Let’s Talk About Stats: Views, Comments, Likes, & Referrers [Discussion]

Posted 8 January 2023 in thoughts /21 Comments

This post contains:

Preamble

I have never talked about blog stats here for two reasons:

  1. Stats are not something I’m especially concerned about or interested in. I don’t blog to reach statistical milestones.
  2. I’ve wanted to avoid giving folks information with which they could form an opinion – an opinion that may make them feel down about their own blog (“Oh wow, my stats are terrible in comparison!”) or perhaps even feel down about my blog (“Oh wow, Falling Letters has really low stats!”)

My stance on both points has evolved in recent years.

  1. In 2022, I set an explicit goal of blog growth for the first time ever. I wanted to reach a particular milestone of views each month, as one strategy to hold myself to regular posting.
  2. I have seen a lot of newer bloggers expressing curiosity, opinions, and doubts about their own stats.

I have a hunch my stats, as someone who has been book blogging for about nine years, may surprise folks and/or help give them a better view of their own stats. This post is going to be a long one because any stats shared need to be heavily contextualized. When it comes to book blogs, traffic, and engagement, there are a ton of factors and variability – and certainly no single metric of what a ‘successful’ blog looks like!

I highly recommend you check out Briana @ Pages Unbound’s 2022 Book Blogger Stats Survey Results, for stat information reported by 90 book bloggers. Thanks to Caitlin @ Realms of My Mind and Celeste @ A Literary Escape for the Twitter discussion that motivated me to finally write this post.

A final note before I get into things: I get an error when I go to view my WordPress stats on my PC. I can’t figure out what’s wrong, so all these screenshots are from my phone. I am not a big numbers and graphs person so please forgive any shortcomings of the information presentation..

A Brief History of Falling Letters

  • Started blogging via Blogger in 2006
    • Not going to link to that lol it has long been privated
  • Began reviewing books in 2010
    • I left behind the music and writing posts when I migrated
  • Identified exclusively as a book blogger in 2014
  • Migrated from Blogger to self-hosted WordPress in fall 2016
  • Installed Jetpack sometime in the latter half of 2018
    • This is why I don’t have stats for any earlier years
  • As of today (8 Jan 2023), I have:
    • 133 WordPress followers
    • 7 Feedly followers
    • 761 Twitter followers
    • 353 Goodreads friends
    • 58 Goodreads followers

My Stats – Year Over Year

Views, Visitors, Comments, and Likes

All information displayed in screenshot is described in table below.
All information displayed in screenshot is described in table below.
All information displayed in screenshot is described in table below.
All information displayed in screenshot is described in table below.

The four screenshots above display my annual stats from 2018 to now. The highest year for each metric is highlighted in pink. Key data points:

  • 2022 was my highest year for views (18,200) and visitors (13,400)
    • I received 361 comments and 307 likes in 2022
  • 2020 was my higest year for comments (754) and likes (623)
    • I received 12,200 views and 8,054 visitors in 2020

Here is the full breakdown for each metric per year. I have not included 2018 because the stats I have are only for a partial year. To provide additional context, I have also noted how many times I posted each year.

YearViewsVisitorsCommentLikesPosts
20195,6003,69522317363
202012,2008,05475462387
202114,1009,97722522924
202218,20013,40036130744

Referrers

Screenshot of WordPress referrer stats for 2019. 2,472 search engines, 201 WordPress.com reader, 185 Twitter, 110 Facebook, 28 bloglovin, and 25 fallingletters.blogspot.com
Screenshot of WordPress referrer stats for 2020. 5,739 search engines, 562 WordPress.com Reader, 483 Twitter, 57 bloglovin, 42 thatartsyreadergirl.com, 33 facebook
Screenshot of WordPress referrer stats for 2021. 9,663 search engines, 171 WordPress.com Reader, 132 Twitter, 41 fallingletters.blogspot.com, 27 Facebook
Screenshot of WordPress referrer stats for 2022. 12,600 search engines, 242 WordPress.com Reader, 206 Twitter, 116 fallingletters.blogspot.com, 99 WordPress Android App, 57 inlinkz

Most Viewed Posts

Finally, here are the top 5 most viewed posts from each year, along with the date each post was published and how many views it received that year.

My Stats – Month Over Month

Views, Visitors, Comments, and Likes

All information displayed in screenshot is described in table below.
All information displayed in screenshot is described in table below.
All information displayed in screenshot is described in table below.
All information displayed in screenshot is described in table below.

The four screenshots above display my monthly stats from Dec 2021 to now. The highest month for each metric is highlighted in pink. Key data points:

  • January has historically been my highest month for engagement.
  • Even in months when I did not post, my view count and visitors remained high.

Here is the full breakdown for each metric per month. To provide additional context, I have also noted how many times I posted each month.

MonthViewsVisitorsCommentLikesPosts
Dec ’2199572720152
Jan ’221,391941927710
Feb ’221,17581943474
Mar ’221,05279832262
Apr ’221,3461,061382
May ’221,5301,189320
Jun ’221,22093618132
Jul ’221,2568656101
Aug ’221,289918000
Sept ’221,8401,35729174
Oct ’221,9821,45428214
Nov ’222,2581,64660559
Dec ’221,8741,40448316

Most Viewed Posts

Finally, here are the top 3 most viewed posts from each month, along with the date the post was published and how many views it received that month.

  • Dec ’21
    • 18 Middle Grade Speculative Fiction Books by Black Authors [List] | Jun 2020 | 87 views
    • 35 Middle Grade Fantasy Faves [Wyrd & Wonder] | May 2020 | 65 views
    • Brief Thoughts: Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson | Feb 2017 | 32 views
  • Jan ’22
    • 18 Middle Grade Speculative Fiction Books by Black Authors [List] | Jun 2020 | 87 views
    • Wrapping Up 2021, Looking Forward 2022 | Jan 2022 | 45 views
    • 35 Middle Grade Fantasy Faves [Wyrd & Wonder] | May 2020 | 45 views
  • Feb ’22
  • Mar ’22
    • 18 Middle Grade Speculative Fiction Books by Black Authors [List] | Jun 2020 | 78 views
    • 35 Middle Grade Fantasy Faves [Wyrd & Wonder] | May 2020 | 51 views
    • Brief Thoughts: Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson | Feb 2017 | 51 views
  • Apr ’22
    • 18 Middle Grade Speculative Fiction Books by Black Authors [List] | Jun 2020 | 79 views
    • Brief Thoughts: Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson | Feb 2017 | 58 views
    • Review: Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson | Mar 2015 | 53 views
  • May ’22
    • I Have Many Thoughts on Radio Silence | May 2017 | 83 views
    • 18 Middle Grade Speculative Fiction Books by Black Authors [List] | Jun 2020 | 78 views
    • Brief Thoughts: Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson | Feb 2017 | 63 views
  • Jun ’22
    • I Have Many Thoughts on Radio Silence | May 2017 | 53 views
    • Review: Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson | Mar 2015 | 52 views
    • Would You Rather: Book Edition | Sept 2020 | 51 views
  • Jul ’22
    • Would You Rather: Book Edition | Sept 2020 | 75 views
    • Slightly Spooky to Truly Terrifying: A Ranking of Middle Grade Horror | Jan 2020 | 75 views
    • 18 Middle Grade Speculative Fiction Books by Black Authors [List] | Jun 2020 | 57 views
  • Aug ’22
  • Sept ’22
    • Slightly Spooky to Truly Terrifying: A Ranking of Middle Grade Horror | Jan 2020 | 179 views
    • Would You Rather: Book Edition | Sept 2020 | 111 views
    • I Have Many Thoughts on Radio Silence | May 2017 | 105 views
  • Oct ’22
  • Nov ’22
  • Dec ’22
    • Brief Thoughts: Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson | Feb 2017 | 106 views
    • Spirit Hunters is a Properly Chilling Middle Grade Novel [Review] | Jun 2018 | 69 views
    • Would You Rather: Book Edition | Sept 2020 | 68 views

But What Does it All Mean???

Views vs Engagement

Perhaps the most clear takeaway from the above mess of stats is that I have a high views to engagement ratio. A substantial portion of my views (70% in 2022) come via search engines. I receive relatively few hits from fellow bloggers (the folks who drive engagement), who I assume come primarily from WordPress Reader, Twitter, and the other referral sources.

I received just over 18,000 views in 2022. This is a number that I’m super pleased with. I personally think it’s a great amount of views for a casual book blogger, who had sporadic periods of inactivity. I want to emphasize, however, that I have been doing this for years! It took me until 2022, eight years after declaring myself a ‘book blogger’, to think “Wow, I got a lot of views this year!” Time and perspective play a critical role here. Some folks will think 400 views/month is great, others will be aiming for 4,000/month. Brian’s survey over the years helped me realize that as a book blogger, I’m doing well on viewcount, especially as my views continue to increase.

Of course, anyone who blogs regularly knows there is a difference between views and engagement. I can see for myself when I visit and comment on other blogs that my engagement appears relatively low. I may only receive one or two comments on a post, and half a dozen likes. And this is really the crux of why I’ve written this massive post – not to cast judgement and declare what metric and milestones by which bloggers should rank their success, but to illuminate that just because a blog may seem successful (or not, as you may consider 18,000 views/year low) by one metric doesn’t mean it’s successful by everyone’s metrics or standards.

Next! Time to dig into a few of the reasons why I think I have high views with lower engagement…

Unique Content, SEO, and That Time Factor Again

I included the 12 month breakdown to show the impact time and unique content have had on my stats. My most popular posts have gained traction over years. They’re posts which discuss books or topics that aren’t overly popular in the blogosophere.

Someone asked on Twitter if I had any SEO tips. I am not an SEO wizard but I have picked up a couple pointers from my years online. The first is that creating good, unique content that fills a niche can help you get views. The other is that I use the free WordPress plug in Yoast SEO to tweak some SEO things that I would otherwise overlook. It’s hard for me to say whether the second point has truly made a difference, but I think it has at least helped me with the first point, by boosting the content I create.

For example, I post a lot about middle grade. Since about 2020, I’d say, middle grade has increased in popularity as a topic for book bloggers. But that hasn’t always been the case. Some of my most popular content is middle grade reviews and lists from 2020 and earlier. I suspect these do well with educators and students searching for information about books, which I imagine is a big driver of my search engine referrals. These folks are looking for information – they’re not looking to connect with a fellow book reviewer. They bring views but not engagement. This is why my viewcount continues to grow even when I’m not creating new content. The sort of content I typically create doesn’t have the broadest appeal to a wide variety of book bloggers, so I pull less engagement from the online book community.

Conclusion

I hope this post generates some discussion and helps people feel better rather than worse about their stats! My goal with this post is to show that every blog is different. If there’s one thing I want you to take away, it’s that stats mean different things to different folks. The numbers are what you make them. Set your own goals, or not. What truly matters is creating content that you enjoy creating. The numbers are not the end game. For my part, I’m happy if I get one comment on every post I write. Anything else is a bonus. (To be fully transparent, I do have a goal of 2,000 views/month. But as with 2022, I’ve set that goal as one strategy to encourage myself to consistently post good content.) Post about what you enjoy, and you’ll attract others who enjoy the same.

How prominent are stats in your mind?
Which metrics do you pay attention to?
Did anything about my stats surprise you?
Let me know if have any questions about what I’ve shared, or about metrics that I didn’t include! (The length of this post got away from me…)

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21 responses to “Let’s Talk About Stats: Views, Comments, Likes, & Referrers [Discussion]”

  1. Briana | Pages Unbound

    This is such a great post. Thanks for sharing! I do think there’s a tendency not to share stats for exactly the reasons you mention– if you have “high” stats, it seems like bragging, and if you have “low” stats it feels like revealing that you’re unsuccessful or something, I guess. Our stats are pretty high now, but definitely were not for several years, so I definitely felt the awkwardness of assuming everyone else had higher stats and not wanting to talk about mine!

    I also agree that middle grade seems to be picking up in popularity!

    Reply
  2. Celeste | A Literary Escape

    This is a great post and I really appreciate that you shared your stats! It doesn’t seem like many bloggers want to take the time to write up a similar post or are willing to share their own statistics. I do think you’re justified in saying that people shouldn’t compare themselves to others and feel bad about their statis compared to an established blogger; there’s always that “danger” in sharing numbers. So I agree that stats have to be given in context and you’ve done a great job here with that. Personally I wish more bloggers would share statistics and kind of normalize our “world” a little bit. That’s why when I do my monthly wrap-up posts I share a little snippet of what my most viewed posts were during that month. Basically what we all need to take away is don’t assume anything. A lot of engagement might not necessarily mean high views (if SEO isn’t a priority for that blogger); and, vice versa, low engagement might not necessarily mean low views. Time spent in the blogosphere is a huge factor, too.

    Reply
  3. Krysta

    I suspect high views and low engagement might be rather normal for many bloggers! One of the benefits, I think at least, of blogs is that the content has longevity. Social media is touted as the place to be for views, but blog posts can get views, too–but, as you say, often from search engines rather than from dedicated followers. And I think that’s okay! I do think many of our posts are being found by educators and students, but hopefully they are enjoying it and finding it helpful, even if they aren’t followers.

    Reply
  4. Ms. Yingling

    I am very impressed by your statistics and also, REPEATEDLY, don’t care about mine. Most of the time, it’s passive disinterest, but at the end of the year when everyone else is doing statistics, I … sorry, my mind wandered even try to describe how I feel about statistics. Did try to look up how many views per month I get, and right at 6:00 my school blocked Blogger, so there’s that. In my own mind, I know more about #MGLit than any living Blogger, so if I don’t look at stats, I can keep believing it. I may revisit your post this summer and try to care more. Again, very impressed that you even did statistics, and hope they get to where you want them to be.

    Reply
  5. Tammy

    I love this post! I’m always nervous to talk about stats, it’s like telling people what your salary is, lol. I checked my stats for last year and I also found Google searches to be the highest referral numbers, by a long shot. I blog hop and comment a lot, every day in fact, and comments on my blog are almost more important to me than page views. I also have certain posts that are constantly viewed (every day in fact), and I find it fascinating to think “why is this post so popular?” Statistics is a fun rabbit hole to jump into for sure!

    Reply
    • James Weber

      I’m relieved to hear someone else has trouble parsing why their posts do well or not. I have one post I wrote years ago reviewing (arguably) the first zombie story ever written. It consistently gets 2-3 views a day when NOTHING else on my blog gets hardly any views. I can’t parse it. Why does this one keep getting found but none of the other zombie content, or really any other content I’ve posted? Honestly it drives me a bit crazy lol

      Also props for hopping around and commenting on other’s posts. I’m always really thrilled when someone responds to something I wrote, but rarely end up commenting on other’s work myself. Something I’m trying to be better at. Anywho, keep up the good work! Happy blogging!

      Reply
  6. Realms of My Mind

    Thank you so much for taking the time to put this post together! I especially found the “top posts” stats fascinating; it’s amazing how much traffic you can get from one post alone for an entire year if it just hits the algorithm right! My reviews don’t usually generate too much traffic after the first few weeks, but my review of The First Binding continues to bring in a steady stream of views for whatever reason. The internet is weird!

    Reply
  7. Sarah

    this is so interesting, thanks for sharing! i’ve been trying not to pay attention to stats since it often stresses me out and does more harm than good, but that survey is really comforting.

    Reply
  8. imyril @ There's Always Room For One More

    Thank you for this post – it’s a thoughtful, thorough, well-contextualised discussion of what is often a taboo topic. As a newbie I had no idea what ‘good’ looked like and had a background working in commercial web that meant I could only compare myself to corporate activity that expects at least 6 digits (ahahaha) – although it gave me an idea of ‘good’ engagement rates (double digits are hen’s teeth).

    Early days, I was excited if I hit 20 views on a new post and my goal was to get 100 views in a week; these days, residual traffic means I can usually hit 30 views/day even if I’m in a blogging slump – but it tales off fast when I’m not posting regularly. I don’t set specific targets these days; I do what I want to do and hopefully people see and enjoy it. Last year was a big drop in views (~4000) and only half the comments (ouch). We’ll see how this year comes together – probably an even bigger drop given I expect to post less!

    As a reader, I’m conscious I subscribe via email and read a lot in my inbox – which hits my blogfriends’ stats AND deters interaction. This year I intend to make an effort to click through and read on site (and comment!)

    Reply
  9. Spines in a Line

    Love the in-depth post and I do think it’ll be helpful for newer bloggers to have some kind of reference point and discussion around all the factors that affect stats, I know when I started I would’ve loved something like this to explain it all.

    I’ve definitely had my moments worrying about stats but I agree, if I get one comment on a post I’m happy! I get to have a little conversation with someone who was interested in books! I checked it out after reading your post and views are actually higher than I thought they were since I’ve felt like I’ve gotten pretty low engagement (though still not as high as yours, I’m at about 3-5000 views a year) but mostly I like to check out where people are coming from because I’m curious, not really because I’m worried about my reach or plan to do anything to increase numbers. My stats aren’t often as detailed but I’m getting most views from search engines as well. Lots to think about here!

    Reply
  10. Annemieke

    Oh yeah high views, low engagement is a thing here too. Top Ten Tuesday and Wyrd and Wonder do help for engagement for me. Since I’m not self-hosted my stats aren’t very specific unfortunately.

    I’ve not worried much about stats over the years. I see that it grows (though a litte less each year) but mostly I’m just happy with my own little corner.

    Reply
  11. Katie | Doing Dewey (@DoingDewey)

    Thanks so much for sharing! I’d say all of your stats are higher than mine, but I have also noticed that compared to a lot of bloggers, I don’t get a ton of search engine traffic. Like you, I’m pretty sure most engagement comes from other book bloggers, so I’d rather work on interacting with other bloggers more than improve my SEO or write on more relevant topics. It’s really cool that people are still finding your old posts that way though, since you can write what you love and have that happen 🙂

    Reply
  14. Sumedha @ the wordy habitat

    I’m all about sharing stats often and being transparent about them so I loved seeing this! Thank you for being so in-depth and transparent about your stats. My nosy and curious self definitely appreciated it. I did a similar post recently as well but I lowkey want to edit it to incorporate some sections that you have haha.

    Reply
  16. Kal @ Reader Voracious

    First, CONGRATS on the year over year success and thank you for sharing alllll of this data! As a statistics nerd, I love seeing numbers and the lessons we all can gleam from them — and every book blog is different. I also believe there needs to be more transparency about stats, finally got around to posting my own again recently, but it is hard to not feel awkward.

    My stats are similar to yours in that I have high views and low engagement, and an inordinate amount of my annual views come from search results. I haven’t really had the energy to blog hop for years and that’s impacted engagement and follower growth. I think us as a community being open really shines a light on the fact that book bloggers drive the engagement we see, and it reminds me how much I miss chatting all things books with readers all over the world. Thanks for posting.

    Reply
  20. David Mark

    Such an eye-opener! 🚀 Loved how you decoded the blog stats game. It’s not just numbers; it’s about real connections through comments and likes. And that peek into referrers? Mind-blowing! 🌐 Excited for more insights like this!

    Reply

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