or so on the site, and the number of returnees is increasing so some people think it useful to come again.
The main stat that concerns me is the very few people who seem to link to the site - this suggests that it is not visible to opinion formers - those with their own web sites and blogs. I'm not sure what to do about this. It probably relates to the fact that the blog is too diverse, museums, london, archaeology, medical history, and as such it cannot be that rewarding for people with a special interest.
i.e. the site has interesting stuff on it - but not a critical mass that makes it worthwhile linking to it or visiting that often.
Comments - got a few more comments this month - although still no sense that there is a readership out there!
Conclusions - the main benefit of the blog is that it is useful for me to reflect and record (to help memory) activities. I have not discovered the secret to gaining a readership. To achieve this I I need to marketthe blog and concentrate the content. But do I have the time!
The first thing is the number of visitors has considerably risen. This seem good although this mostly depends upon the number of posts I add. So, by adding material I increase the number of people who pick up the site from the search engines. But this is an index of activity not usefulness.
Looking at the search keywords certainly suggests that the content in my blog would be useful to searchers on the basis of their search keyword. Yet, mostly they are searches of a type you might do occasionally - for example I mention a meeting in a particular pub - someone searches for the pub and finds the details on the blog. Useful for them as the pub has no web site, but highly unlikely that they will ever visit my site again. (I seem to be the main resting home for people searching for Biddles Brothers pub in Clapton!)
Page views etc - these seem to go down the larger the number of total visitors - seems the more you attract the less interested they are on average! If you are hard to find, those who find you are interested and stay longer?
However, some people are spending 45 minutes or so on the site, and the number of returnees is increasing so some people think it useful to come again.
The main stat that concerns me is the very few people who seem to link to the site - this suggests that it is not visible to opinion formers - those with their own web sites and blogs. I'm not sure what to do about this. It probably relates to the fact that the blog is too diverse, museums, london, archaeology, medical history, and as such it cannot be that rewarding for people with a special interest.
i.e. the site has interesting stuff on it - but not a critical mass that makes it worthwhile linking to it or visiting that often.
Comments - got a few more comments this month - although still no sense that there is a readership out there!
Conclusions - the main benefit of the blog is that it is useful for me to reflect and record (to help memory) activities. I have not discovered the secret to gaining a readership. To achieve this I I need to marketthe blog and concentrate the content. But do I have the time!
Comments