Post Author: Bill Pratt
Rarely do I comment on the readership of the blog, but for those of you who are regulars, I thought you might be interested to know what the numbers are. After all, we’ve been at this for almost four years, and if we’re writing, but nobody is reading, what’s the point?!
There are a few statistics that are worth mentioning. First, the blog, over the last 6 months, has averaged about 11,000 unique visitors per month. That means that something like 11,000 different people are visiting the actual blog site each month.
Second, over the last 6 months, there have been an average of 23,000 page views per month.
About 75% of the blog site traffic is referred by search engines, where people type something into Google and they are referred to one of the blog pages. These people typically read one blog post and then move on. I am gratified that so many people come to the blog for an answer to a question they have, but what I’m even more interested in are the people who come back over and over again.
There are two metrics I track that I think are better indicators of how many people are loyal to the blog, who read it regularly. These are the people I can count on to return post after post.
The first metric of this type is the number of people who subscribe to the RSS feed. This number has been steadily growing year after year and now stands at about 400 subscribers. If you are one of these 400 people, thank you so much for taking time to read the blog on your RSS reader.
The second metric that tracks loyal readers is the number of email subscribers. Generally, if you subscribe to something by email, you find it valuable. After all, it’s hitting your inbox 3 times a week, and you can opt out whenever you want. The current email subscribers stand at 356. They are the most loyal group of readers, in my estimation, and that is why I encourage anyone who regularly reads the blog to subscribe by email. You are the group who is the most encouraging to me.
The blog also has hundreds of readers from Facebook and Twitter. Every blog post is re-posted on Facebook and the title of every blog post is tweeted. Thanks to @plsconvinceme and @JohnAnkerberg and several others who regularly retweet blog posts.
The blog readership grows by search engine traffic and, of course, other websites linking to it. There are several websites who regularly link to posts, including apologetics315.com, thepoachedegg.net, winteryknight.wordpress.com, and godresources.org. I am so grateful for each and every time these sites link to a Tough Questions Answered post.
We’ve come a long way, and our prayer is constantly that we are glorifying God by giving answers to seekers who have tough questions about Christianity. If you think this blog is successful fulfilling its mission, then please tell your friends about the blog! Send them the web address today. May God bless all of you!