"When dawn spreads its paintbrush on the plain, spilling purple... ," Sons of the Pioneers theme for TV show "Wagon Train." Dawn on the mythic Santa Fe Trail, New Mexico, looking toward Raton from Cimarron. -- Clarkphoto. A curmudgeon artist's musings melding metaphors and journalism, for readers in more than 150 countries.

Thursday, December 31, 2020

State of the blog in pandemic--a record

Blog readership, at year's end, not recording 2009, 2010

"Lesson--the pandemic has been an impetus for my blog and my painting--and thus my survival."--Retrospective realization as I look back over, and evaluate, the year in my pandemic journal for today. 

At year's end, this blog, now going on 12 years, ties the most December  posts in its life--47--the most since the first year, 2009-- and it's third highest yearly posts--285, barely behind 2010 at 292. 

That's a turn around from last year, with its lowest point of 112 posts. In retrospect the revival is largely due to the pandemic that has enabled, inspired, driven me to paint and write more.

It began as a journalist/professor's blog in May 2009 with no idea how long it would live, and gradually changed through the years kept alive as I taught blogging at UCO. 

But as its changed with art, art has also helped rescue it. This December's postings, including this one, helped it tie 2009's December as an all-time monthly high.
 
Total posts this year, again thanks to watercolors, ranked it behind only the first two years. And my blog traffic reached more than 332,000, up 34,000 from this time last year--which is almost 3,000 visitors a month. 

Speaking of that, the most read blog posts go all the way back, but Blogger's "improved" stats make totals impossible. Most popular, with more than 4,500 readers--"Toasting the Passage of Time," December 27, 2009
 
Here are the facts for this year, and for the record.

Traffic, posting  facts--
  • 332,000+ page views since May, 2009 
  • Highest monthly 2020 traffic, June, 3,619
  • Lowest 2020 monthly, January, 1715
  • Lowest annual monthly traffic--May, 2018--638 
  • Most 2020 monthly posts, this month, 47
  • Fewest posts in a month this year--January, 8
Posts per year--
  • 2020--285
  • 2019--109
  • 2018--149 
  • 2017--158
  • 2016--137
  • 2015--136
  • 2014--276
  • 2013--252
  • 2012--203
  • 2011--134
  • 2010--292
  • 2009--339 (started in May)
2020 total page views by countries--
What I have failed to do this year is keep up with readers from new locations. I know it's probably the same, at about 153 or so around the world.
Top page hits this year--Changes from last year, China and Turkey dropped off the list, and Russia plunged from number two, though it is still second overall, Ukraine third, Germany and then China. (Why? )
    United States
    Romania                                                        
    19.9K
     1.81K 
    Russia
    Germany
         4K
        924
    Ukraine
    United Kingdom
    France
    Portugal
    Canada
    Other(?)
        722
        719
        543
        463
        461
    4.49K


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