Wednesday, April 01, 2009

March Statporn

684,025 Individual Readers in the Last 12 Months

Another record month, with 87,801 absolute unique visitors, beating February's record of 85,369. And that doesn't include the (approx) 15% of you who read the blog via an RSS feed.

Year on Year Absolute Unique Visitors +55%
1 Feb 2008-31 Jan 2009 684,025 1 Feb 2007-31 Jan 2008 440,911

Absolute Unique Visitors +65% year on year
March 2009 87,801 - March 2008 53,255 - Feb 2009 85,365

Visits +39% year on year +79%
March 2009 427,527 - February 2008 239,368 - Feb 2009 - 412,858

Page Loads year on year +72%
March 2009 613,091 - February 2008 - Mar 2008 357,353

Here are my top 20 linking sites (ie incoming hits) for February, according to Google Analytics.

1. - Guido Fawkes 37, 781 (45, 145)
2. - Spectator Coffee House 15,789, (15,392)
3. - PoliticsHome 14,681 (14,705)
4. - ConservativeHome 14,078 (13,989)
5. - PoliticalBetting 12,059 (11,489)
6. +2 Dizzy Thinks 4,772 (4,489)
7. - Facebook 4,618 (4,601)
8. -2 Twitter 4,451 (4,702)
10. -1 Old Holborn 3,704 (4,246)
11. - Obnoxio the Clown 2,338 (1,969)
12. -2 Daniel Finkelstein & Red Box 2,023 (1,582)
13 -1 Ben Brogan 1,733 (1,529)
14. -4 Tom Harris 1,450 (945)
15. +5 Archbishop Cranmer 1,259 (791)
16. NEW Devil's Kitchen 1,249 (-)
17. -6 Telegraph blogs 1,235 (950)
18. -3 Ambush Predator 977 (1,039)
19. NEW SNP Tactical Voting 761 (-)

20. -2 Boulton & Co 748 (938)

Source: All figures are from Google Analytics. Absolute Unique Visitors broadly means people using over 87,000 different computers visited this blog at least once. Some people may be counted more than once (eg, home and work computer),whilst some people may not be counted (eg, two different people use the same computer, or someone reads the site through a feed reader without ever actually visiting it).

41 comments:

The Grim Reaper said...

Checking your blog stats is probably the first thing you do every morning, Iain. ;-)

Iain Dale said...

Believe me, it isn't.

The Grim Reaper said...

Iain Dale said "Believe me, it isn't."

I dare not ask...

DespairingLiberal said...

Time for a welcome update from Iain Dale's Diary-etic Twitter!

6.44pm.
Wake up from a light snooze in front of the terminal. Have coffee. Notice that right now I am the most popular person on Earth, bar none. I have 1,123 regular visitors per minute. Compare this with Barack Obama, who can summon only a trivial 6,444,312, John Prescott (238,456) and of course the truly pathetic Guido Fawkes who comes only third with 34214444 blog posts per second. Losers!

7.12am
I hear the Queen discussed me with the President, quite properly. They agree that I am even more important that the Pope but possibly slightly less important than the Godhead, the Very Trinity. But only slightly less.

8.03pm
I have noticed that there is a story all over the tele about the G20 thingy. I can't understand this - why on earth aren't they discussing Tory bloggers? Really, the media have no judgment. Apart from Sky of course who are magnificent.

8.22pm
A message from Alexander Boris De Pfaffel Johnson. "Gosh, crumbs, Iain, have you noticed - there's a black man claiming to be bloody President of the bloody USA at number 10! Crikey!" Tactfully, I point out to Boris that this is old news. He seems really shocked. I must commiserate with him next time we get together at the Old Crompton Road Memorial Dinner for Retired Gay London Politicians. I feel sure I can help.

8.27pm
Tony Benn calls and asks for my opinion for his next tweet - I give it and he is very happy.

8.31pm
The Pope texts me. Can I pray for him this evening? Of course.

9.12pm
Think of a jolly wheeze for my BLOG. It will be a TOP TWENTY. Wow. A top twenty of the very most gifted Tory bloggers who appear regularly on several TV programmes to read the newspapers. I think you know who is winning this one!

9.48pm
The Russian President has taken up my suggestion of having a chat with Barack about nukes. Just as well. They really need sorting out. Margaret was always taking my advice too - it showed!

9.55pm
Guido Fawkes really is on top of things, but not as much as I, dear reader!

10.03pm
Almost time for bed. I put down my David Cameron Says Hi mug and slide into bed with my laptop. Only another 3 hours of blogging and tweeting to go and then bed! It really is fun being the leading Tory blogger of the whole world and so very in demand and talked about. And so very good looking. People must be jealous, as I'm sure that Despairing Liberal is.

11.21pm
Getting a little sleepy. The G20 seems to be going well although I am still not quite sure why they need such a big thing just to discuss Tory blogging policies for the next century. They could have all just emailed me!

12.06am
Inside tip just reached me - Cyril Boore, deputy Leader of Neasden Borough Labour Group is about to resign in a sex scandal. This is just the sort of deplorable Labour behaviour that calls into question the very foundations of Gordon Brown's awful government. What a scoop for yours truly! This is the beginning of the end.

12.22am
Turns out that sex scandal wasn't quite what I thought. Apparently it was in Basildon South and it was a Tory. Oh well. These things happen.

12.44am
David texts me. He has met with Barack Obama. Yawn! He is like a little schoolboy sometimes. Doesn't he realise that I am one of the leading Tory bloggers of our times with up to 1.23424% of the aggregated daily bloggership viewings (Google-adjusted market data (TM)) - and who is he - just the leader of a fringe party! Get off!

1.21am
Zzzzzzzz

John MacLeod said...

Well done, Iain. It's a class site, informed and delicious, and joint-top (with The Spectator Coffee House, if one overlooks the frightful Theo Hobson) as a blog I check up on several times a day.

DespairingLiberal said...

John MacL - it won't work, all his vacancies are filled.

Gordon Brown said...

@despairing liberal : Even Gio couldn't have written a better parody.....

Martin S said...

Well done, Iain.

BTW an anagram of DespairingLiberal is 'Sidebar Idea Spiralling'

DespairingLiberal said...

Tee hee. Similarly, Thatsnews comes out as "Shat Newts".

wild said...

Despairing Liberal, each post diminishes you further. You are too bitter and talentless to call yourself liberal (despairing or otherwise) the Labour Party is your natural home.

Jon Lishman said...

Sign of the times.

Plato said...

How are Boulton and Co NEW and down 2 at the same time? Am I in Gordon's parallel universe?

No wonder you have so few from there - it's a crap blog and Sky are missing a massive trick. It should be a corker.

subrosa said...

Well done Iain, I shan't publish mine as I know when I'm beaten :)

John MacLeod said...

Calm down, Despairing Liberal. Do you really think a rabid Wee Free in the Outer Hebrides would work for, gulp, a Known Homosexual? Honour where honour is due - this is one of our top national blogs and, if you think Iain Dale is lucky, in my experience the harder one works the luckier one gets.

Magic2010 said...

A good day to bury bad news then. Remember Sion Simon the blustering minister for higher education?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7952000/7952174.stm

Well the inquiry's done:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7976621.stm

DespairingLiberal said...

Yes, it's the very finest blog of our times.

I wonder what happened to that FOI enquiry you and Guido launched with blood-curdling threats Iain? You seem strangely silent on the subject, as with so many of your "big actions" that well, er, fizzle out without trace.

Whilst we're on the subject, how did the "pro-capitalist" demo go?! I looked for you on the tele, but all I could see was a melee of policeman and protesters hitting each other. Not a pinstripe suit, a top hat or a "we love monetarism" poster in sight!

Iain Dale said...

They have 40 days to respond to an FOI request. As you well know.

Simon Gardner said...

DespairingLiberal said... “Whilst we're on the subject, how did the "pro-capitalist" demo go?... ...Not a pinstripe suit, a top hat or a "we love monetarism" poster in sight!”

Hmm. April 1?

Martin S said...

Thanks for remininding us that the government owe us some information, DL. We wait for the results with interest.

DespairingLiberal said...

You're losing me Simon - it was published on March 31st. Unless some Tories don't quite understand how to run an April fools properly?

DespairingLiberal said...

Did you correct the format Iain, you didn't do it properly the first time.

Iain Dale said...

I think Simon was attempting a joke. He didn't realise that you don't do humour, DP.

Iain Dale said...

Format of what?

DespairingLiberal said...

DP?

It's like an old folks home conversation this morning.

I am referring as you know Iain to the fact that you didn't even send in the correct request.

However, it will of course go nowhere, as you also well know. I expect you hope everyone will have forgotten it after the 40 days! They probably will - most Tories have pretty short memories for everything except that ghastly speech the young William Hague made when he was 13 and the sayings of Disraeli.

Simon Gardner said...

Isn’t Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, President of Argentina rather lovely? (She’s the one on the right.)

DespairingLiberal said...

It's hard to believe that Argentina is in the G20. This seems to be confirmed by their GDP figures which generally place them 23rd. I wonder who wasn't wanted and replaced by Argentina as acceptable?

DespairingLiberal said...

Ah. I've just twigged. One of the "left-out" was Taiwan. Can't upset the "Peoples" Republic of China, can we?

Simon Gardner said...

The President of the Republic of Chile Michelle Bachelet (l) is also female. What a change in macho South America.

Simon Gardner said...

“Just give the Police guns, and shoot the lot of them. That was my partners reaction to the riots in the City. Quite liberal of him really...”

Not dissimilar reactions from Tom Harris MP over the last 48 hours.

Gives one rather more sympathy for the protesters.

Tim said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Iain Dale said...

Tim Ireland is banned from leaving comments on this blog. He just left one saying I must be censoring his pisspoor site as it is not included in the top 20 referrers this month. Er. That would be because it was in 22nd place.

Simon Gardner said...

What a shame for the British press that Nicolas Sarkozy (L) left his wife behind.

Tim said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Tim said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Tim said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Chris Paul said...

Once again these stats suggest a relatively modest number of loyal readers Iain. Can you do the maths? You have X visitors who figure in more than one months figures - even two is enough - and Y who do not come back in two separate months.

What would you think are the relative values of X and Y?

X + Y/12 = 87,801

X + Y = 684,025

30,000 (visiting in at least two months) and 654,025 (visiting in only one month) would be fairly close I suppose.

And the point about the RSS feed may I think be rather spurious as most of these will be a visitor at least every once in a while. How many of the RSS crew NEVER visit? So that's double counting.

Still one of the biggest and best political blogs in the land Iain but some basic algebra suggests that the raw figures flatter to deceive. About 30,000 loyalists - and visiting on 31 march and 1 april and never again would be enough - plus 55,000 per month who flit in and never come back.

Chris Paul said...

Not sure why you have to censor Timm Iain. And then repeat what he said with a put down. It is a shame you don't continue to print the top 50 referrers.

Iain Dale said...

Chris Paul. My rules clearly state...

"Persistent abuse of me, the host of this blog by way of spurious allegations or name-calling is liable to result in a ban, either for a period of time or permanently. You may disagree with me, but there is a limit to my patience if my hospitality is abused."

That's why.

As to publishing the top 50, a fair point, but my readers have a certain intolerance of lengthy lists, I have discovered! I will reflect on that though.

The Grim Reaper said...

Chris Paul said "Once again these stats suggest a relatively modest number of loyal readers Iain. Can you do the maths?"

And how many readers does Labour Of Love get, Chris? Or are you too busy writing up yet another article having a go at Iain?

DespairingLiberal said...

Chris. Yawn. I think for once they all have a point. Iain's blog isn't the greatest thing on earth, but he really does get a hell of a lot more readers than your sad effort. Time to find another job maybe?

Adrian said...

I read "statporn" as "strapon"...