Wednesday, September 16, 2009

The Next Top Content?


If you’re a Google-based blogger, you probably know about Google Analytics, a nifty site that lets you track your blog’s stats. If you’re a newbie, to find it, go to the Google home page, click on My Account, then click on Analytics.

Et voila. Stats on top of overlays on top of stats. You can see where your visitors come from (Hong Kong? Wow!). You can see who referred visitors to your site. We love our visiting blucboarders from Verla Kay. And, hey, thanks for the tweets, Tara Lazar! Of course, we love all our followers and subscribers too, and are so glad you've stopped by, whether it's to join in the conversation or just do a little lurking.

Of all the stats, my perennial fave is Top Content, which tells you which posts were viewed the most over the past month. Since we launched our blog in March 2008, we’ve put up 164 posts, including this one. To my surprise, one of those posts, put up seven months ago, in February 2009, has had incredible staying power. Seven months later, it remains our most-viewed post, taking the top content prize month after month.

Here’s a little multiple choice question for you:

Is the title of our perennial top content post…a) How We Do It, Critique, That Is; b) There Could Be Gold on Them Thar Shelves; or c) How Long Does It Take to Write a Book?

If you guessed c) How Long Does It Take to Write a Book, you’re right. It’s amazing how many people Google that question and wind up on our site. As the post said, the answer is, there is no answer. A book takes as long as it needs. Even so, I guess I’m not the only writer who felt like she was taking too darn long to write her book.

Because the post did so well--and I’m a sucker for good traffic--I’ve decided on the title for my next one: How Long Does It Take to Find an Agent? Maybe that one will keep bringing in the hits too. Stay tuned.

5 comments:

  1. And after that one, try, "how can my book become a movie?"

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  2. I think J.A. needs to write the "How Long Does It Take To Get An Agent" blog since she knows! The rest of us are still trying.

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  3. Funny, J.A. I'll try it!

    Meg: That's my point. It's an elusive question. For some of us, it happens quickly. For some of us, it takes a while. For some of us it may never happen. There is no answer. But that won't necessarily stop people from googling it!

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  4. More importantly, "how long does it take to write a decent book?"

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  5. Great distinction, Lily. I just googled, How Long Does It Take to Write a Decent Book, by the way, and this popped up: "A bad book takes as long to write as a good one, and each book is someone's baby." How true!

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