This website is primarily for my benefit in that it acts as a journal and a place to record my thoughts.
That said, curiosity got the better of me the other day. I started to wonder how many people are visiting the website. I didn’t, nor still don’t, want the statistics to be an important factor in my work. On previous platforms, my success rate has been poor and often depressing when it comes to looking at the statistics from visitors.
So, there was some reluctance when I decided to add analysis software to this site. I decided that after adding the software, I would not let low numbers of visitors bother me. It should not be something that is allowed to play with my mind.
The software has now been installed for three days as I write this. The amount of visitors, for what it is worth, totals tens rather than hundreds or thousands. Nonetheless, an interesting fact has already transpired. 50% of those few visitors have come from the USA. How about that!
The most exciting statistic for me as the designer of this website is that 75% of the visitors have done so using a laptop or computer. Thank the Lord for that! That means that three-quarters of the visitors see the website as I want them to on a big screen.
I have tried to make the website responsive to all devices, but in doing so, much of the potential layout is lost on a small smartphone screen, less so on a tablet device.
The statistics also reveal how many visitors come directly by typing the URL and how many visit as a result of a search engine. That, too, is quite interesting. Of course, I can also see which pages are the most popular so far. But it’s early days; so much more content is yet to be added.
There is an option with the stats software to add adverts from Google, meaning I could eventually monetise the website. But I’d rather not do that, and I do hope enough Envoys join to cover the need for adverts.
It is fascinating to see how I click, though. I seem to have this goal or desire to measure my work against the amount of people it attracts. But as I know from my own experience, I won’t hold my breath on big numbers!