1.06.2012

State of the Blog 2011

I don’t consider this a high traffic blog, and perhaps I never will. I’m OK with that. So, when I look at Google Analytics, it’s not an exercise in self congratulatory ego-tripping or a lesson in attracting more readers. It’s not about the numbers. Well, it is about the numbers, but mostly from the perspective of pure fascination. The data analyst in me geeks out over the rise and fall of the line graphs. I am amused by the various methods people use to find my blog and by the little orange dots left in their wake - scattered across the map.

Take a look back with me over the past year. Here’s a quick pulse of my little corner of the interwebs.

Where visitors are coming from:
Top 10 nations (other than the United States) that visited RR&RT

1. United Kingdom
2. Canada
3. Philippines
4. Australia
5. Russia (In communist Russia, blog reads you)*
6. India
7. Brazil
8. Indonesia
9. Iraq
10. Germany
Top 5 states that visited RR&RT
1. Idaho (for obvious reasons)
2. Washington
3. Wyoming
4. California
5. New York
Top 5 domestic cities that visited RR&RT (other than C’dA/Hayden/Post Falls)
1. Cheyenne
2. Spokane
3. Oklahoma
4. Seattle
5. Moscow
Top 5 foreign cities that visited RR&RT
1. Makhachkala
2. Manila
3. As Sulaymaniyah
4. London
5. Sydney

How visitors got here:
Top sites that linked to RR&RT
1. Spokesman Review/Huckleberries Online
2. Ragamuffin Soul
3. Live a Life Worthy
4. Absurd Intellectual
5. An Idol Heart
Top 10 queries people googled that led to RR&RT (not including people that searched for my name)
1. Inhaling Dish soap: sniffing cascade, is it bad to snort dishwashing detergent, dangers of inhaling cascade detergent, cascade dishwasher detergent snorted, accidentally inhaled dishwashing powder, etc.**
2. Anything having to do with bricks: wall of bricks, bricks and springs, bricks perspective, old bricks, etc.)
3. Lambang (Malaysian word for “emblem”) or some variation: lambang game, lambang guitar, lambang memories, lambang sulap, etc.***
4. Some combination of Jack Johnson and Pandora
5. Law Abiding Citizen – thoughts about, the sociology, plot points, etc.
6. Ryan Jabaay
7. Instructions or ideas for playing Two Truths and a Lie
8. Reasons to support universal health care
9. Musicphile
10. Men in Black
The oddest search engine queries that led to RR&RT
1. how hegemony is related to the song "my humps"
2. is panda saliva is flammable and explosive
3. rave 90s party how to dress guy
4. the symbol of um
5. what would buddha do to stupid people
Search queries that led to my blog instead of my doppelganger
1. nic casey biologist
2. nic casey uconn
The search query that should be my tagline
1. the greatness of random things

What visitors find:
RR&T's 10 most frequently viewed posts of 2011 (read, but not necessarily written in 2011)
1. Bricks vs. Springs and the Glory of it all
2. The unexpected side effects of inhaling Cascade dishwasher detergent
3. Blogfest's pictorial review
4. RE: the JFAC hearings
5. Five for Friday (restaurants)
6. The good guys dress in black
7. Why I support Universal Health Care
8. The Google needs game
9. Pandora and the ever-present Jack Johnson
10. There is always a story

Other cool stuff from the year:
1. The most trivial thing that I got excited about: David Slack, producer of two of my favorite shows (Person of Interest & Lie To Me) retweeted me. Which tweet? THIS ONE.
2. The most legitimately exciting thing that I got excited about: THIS POST from my sister-in-law.
3. The best blog post I read all year: READ IT



What does 2012 have planned?



* Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
** It disturbs me that more people find my blog because they snorted dish soap (either on purpose or accidentally) than for any other reason.
*** This post is the first time the word “Lambang” has appeared on my blog. I don’t know how so many people find this blog by searching for it.

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