My Traffic Sources

I am a small blog. Plain and simple.
So what can you learn from my traffic sources?
Well, a lot actually - especially if you have a small blog.
So, let’s dive into my stats.

My Traffic Sources
my traffic sources as of 9.20.07 - yes, they’re lame aren’t they?

As you can tell, referrals are by far my greatest traffic source. Second is direct, which is probably made up mostly of my RSS subscribers. And third is search engines.

Let’s get a little more detail.

All My Traffic Sources
(click to enlarge)

In the break down, direct visitors are in first. In second is clicks from Random Jabber, followed by PhotoshopLovr, Digg, Xanga, ProBlogger, and then some insignificant others.

So, why do the stats fall out like they do?

I have been an RSS subscriber of Random Jabber since about two months after it’s inception. plainBETA topics are pretty much the same as Random Jabber’s. Since I discovered Random Jabber, I have been the leading commenter by a good deal. Furthermore, my bounce rate is at 35.85% from Random Jabber (my over all bounce rate is 54.93%) and on average, Random Jabber visitors visit 5.32 pages per visit. That is pretty good.

After Random Jabber is PhotoshopLovr. Similar to Random Jabber, I have been a RSS subscriber and regular commentor there less than a month after it’s inception. However, unlike Random Jabber, PhotoshopLovr covers a different topic than my blog and it shows in my stats. My bounce rate from PhotoshopLovr is at 53.57%. That is a bad bounce rate.

Following Photoshop Lovr is Digg. I submitted my article The new iPod Nano (and iPods) article to Digg (here) and didn’t get a single digg. But I did get twenty three clicks with a bounce rate of 91.3%. (which is the worst bounce rate I have)

Next in the rankings is Xanga. Those clicks came from my Xanga blog and was simply an attempt to get my friends active in my blog. Through that attempt, I know I got two RSS subscribers and two regular commenters.

And the final stat we’re going to analyze is ProBlogger. I have been subscribed to ProBlogger ever since I wanted to have a ‘professional blog.’ Since then, I have been a regular commenter and have tried to throw in as much quality as I can. That has resulted in a 66.67% bounce rate.

Google Searches don’t show up until #8.

So What Does This Tell Us?

By analyzing these stats we can come to several conclusions.

1: Commenting on Similar Blogs Works
If you comment regularly, and with substance, on blogs that address similar topics as yours, you’ll get quality visitors.

2: Commenting on Differing Blogs Doesn’t Work as Well
If you comment regularly on blogs, even with substance, but those blogs address different topics, then you get poor visitors.

3: Digg Only Works if You Get Lucky
Despite how many blogs become famous through Digg, you have to be lucky to do so. You need the right people to discover it and digg it at the right time. It’s quite dicy.

4: Get Your Friends in on Your Blog
This only works if your friends care deeply for you, or have an interest in the topic you’re blogging on. But, if any of your friends fit in those two catagories, you’ll get subscribers who will comment.

5: Commenting on Large Blogs Isn’t as Effective
If you comment regularly on large blogs, you will get visitors, but not as many as if you comment on smaller related blogs. However, if you get lucky, you could get featured in a post, which will result in a large amount of visitors. (Example - see point #4)

What about you?
Where do you get your visitors?