So back in August I went to the San Francisco WordCamp. I learned a lot, and when I got home that day immediately started to make some small changes to my site. Today I was going over my analytics, and though besides my regular number checks, I would see how the numbers reflected after I had made some changes to my blog back in August.
Comparing Previous Averages to Post WordCamp Averages
So I wanted to see if my changes that I made back in August 16th and 17th had any real impact on this site. Here are the numbers comparing the month and a half before August 16th, and after.
| Site Usage | Changes from July 1st to August 16th |
Changes from August 16th to September 30th |
|---|---|---|
| Total Visits | +16.19% | +32.25% |
| Total Pageviews | +22.69% | +20.44% |
| Pages/Visit | +5.59% | -8.93% |
| Bounce Rate | +0.60% | -3.45% |
| Avg. Time on Site | -1.49% | +4.62% |
| Direct Traffic | +11.05% | +2.64% |
| Referring Sites | +24.25% | +72.72% |
| Search Engines | +27.96% | -26.93% |
Well if you look at total visits my numbers increased by 32% instead of the previous 16%. Initially I will have to say glad I went, and it appeared well worth my time. When I compared total page views and pages per visit, there wasn’t enough substantial change for me to see any effect. My pages a visit changes often, and it could be the difference of just one popular post that gets comment reactions/page views.
The bounce rate went down by almost three and a half percent, and if you are like me, always looking for a way to reduce it by just one percent, I was pleased to see this. I credit this to spending more time writing the articles, and working on my encouragement factor to get visitors to make a comment. Less bouncing also often equals more time spent on the site, and those numbers improved slightly as well.
The last three stats may be misleading, but I wanted to include them. Don’t let the search engine percentage drop fool you. The actual numbers still went up slightly for search engine traffic. The percentage shows as a drop though because of the huge increase in referring site traffic I have been getting. I have been using some of the things I learned about social marketing, and it seems to be working. Look at MyBlogLog Members in the left sidebar. That number was zero a month and half ago.
Loved WordCamp
Anytime your site grows by 32% in just a month and a half be happy. It is substantial, and is a good indicator that you made some positive changes to either your site or marketing. Seeing that bounce rate go down is also a welcomed addition. The fact that I did not spend any money marketing over the past three months also indicates the changes I have made, did indeed benefit my site.
I must say I loved going to WordCamp. I met a few unique individuals like Chuck, the “SEO Rapper”, and learned a lot. One thing I would have like to see though, and I am not sure if it happens at other WordCamps, is to have a few more booths or sponsors. It could help them out in hosting a bigger production, and could give the visitors something to do when they don’t feel like seeing a presentation. Will be going to the next local one when that happens for sure.
- September 30, 2008
- Posted by Robert Campbell at 12:17 pm
- Add comments
- BWI
- blog, bounce, change in percentage, referring sites, search engines, social marketing, WordCamp
ariel (1)
Chris (1)
Curtis (1)
You got too much increase from referring sites, that is interesting.. and people actually began to read you more, so it is really nice targeted traffic from partner sites – good job!