Thank you for taking the bold step out of your browser and RSS closets 10 days ago to add a comment on my blog post, Why I’d Like You to De-Lurk.
Responding to numerous requests to gauge the number of commenters vs the number of visitors and display some metrics, I used Google Analytics.
The results are interesting.
- Between January 3 and today, the post saw 308 unique visitors.
- Between January 3 and today, the post saw 35 unique commenters. (The post indicates 44 currently, but that includes responses by me, two repeat commenters, and an assortment of captured Twitter broadcasts.)
- This represents an approximate 9% de-lurking rate, keeping in mind several commenters admit they were first-time readers, forwarded on by others.
The average reader (out of the 308) remained on the web page for 4 minutes and 28 seconds.
Some people visited the page more than once, which explains the higher number of page views.
Out of 363 total page views:
- 242 on Jan 3
- 32 on Jan 4
- 53 on Jan 5
- 12 on Jan 6
- 7 on Jan 7
- 4 on Jan 8
- 5 on Jan 9
- 4 on Jan 10
- 3 on Jan 11
- 1 on Jan 12
Navigation detail:
- 76% arrived at the page directly from an external link
- 23% arrived at the page directly from an internal link
- 71% exited the page and left the blog
- 28% exited the page but clicked onto other internal links
Top 10 entrance sources:
Twitter typically brings more visitors than other social networks, but you can see in this case, StumbleUpon wins.
I’m unsure how to qualify this data, other than wonder if the number of pageviews and comments would have been higher if it was published on a weekday, and not a Saturday.
Thoughts?
Related posts:
- Analyzing 365 Days of Blog Visitors Yields Facebook Censorship On Top
- Confessing About Commenting
- Guest Interview with Mr. and Ms. Teagan: Analyzing Pornography, Parenthood, and Public Relations
Comments:
Ari Herzog is an online media strategist and Newburyport City Councilor-Elect.
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I think many people read items on blogs and such without much comment or opinion on the subject. Many people are interested in the topic but do not want to take the time to write down a few words and give their insight. Either they do not have anything useful to offer to the comment section, or aren’t as in to the whole social networking and interactive communication as they say. Additionally, I do feel that if it had been posted during the week rather than the weekend you would certainly have had much more views, not sure what kind of impact it would have had on comments but one would naturally assume comments would go up with the number of views going up. Just my thoughts though.
9% seems like a great result. I wonder if the de-lurked will continue commenting in the future.
Samantha brings up a good point. I wonder what percentage of blog readers are happy to read compared to those more likely to comment. As a commenter I think I tend to comment most often when the entry touches on either an area of my expertise or something I’m trying to learn more about. If the writer has posed a question, or if I have an idea that might add to the discussion (and I have time) then I’ll try to add it.
On my blog I also seem to get more comments if there is some point of contention, such as a best-practice that is still under debate.
Heidi Cool´s last blog post..2 Top 5 Lists = 1 Top Ten List: My most read Web Development Blog entries from 2008
I definitely have a tendency to read blogs and not comment on them unless I feel really strongly about the subject matter. Since most of the blogs I read are informational about building websites, generating web traffic, and tips/tricks on making better use of Twitter – I don’t really feel strongly about anything I read…. it’s all new material to me. As I become more educated on the topic, maybe I’ll comment more.
As Samantha stated, I do think you would have gotten more readers if the original post had been during the week vs. the weekend.
I’ll try and no lurk as much….and comment more.
Thanks for the article!
It would be interesting if you set up commenting as a goal in google analytics. Then you could see which source worked best at generating comments (ie, stumble brings more people, but twitterers leave more comments for instance).
Also, more than looking at referring sites, how about ratios of search to referring traffic?
-Josh
I think most people don’t stay on the page long enough to get to the comment section, even if they get good information from the post. It takes work to click through and fill out a form, perhaps they’d just as soon click the back button and be gone.
Lydia Dishman´s last blog post..Twitter for Journalists – Please Use Responsibly
Hi, I saw your post on another blog which talked about people comenting on others blogs and how it can get viral. I tried the “U Comment I Follow” site. Has anyone tried that and had any success? I havent had any hits from that yet?
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Have you tried to track whether different subjects attract more comments? Or if long or short post get more or fewer comments?
I wonder how to make ppl respond to a post.
I put in comment-welcoming words in my post..yet ppl juz prefer to read.
Lazy to type, do not have any ideas or simply just why or afraid to sound foolish? If they are afraid to sound foolish, then I guess I’m the one who should be feeling that way coz I came up with a topic and posted it on my blog…lol
Ruz´s last blog post..Why Publishers or Authors Re-title Books
Thanks for sharing
Best Regards from Turkey!
I think that comments are usually higher for posts made early on a weekday, vs. posts in the evenings or weekends. I guess more people, like me, blog hop during business hours than after.
~ Kristi
Kikolani | Poetry, Photography, Blogging´s last blog post..What Do I Want
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