Month in Review: April’s #atozchallenge

This will be the last time I mention the A to Z Challenge this year.

I promise. And since April is officially over, too, that means there are only 237 days left until Christmas!

For the first time this year the blog reached over 1,500 views. I was aiming for 2K, but fell just a bit short with a total of 1,516. I need to work on reaching out to new blogs and commenting on others. Got kinda wrapped up in my own little blog world over the last month. I hope to keep this trending upward.

Some didn’t just come, but stayed. There were 651 visitors. I try to create the same standard as a Lay’s potato chip. Betcha can’t read just one. This is down 10. I’ll take that. It’s still up from February.

Y’all really liked me. 194 more likes in April than in March for a total of 641. While it’s not the stat I base my success on, it’s comforting to know that you not only took time out of your day to read my chicken scratch, but you clicked that little like button.

The number of comments were down, but I at tribute that to me not commenting on other’s A to Z posts. I did have a bunch on my personal Facebook page which aren’t included in this number. These discussion and shared stories are what keep bringing me back doing this pro bono writing.  I seriously appreciate all your comments. Seriously.

I wrote 9 more post last month than I did in March. I wrote one more post than there are days in April (that’s 31 for those of you forgot how many days are in April). That’s because I wrote every single day for the A to Z Challenge plus an extra on for last month’s Month in Review. This brings me a total of 803 published posts. The most viewed post was D is for… (Dad) with 59 views. Sunday Share: Week 14 was a close second with 55. They were followed by Sunday Share: Week 15 with 53 views.

I went World Wide by being viewed by 34 countries. The US, Canada, and India were the top three countries to visit last month. UK, Netherlands, and Australia were bumped out!

Then only search term recorded for April was “boy tentacle wedgie”. I would love to know which post that search lead them to.

March ended with 843 followers. Just one month later and I have 884. A gain of 41 in just one month. My newest three followers (this is my favorite part of the review) Travels with Igor, Bad Mom, and Writing with A Side of Life. Thank you to ALL who have subscribed! I’m now only 116 followers short of 1,000. Who will be my 1,000th? It could be you! You’ll be amused, entertained, and occasionally you’ll thank your lucky stars none of this is happening to you.

The top 6 commentors:

Grubbs-n-Critters (69)
Kountry Mama 2012 (58)
A Momma’s View (42)
Dorky Mom Doodles (39)
That’s What Anxious Mom Said (25)
Coach Daddy (17)

Think you can make it into the top six? Leave me a comment and find out!

In an ironic twist of fate, two of the three most viewed posts during the A-Z Challenge weren’t even A-Z posts and two of the 6 commentors are the same person with two different blogs!

That was a fun month of posts. If you like challenges there is another coming up in September called the “Taboo Word Challenge” where you have to write your post without the word of the day. Sometimes it’s not as easy as it sounds. More details coming in August.

Q: If April showers bring May flowers, what do May Flowers bring?

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Month In Review

July was the slowest month of 2016. I suppose with everyone on vacation that’s to be expected. As I’ve always said, even if the numbers aren’t there I’m still writing, still blogging, still me being me. Exactly how slow was July?

I managed to post 27 times. These posts received a total of 1,382 views. This is the fewest views for a month all year. I’m certainly not complaining because that’s 1,382 times you, my readers, came to see what was up over here. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

There were 540 visitors, 24 fewer than June. Again, thanks for coming for one and staying for more.

August brought 467 likes, just 13 fewer than June. So even though there were few views and visitors the like button was still getting clicked! I like you, too!

My blog had 394 comments in July. This is 83 fewer than June. I attribute this to the lack of time summer provides. But to those 394, I thank you. The comments build community and I love the community my blog has built. And I welcome you to it.

32 countries came to visit. The top three were the U.S.A., Canada, and Australia (the Netherlands were close fourth). After we win the lottery and start travelling I’ll be sure to stop by to thank each country personally.

Besides my homepage, Taboo Word Challenge was viewed 92 times in July. Check it out. It’s a fun little challenge I created for the weekdays in September. All you have to do is not use the word of the day. Please join us! A Literal Comparison of Parenting and Writing was second with 60 views. 10 Questions I Asked My Kids was in close third with 54 views. This one was unique because I also asked the boys cousin to answer, too.

I crossed the 400 followers mark in June. In July the followers kept coming. July brought 33 followers to bring me to 471. HMillerFit, Masterpiece943,  and Koumba Orsi are my newest three followers. Thank you! I’m eyeing that 500 mark now. Perhaps I’ll get a little something something for the 500th? A guest post? A reblog? An interview highlighting your space?

As for my top three commenters… There was no change!

Ann’s Grubbs-n-Critters
The Invisible Moth
A Momma’s View
That’s What Anxious Mom Said
Elen Grey
Ah Dad 

So things have slowed a bit here and there around the blog. I’m not too worried. As I have said before, my blog doesn’t operate on likes and views. It operates on discussion. Thanks for all it. I can’t wait to see what the second half of the year brings!

A view from the beach. We visited here 3 times last week!

Month in Review

Not sure when I did my last review. Might as well use today to get caught up, eh?

Numbers have been dropping since April. The month of the A-Z Challenge has been the best since. April was the last month to top 2,000 views.

June saw 25 posts  bringing 1,470 views. While this is 137 fewer than May, this brings me to a total of 11,221 views for the year. I’m already 2,000 views ahead of last year’s total. Thank you everyone for coming back to read this little space.

There were 564 visitors, which is 64 fewer viewers than May. A huge thank you to those who read more than one post.

The like button was clicked 480 times. That’s 11 more times in June than in May. Keep clicking!

477 comments were left in June. That’s 71 extra comments from May. Y’all are too too kind and your discussions make me smile and motivate me to write more. All y’all are my muses.

Science Questions I Asked My Kids gained the most views for the month of June with 84. It was the first time I asked them science questions and it proved fairly popular. They did give some funny answers as to how our world works. A close second was Sunday Share Happiness with 71 views. I like when my Sunday Shares are at the top. I enjoy sharing what others have written. This one happened to be a tag post about what makes me happy and I got to share which bloggers I enjoy reading. Third was a fun facts post about a unique little pet.

Thank you to all of you for clicking the follow button. I didn’t just cross the 400 followers line, I leaped across it. I now have 438 followers. Scarlet Piper, Over the Line Show, and Wanderlust Jessica are my newest three followers. Thank you! I’m eyeing that 500 mark now. Perhaps I’ll get a little something something for the 500th? A guest post? A reblog? An interview highlight your space?

My top commenters are:

Ann’s Grubbs-n-Critters
The Invisible Moth
A Momma’s View
That’s What Anxious Mom Said
Elen Grey
Ah Dad 

So things have slowed a bit here and there around the blog. I’m not too worried. As I have said before, my blog doesn’t operate on likes and views. It operates on discussion. Thanks for all it. I can’t wait to see what the second half of the year brings! (aka my birthday!)

Bloggers

Last month there were 53,098,938 posts made on WordPress. That’s more posts than there are people in Canada!

There were 43,461,936 comments made on WordPress. Again, that’s more comments than there are people in Canada.

This was from the WordPress stats page I found somewhere on the internet. Unfortunately, I forgot to save the link to prove it.

Anyway, I’ve read many tips on how get some of that traffic to your blog. In a nutshell, here’s what I’ve discovered this year.

Be seen.

If you want people to come to your blog, people need to know about your blog. This would be equivalent to opening a pizza joint, but keeping it a secret. There are more social media outlets than there are pizza joints. Which is a shame because pizza is so much better. Good old Facebook with it’s billion users. Twitter, YouTube, Pintrest, Linkedin, Google+, Flickr, Instagram, Reddit, StumbleUpon, etc… Get your blog out there. Share it!

Been see again.

While social media outlets are a good start, you have to promote your blog by way of promoting yourself and others. Share posts in Link-ups and take part in meet and greets. Reblogs and pingback being the main two ways to share other’s posts with your readers.

Be friendly

When someone takes time from their day to not only read what you wrote, but also leave you a comment, treat it as if they just handed you a fresh from the oven slice of pizza. Thank them, bow to them, and most importantly, respond to them in a timely manner. But not just a “thanks” but make it meaningful. Essentially, hand them a cold Coke Cola to go with that warm pizza.

Be friendlier

Hand someone a hot piece of lasagna. Comment on other’s posts. Find authors who are writing on similar topics or topics you are interested in and comment. Engage. Follow. You’ll be surprised at the the network and community you will build in this manner. Also, when someone follows you, follow them back. I wish I would have learned that one sooner. Lastly, there is more to the blogging world than just WordPress. While the fire inside is so delightful, it’s nice to get out and see what others are up to.

Write write write

Be consistent with your writing. I find the more consistent I am the more readers I attract. And don’t write rubbish. Nobody wants a pizza with rubbish on it. Make it appetizing. Sometimes I have a half baked idea and rather than letting it broil a bit longer, I just put it out there for everyone to see. While some will stop by to see what it is. Not very many are willing to taste it and read it.

Swear

While people don’t want shit on their pizza, they think it’s funny to read

shit they think is funny. If laughter is the best medicine, then swear words are the sugar to help the medicine go down. Science has shown that people who swear are more honest with their friends and family. I read that shit on the internet, bitches! But you need to be tasteful about, too. For example, don’t call your readers bitches. Going to drop the f-bomb? Better use that fucker correctly.

These are just a couple tips to help gain readers and followers that I have discovered this year. I’m still learning. So if you have any tips that are helpful that missed here, please, please, please feel free to share them with me (us).

Happy blogging!
Happy reading!

September in Review

We now have a full month of school under our belts. Crash and Bang survived their first colds of the season. Bang is handling the transition of going to school half days, three days a week and sometimes to his Nanny and Pop’s or to a sitter’s house. He’s enjoying all of the above. Crash has had a few struggles, but I think we’re getting past them. As for my blog, I think it’s doing what I want it to do: A) let me write and share B) get a few people to read it.

My last review included the months of July and August combined. This time it is solely September. September had 520 (100 more than August) views and saw 217 (70 more than August) visitors to just 17 (4 more than August) posts. *Side note: October will have more posts* So in that regard, my numbers have climbed ever so slightly. My top viewers came from the U.S., Canada and Japan.

I’ve gained 13 followers and am creeping up to 200 followers. I thank each and every one of you! My newest followers are Have Kids Will… Shandra and Kent. Will you be next?

Besides my Home Page, Breaking the Silence was my most viewed post in September. Please have a read if you have not already. It was a guest post written by my beautiful DW. Good Enough is one I think needs a little more attention.

I’ve been trying to convince Crash to write me a story for my blog. He’s working on it. It might take him a few weeks to get it typed. I’ll be very curious to see what he comes up with. I haven’t asked him or even seen it yet. It’ll be interesting for sure! There is also Thanksgiving (here in Canada) and Halloween coming up this month. October is my favorite color!

July and August in Review

With all that was going on in July I didn’t even bother doing a review. Now that August and summer are over, I’m back in full blog mode, full teacher mode, and full running mode. Here’s how the last two months shaped up.

June was a good month stats wise. It wasn’t my best month this year, but it was decent. Unfortunately, it’s been a steady decline since. I can name several influences for this.

• I stopped blogging to travel
• I have been entertaining my Fitbit to get my step count up so instead of writing in the evening, I’ve been walking/running
• I have been watching TV with DW – Ninja Warrior and Wife Swap to be exact. But it’s “us time” and that’s important time
• I got out of the habit of writing

None of them are great excuses, naturally. But I’m back now. I’m hoping to start make regular visits to those blogs I enjoy and start making new friends. The long weekend is over and I hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day weekend. We went to the beach, but that’s for another post.

July and August:

July was down 170 views from June and August was was 136 less than that. My views were down from 260 in June to 200 in July and 149 in August. I published 30 posts in June while July only had 22 and August had 13. There were 196 comments in June. July’s comments dropped to 143 while August was down to 101.

On the plus side, I am up to 152 followers. I thank each and every one of you. I would write regardless, but all of you make it much more enjoyable.Will you be my next follower?

Thanks to Jessica, Devyn, and Kari for being my latest followers.

My Home Page is my most viewed page. The Value of A Teacher is a close second and Dear Teacher is one I believe needs a little more attention.

You’ll find all my short stories neatly organized now. They have a menu of their own now. I’m going to get back into my weekly 100 word stories again. There’s always Crash and Bang, who is what this blog is mostly about. Though I do have a few tangents.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for following. I hope to hear from you!

June in Review

July 1st. Our first day of “real” summer. Thanks, Stacy at Revisions of Grandeur, for sending it our way! It only took 3 days to get here. We hit a high of 26 C and the kids thoroughly enjoyed the opening of the splash pad at the park.

June shaped up okay for me, blog wise. I had a total of 774 views which is up 193 from May. I had 260 visitors which is up 73. I had 209 likes, up a mere 6. I published 30 posts for the month of June. That’s 6 more than I wrote for May. I had 196 comments compared to only 144 in May. Besides my Home page, which had the most views at 132, “The First Fight” was the most viewed at 40. The top three countries to visit my blog were the U.S., Canada, and Thailand.

My followers grew by 19. I’ve been averaging 20 follows a month since I started blogging in January. So June was on par.

My newest three followers are:
The Greenwich MummyCommon Sense Knight
Many of Us

Thanks for following! Will you be the next? Just click the follow button over there on the right side or the one at the top. No account necessary!

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As for my 1000 mile challenge, I don’t know why I even bother. I have a total of 317 miles this year. I should be at 504. That’s 187 miles behind. Time to get my ass in gear. Any motivation would be greatly appreciated.

Garbage and My Blog

It’s Tuesday again. That means it’s garbage day. It’s up to DW and Bang to get the garbage to the curb this morning. Crash and Bang are best friends with the garbage men Kyle and Lewis. They hear the truck coming down the road and they plaster themselves to the window to watch. One day, Bang had a complete meltdown because the garbage wasn’t going to come. It was Wednesday. There was no consoling him. Crash and Bang will wait in the driveway for them. Sometimes they let Crash pull the lever to crush the garbage. Bang won’t get that close. He doesn’t like the noise of the truck. Though, once, Kyle did get him to go near enough to pull a lever. Once. Bruce, who to drove the truck before Lewis, brought Bang a hat from the garbage company. When we make cookies or muffins we make sure to leave some for the garbage men.

But Tuesday also means something else, especially for my blog. According to my stats page, Tuesdays are my days with the most views. I’m not sure why. I write six days a week. Why Tuesday? Is that the slowest day at work so people have more time to read blogs? Even more specifically, 11:00 AM is the time I get visited most frequently. I suppose since it’s 10:55 AM now, I have 5 minutes to get this posted.

Anyway, it’s Tuesday and you’ve found your way to my blog. My cozy corner. My miniscule corner of the internet. Make yourself cozy, follow a few links, read a few posts, and leave a some comments. Who knows? You might be here until Wednesday.

A Month in Review

The month of May was kind to me. I had six fewer posts than April because April was the A-Z challenge. I had 24 posts in May. My number of views was down a bit, too, 737 in April dropped to 581 in May. However, my number of visitors rose ever so slightly from 182 to 187. My likes dropped from 223 to 203  and the number of comments dropped from 271 to 144.

Other than my home page, my most popular post in May was “Where’s the line“. The top three countries to visit last month were the U.S.A., Canada, and South Korea.

A huge thanks to OM for reblogging that post. My number of followers grew from 77 to 100. My newest followers are Mom Meets Blog, Did You Dress Up For This, and Desirable Love. Thanks for following! Will you be the next? Just click the follow button over there on the right side or the one at the top. No account necessary!

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I’m not even going to discuss my 1,000 mile challenge. I didn’t run a single time in Canada. However, I did run 4 miles in Florida. I’m going to have to run far this summer.