Every few months I like to look at my biking and walking statistics, but also my blog. I know its not the sexiest of topics, but some folks find it interesting. Of course, I do. Blogs exist for people to express themselves, but the other side of that equation is people reading those thoughts. As always, I’m very grateful to you if this is your first, 50th, or 250th post that you’ve read here at A Dude Abikes. Now for the numbers. Admit it, you enjoy feeling out over your own stats as much as I do, ya big nerd!

It’s Not All About the Followers

The main number people want to know when they hear I have a blog is how many followers. Well, I’ll tell you: 384. That’s not a lot, but it’s more than I had last year and more than when I started. So if you’re one, thank you muchly!

For me, though, I’m more interested in people actually READING what I write. Here are stats on Views, Visitors, Likes and Comments for the first three months of 2019:

That’s respectable for a blog that only really ramped up to regular posts in 2018. I do not promote it via social media. It has grown organically through the WordPress Reader function and people searching tags. Sometimes I’ll post an intro and link on Strava, my fitness app that records all my bicycle rides and walks. Occasionally I’ll email or text people I have a new post out. Just the other day I got listed on bicyclingaustin.info, a long-time treasure trove of all things Austin and bikes. Maybe that will lead to a few more viewers, we’ll see. But I’m not hung up on that number.

So, Who’s Reading?

Well, naturally the US leads by a landslide. India is still in second place, something I don’t understand since the followers I’ve asked tend to not bike. But welcome, India! Then there’s the UK, followed by Spain, France and Canada. Bienvenido, bienvenue and howdy, eh!

It’s unfortunate I’m not bigger in Mexico since I’m in Texas, or Latin America in general, given that the word bici is usually at the very top of key words people search. Currently, it’s in second place at 183 (bike was the top at 184 tied with uncategorized). But that’s on me for not writing more posts in Spanish. I’d hope that maybe a country like Colombia, which has a rich cycling tradition, might find some followers. Then again, I’m no Nairo Quintana or Rigoberto Uran.

What Else You Got, Dude? What About That Book?

Turns out, that while maybe I’m not on the upward trend I’d like to see, I’m doing pretty well. Still getting some decent likes and comments, and at 41 posts, I’m sticking to being consistent by blogging three times a week. Usually it’s very late on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but sometimes like now, I shake it up and post on a Tuesday or Thursday morning. I’d like to get the word count down from
averaging 1,259 words per post, but if the ideas take that many, that’s OK.

So, as you can see in the WordPress screen grab below, even though my daily viewers aren’t quite matching this time last year, they are still decent. There’s also a very good reason for that: A Dude Abikes, The Book. I blogged every day for 69 days to get to 100 posts total in 2018, and then I kept posting photos on other days for SXSW. But then I began writing my book, which I did the other four days a week. That may grist for another post, but basically I’m approaching the end of the tunnel on the first draft. Can’t quite see the light yet, but soon I will. And then we’ll see what happens here with the blog.

Oh, I Almost Forgot! Exciting News!

I signed up for ProBlogger.com‘s “31 Days to Build a Better Blog” self-paced course. I haven’t started it yet, but it doesn’t expire. Actually there was a live “sprint” feature but I missed on on that, but I think those videos were captured as well. So we’ll see what good ol’ Darren Rowse has in store for me, and ultimately you, dear reader. I have the sense that he recommends lots of behind the scenes cleaning up previous posts, using tags and categories better, maybe deleting old, less popular blogs, using data and social to really make the blog get noticed.

I suppose that’s enough navel-gazing for now. I hope you enjoyed this peak under the hood of ADAB. As we sometimes still say in Texas, and the Southern US overall, “Y’all come on back now, ya’ hear?” Bring a friend or 10 while you’re at it, OK? Thanks again for your support! I really do appreciate it. I may not follow every blog or like every comment, because I’m just one dude trying to find a job, but I see as much as I can, and am grateful for any interest in my bicycling journey.

Thank you for visiting me on WordPress or at https://ADudeAbikes.com.  Feel free to add your Likes and Comments and to Follow the blog through WordPress if you have it, or by email.  Contact me on the About page with any questions.  Please feel free to Re-blog and Share as long as you give credit and the permalink to this post.

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