"Fun with statistics" or "Here's to all my fans in Luxembourg"

Let's make one thing clear: I don't like to obsess.  I don't!  But I suppose that's the nature of obsession - it's uncontrollable.  Take, for example, my recent compulsive need to check the viewership statistics of this very blog.  Along with being obsessive, I am apparently also oblivious as I was just recently made aware that the dashboard page of this blog includes a link that lets me track general statistics on how many views certain postings of mine get, and what countries those views are from.  This may seem like a minor tool in the grand scheme of the Teddy and the Yeti blog, but it's something I find extremely fascinating to the point that I CAN'T STOP CHECKING IT.

In spite of its collaborative nature, making comics is a lonely venture at many points, and so, perhaps, is comic blogging.  Commenting on most of my posts is a rare thing indeed, and I can only assume that stems from the fact that my posts are so chock full of information as to make any questions redundant.  This does at times, though, make me think that absolutely no one is reading what I have to say (blasphemy!), but thanks to the "stats" function on this site, I'm happy to say that I have proof that the keywords I have used in titles and tags have tricked dozens and dozens of people from all over the globe into checking out the Teddy and the Yeti blog.

For example, check out these telltale numbers (click on the pictures to get a better view).  It's obvious that most of this site's page views would come from the United States, because that's where I'm located, and where most of my friends and family are located.  That the UK is second is also understandable, as that's the home of Teddy and the Yeti artist Duane Redhead (though it's a distant second.  Pick up the slack, Duane!).  What really comes as a surprise is that every so often, someone from Luxembourg wanders over to the site and checks it out.  Luxembourg?  Really?  Why not, say, Latvia or Liechtenstein?  Not that I don't appreciate the attention, Luxembourg - I do, and greatly.  I'm just a little surprised.  Based on its size, the people of Luxembourg have more Teddy and the Yeti fans per capita than anywhere else in the world.

Similarly surprising are the individual posts that have had the most recent success in getting seen.  Pop! Culture Connection, the vintage toy store in Greensburg, PA (a fantastic place to visit, by the way) does not, I believe, have a dedicated website of its own.  So when people search for the store, they apparently find my blurb about it from April.  I wonder if people are disappointed when they click on the link - I mean, if I remember what I wrote, it does have all of the necessary information with which to find the store, and the write up ain't bad, either.

Other lessons learned: putting the words/phrases "crochet", "FUBAR", "Joe Sinnot" and "Garmin" (that one was a surprise...I suppose people are trying to figure out what commercial that yeti holding a teddy was from) in the subject line is a surefire way to get consistent page views months after the initial posts, and at least 27 people have wondered, just as I have, just what the heck those "beats for reading comic books to" ads were all about.

Next, many thanks go out to Xavier at his Paper Heroes site for posting a link to this blog, as I've benefited from it in recent weeks.  And also thanks to...uh...Google...for apparently directing nearly 400 people here recently.  In fact, Google (in one iteration or another) is on the "referring sites" list three separate times.

Lastly, we have the "search keywords" list, which apparently tallies up the search terms people are entering that lead them to this blog.  Thankfully, "Teddy and the Yeti" heads that list, followed by..."blogger"?  People are just typing in "blogger" and finding their way here?  Well, I'll take it.

From looking at the list of popular posts, I expected to see searches for Pop! Culture Connection, FUBAR and even the Garmin commercial on this list, and the few Brownsville Telegraph searches weren't shockers, either.  To the three people who searched for 2099: Manifest Destiny, though: I'm sorry that all I wrote about in my post regarding that book was how difficult it was for me to find.  That probably didn't help you at all.

I'm telling you what - I eat this stuff up.  It's like everything I never knew I wanted and needed to know about this web page was now available to me...like magic or some form of Divine intervention.  Now, if I got some comments from people in Luxembourg as a result of this entry, I think my week might be complete.