Bounce, stats, blogs.

When I first started blogging with prisonlawinsideout I wrongly assumed that the blog was not receiving any viewers because nobody was leaving any comments. Whereas on another blog on wordpress there is an inbuilt visitor count. Once I found out how to install site meter, things appeared to look up because I could actually track that people were visiting my blog. I was chuffed that I was getting 200 people a day visiting my blog. Then one day it went mad and I was getting 200 people visiting an hour. The stats went down a bit the next day, but still it signified that the story generated quite a bit of interest. Then it was back to normal.

In short, I became interested in stats. I would not go as far as saying that I am obsessed by them, however, it satisfies my ego when they go up. I installed Google Analytics, as I wanted to analyse what tickled the viewer. Whether I was providing a good service. Where they came from. I noted that Guido and Iain Dale were always bragging about their status as top political bloggers and what their stats are. However, this one appears to knock spots off the pair of them put together. But, a closer inspection of her stats discloses that the average length of a visitors stay is 0.08 seconds. And, the vast majority appears as 0.00. I have a lot less visitors, but my average length of stay is 2 mins 48 secs. This is time enough to read a post.

The business side of stats condemns the bounce. However, I feel that this should be broken down even further. For example, 0.00 shows a bounce straight out. What does it matter if somebody bounces out after only one page if they have stayed for 2.48? Ideally, we would like them to explore the blog further. I noted that one person from Austin Texas was on my blog reading different posts for 7 hours! Some people will only be interested in one particular post, and only have time to view that before they move on.

What I am saying is that these 0.00 don't count for anything even if that blogger claims that she gets 800,00 hits per week. How many readers do you get? It's like people buying a newspaper in a newsagent's and throwing it straight in the litter bin outside the shop unread. Pointless. At least those who scan the headlines have got something out of it. Even if somebody bounces out after 2.48 and only visits one page at least it has the value of being read. Therefore, the bounce should be broken down into bounce in and out and the bounce out after a period of time.