So, we’ve been blogging for about a month now and one thing we thought we would do is a little recap. There have definitely been things each of us has learned along the way in our short time blogging together and we thought we would share those with you. Each month you’ll hear from either Matt or myself in a ‘State of the Blog Report’ post. We will share with you data–hard numbers and short explanations of the data, as well as cover a designated topic. We are borrowing this idea from one of my favorite blogs, Pinch of Yum, (Shoutout to Lindsay and Bjork, I wish we could be friends in real life and I love reading and trying recipes from Pinch of Yum!) and modifying it to our blog content and topics that we come across each month.

Numbers

We’ve already found that knowing our “numbers” is a delicate balance. A growing readership is our hope and what we are working toward, but at the same time, we know that we are SO new to the blogging scene and these things take time. We do know that these pieces are important though, so we want to share the trends we have seen in the last 30 days.

Google Analytics Traffic Overview-March

For each category that Google Analytics reports, there is a number and a graph to show the ups and downs of that category. Let’s start with a little glossary of terms, just to make things easier along with an example to help clarify. Let’s say you are checking out ESPN, you start at the home page, click around to check your team’s record, and then read an article about the coaching staff, spending about two minutes overall.

Sessions: This number reflects the number of times our website has been viewed. When you accessed ESPN, clicked around, but were still on the ESPN website, this one experience is counted as a single “Session”.
Users: This is the number of unique individuals who have visited our site.
Pageviews: This is the number of times a person “clicks” on the website. Going back to the example, you were still on the ESPN website, but you started at the home page, went to your team’s page, then read an article, that counts as three pageviews. Still with me?
Pages/Session: This is a simple division of the number of “Pageviews” per “Sessions”. For us, it reflects that each time a person visits our page, they usually click just over three times.
Avg. Session Duration: This tells us how long each “Session” is lasting.
Bounce Rate: This tells us that 42.13% of people visiting our site only have a single “Pageview” per “Session”, so folks who just look at say just the home page, and then leave without exploring further. We are always hoping for a small bounce rate.
% New Sessions: This percentage tells us that 61% of the visitors to our site are completely new; the goal is to strike a healthy mix of loyal readership while also generating new interest.

Google Analytics Traffic Source-March

Another resource provided by Google Analytics is in the graphic above, representing how people get to our site. The glossary terms are the same across the top of the graphic, but more detailed information is given for each “Source”. You can see that several of the top five sources are easily recognized, the first one is from individuals who know and type in our URL, and numbers 2, 4, and 5 are all from Facebook.  Now, items 3 and 6-10 are all a little tricky, remember how we said we are looking for a low bounce rate? Each of these items has a 100% bounce rate AND the average session duration is 00:00:00, but the number of sessions is high. We are still learning what this all means, so I don’t have a good answer for you other than to say on the surface we know that the “Share” button at the bottom of each post does help to drive more traffic to our site. However, we also know that robots following links to our site–some of which build links (which is good)–but is also of little value. I’m sure we’ll be learning more about this and will have more to share about what this really means next month.

WordPress Traffic Overview-March

WordPress reports their numbers a little differently, the terminology isn’t the same and the information that is provided to the user does not include the “Bounce Rate” data. WordPress also reflects a number with a graph so we can see exactly what days have a higher traffic volume than others. The weekends are shaded darker in the graphic, so it is pretty clear to us that our readership usually tapers off on Fridays and is low on the weekends.

Views: This number reflects the number of times our website was seen, including the number of clicks. So, back to our ESPN example, according to WordPress, even though you clicked three times while you were in ESPN, this counts as only one “View”.

What Worked… and What Didn’t

There are varying degrees of things that we can say worked well and not so well from this past month. We are new at this and learning, so we also know that perhaps what didn’t work so well this month will be improved as we near the top of the learning curve. Here’s our short list of what worked and didn’t work this month:

Yay, this worked, we feel awesome!

1. We started our blog, from Texas to Beyond.
2. We have created a blogging schedule–and we’ve stuck to it!
3. We established roles, each of us is responsible for some part of our blog and we all have ownership.
4. Facebook seems to be the most effective source (right now) for referrals and to engage with readers.

Nay, boo, results weren’t what we thought 🙁

1. Pinterest, Instagram and Flickr have all had a slow(er) start.
2. Keeping an aggressive pace with our posts has been a challenge, but not so much that we are considering slowing down.
3. The steep learning curve for us all has been difficult as we learn our roles and become more comfortable with our responsibilities to the blog and each other.

Reflections

I think anyone will tell you there are ups and downs of blogging…we’ve found that, yep, that’s pretty much true. The learning curve for each of has been steep as we prepared for the launch of the blog, and are continuing ongoing maintenance and writing. This month you’ll hear from each of the authors as they reflect on the last month of blogging, expectations, reality, and hopes for the future.

David: Reflecting on the first month of this blogging experiment, I have come to realize a few keys. First, how has our performance matched my expectations? Well, I think the numbers that are shared above met my expectations, but I am not sure since I did not write any down to compare. I would encourage new bloggers to capture their expectations before beginning. Secondly, I must constantly remind myself to not be discouraged! One day, our page views may be down, but maybe we received more Facebook “Likes”, or maybe a new follower retweeted our post, or maybe we got a compliment from a coworker on our photography. There are many platforms which we are receiving feedback. Especially when we see hit a bump in the road, I  focus on remembering the good feedback, holding onto positive notes! I must remember the good! We have been sharing the feedback within our team, and encouraging one another. This helps me persevere when I want to work out, watch TV or drink a beer without taking notes! Thirdly, I am working in the present, the future and the past. This makes it challenging to determine how much work I am expending for one month of posts. Every day, we are creating a solid format for future posts, but this means spending a lot of time writing meaningful introductory posts. We hope these framework posts pay off in the future, such as my article on The Ideal Barbeque Joint. One of my goals was to work ahead of the schedule as soon as possible; during the first month, I have also been working on articles for the next two months. When we make changes in the present, we also must work in the past, modifying previous articles to present a consistent message. Overall, this adventure has been filled with hard work and challenges. However, it is also rewarding to see friends and strangers alike benefiting from that hard work. I am looking forward to another month!

Rebekah: As with most things in my life, I am reminded of a Motown song.  The chorus of “Keep on Truckin’ by the Temptations is in the back of my head as I am reflecting on the first month of our blog.  I am tired, proud and pleasantly surprised.  I knew starting a blog would be a lot of work, but I definitely did not anticipate the GIANT learning curve and the hours required to produce it.  After a while, some tasks will become second nature, but until then, we will keep on truckin’.  Even though we are exhausted, there have been a lot of fun moments and I am SO proud of our work. We could not have had such a high quality by our self.  It is truly a collaborative effort and I am just so proud to be a part of it.    In terms of stats and how the blog has been welcomed, I have been pleasantly surprised.  Our friends and the community of Fort Worth have given us an encouraging welcome and that has been so fun.  Before the start of this blog, my engagement with social media was minimal, at best.  I had a very basic understanding of the terms and strategies.  But as I mentioned before, the learning curve is big, but we are keeping up with it.  I really look forward to the next month!

Rachel: As we went through steps to flesh out each of our roles and responsibilities before our launch, I don’t think we realize the amount of work it would take to really get going. We wanted to start strong (of course) and be successful (duh), but we are still developing and refining our strategy to get there. I myself am responsible for the overall look of our WordPress site, the organization and editing of posts as well as managing three of our five social media platforms. It’s a lot to learn in a short amount of time! BUT, I am so proud of the work we’ve accomplished, the skills I’ve gained (and am still learning) and I’m proud to be a part of something that I feel gives me a purpose outside of being a stay-at-home mommy. I think we are all hopeful that our blogging hobby turns into something more and I am excited to see where it all takes us!

So, there you have it, our first “State of the Blog” report is in the books. We hope you’ll enjoy getting our feedback each month and learning with us.