First year report

So am a year into posting here and I thought, why don’t I share a few stats with some of the highs and lows from the year too?

Yes it was only recently that I mulled over how the need for an ‘audience’ had made me feel. But taking a peek at some of the finer points of the last 365 days does make for some interesting points – even if they only remain a record for self-appeasement.

June 2014 – June 2015

So it’s kinda nice to be able to talk about a full year of blogging. My journey of posting thoughts online started eight years ago in 2006 and although I’ve had one or two long-term blogs, most have had very short-lived affairs. Blame my impatience and having a fickle outlook for some of the reasons behind so many false starts.

If there’s anything I’ve learnt in the last 12 months of AE then it’s this; it’s better to keep working at an idea, give it time to breath and possibly mature, than it is to cut it down too soon. It’s a good lesson to have learnt and am sure I’ll need to remind myself of that in the future!

General

• 36 posts(this one included) in first 12 months. With an average of 3 p/m.
• 266 visitors. 87 in the first 6 months with an increase of 139 in the last 6 months. So an average of 22 visitors a month.

Most read posts

• 2014 – 2014 cooldown
• 2015 – Reader U1

Who are the readers of AE?

During the first 6 months(2014) the country that sported the top readership was the USA with 71 visitors. There was a turnaround in 2015 with the UK readership increasing with 148 visitors and so placing those from the USA into 2nd spot. This, I believe, is down to having an active relationship with my UK Twitter ‘followers’ compared with a less active relationship with my US ‘followers’. When you consider that the best refer for traffic to AE over the last 12 months has been via Twitter(a fifth of all traffic), then this makes for a clearer picture.

The second year and onwards

From July onwards AE will take on a – hopefully – noticeable difference. I haven’t ironed out all the details/ideas yet but the look will stay the same; theme should remain, title will remain while the tagline may change. But the most notable difference will be the posting activity. Output of posts should increase. But hold your horses, you’ll not see a #oneaday attempt here on AE. Instead I’m looking to focus my outlook in a different way going forward. But as I say, am trying to iron out some of my thoughts on this. It would be a little premature to say too much now as I know how change can be a hard to hone.

Best laid plans eh?