the236diner.com is three months old!
I know it isn’t good manners to remind people that it’s your birthday, but today the 236 diner is three months old. To celebrate I spent some time looking at the usage statistics for the site. When I started it I had pretty modest expectations. It is what is called a “hyperlocal” site in that its focus is on one very small geographic area. I knew it would only appeal to a small number of people compared to blogs that cover topics of universal interest like sports or national politics. So I have been very surprised at how much use it is getting and thought I would share some of the usage information here.
First a note about website usage statistics: The numbers are inexact since they may undercount when more than one person or computer uses a single internet connection or network and they may overcount sometimes when users reload pages. But they do give an estimate of usage and trends.
How many different people come to the site?
The number of unique visitors to the blog has just about doubled every month. Amazing. I expect that to level off at some point. Even though I know that South Berwick is the center of the universe, I think there will be a limit to how many people share that belief.
How many visits do users make to the site?
The number of visits to the site is growing fast. In April so far there have been an average of 562 visits per day. Since this is a blog that gets updated frequently I hope people will come back on a regular basis. That seems to be happening. In March there were over 12,000 visits which means an average of about six visits per individual user.
In March readers began to make regular comments on the site. That has really boosted visits. As the administrator of the site I can see the real time activity on the site. People click in to read all of the comments. Yesterday morning I posted an In the News item and since then 250 people have clicked into the comments. So when you write comments, people are reading what you say.
Weekdays are the busiest with spikes first things in the morning and then around lunch. Weekend days are lowest usage, especially if the weather is nice (which seems like a healthy thing).
I want to thank everyone for visiting the site and for participating in the discussions. I really appreciate your suggestions. I think the reason that the site has been so popular is that the residents of South Berwick are hungry for more information about the town and want to communicate with each other and our town government to make this a better place.
Tags: meta
April 8th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Our family appreciates your blog because we don’t subscribe to any newspapers, and we never seemed to know what was going on in town until after the fact. Thanks for providing this great opportunity for anyone/everyone to feel they are a part of our town’s current events.
April 8th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
I’m not a resident of South Berwick but I’ve been reading the blog (via rss feed, so you may have even more readers that the stats don’t count!) since the beginning - I’m really interested in the ideas of hyperlocal and engaging community in our 21st century lives, just as you mention - this blog is a great example of a new way to think about being neighbors and getting to know each other. keep up the great work!
April 8th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
I had been wondering what the stats looked like. Congratulations and Happy Birthday! I’m a Foster’s subscriber because I am grateful that our area still has a real daily newspaper. But I am also delighted that South Berwick has this blog.
April 8th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Since I found out about this web site, I have been checking in each day. Reading the local news and diologue has helped to keep me informed on local issues, and the differences of opinion have tempered many of my initial view points. I think you have done a nice job. Thanks.
April 9th, 2008 at 8:56 am
Just wanted to add another THANK YOU, MOLLY! It’s so great to hear what everyone is thinking. Really like this format - even if I met all these people at some gathering in town, chances are we might never get the opportunity to talk about all these topics in such depth. Such good ideas thrown around - learning a lot - and its very encouraging.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Thanks Molly, you’ve created a great website that I visit daily..even if I don’t always offer a comment. Your 236diner is a great example of what one person can do when they notice that a community has a need and they have the ability (and grace) to provide for that need. In this case our small geographic area lacks a gathering place where people can talk about what’s happening to us. Thank you for making this “other space”. I hope it will inspire others to offer their talent, time and effort to take on the challenges that they see facing our community.
April 9th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
happy birthday, great job !!!
April 10th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Congradulations Molly, and thank you for the time you dedicate to the Diner