Milestones, Thank You and Direction

Posted on 21. Sep, 2010 by Shawn Ramsey in Articles

I was on vacation about two weeks ago and, even though I had vowed to not check stats, I decided to open up my analytics app and take a quick peep. I knew what the average daily pageviews had been and knew that the time was coming. There it was, the seven digit number that marked a huge milestone for Bluefaqs, just over 1,000,000 pageviews for 2010.

This is but one of many goals that I had hoped to accomplish for Bluefaqs this year and I thought that this would be a great time to share a few stats, hand out a big thank you and give my readers a heads up on the future intentions and direction of the blog.

Some Stats

Although Bluefaqs was born in 2009, there wasn’t any particular direction that year. To me, this site began on January 1st, 2010. That is when I laid out a set of personal goals to achieve, thus marking a turning point for the site. That being said, let’s take a quick look at some noteworthy stats and a few milestones for the year so far.

Quick Stats

Here are a few numbers that some of you may be interested in:

• 1,032,467 Pageviews (2010)
• 707,211 Visits (2010)
• 94 Published Posts
• 4 Drafts (Posts that didn’t make the cut)
• 873 Happily Approved Comments

Our Best Day

In terms of pageviews, the best day that Bluefaqs has ever had was on April 7, 2010. There were a total of 27,452 pageviews that day mostly concentrated around the post 60 Highly Clever Minimal Logo Designs. This was one of the easiest list posts I’ve ever put together and I was quite shocked at the amount of attention that it received. You guys really like logos, don’t you? :)

The Most Popular Posts

The three most popular posts responsible for bringing in the largest amount of traffic this year are all different from each other. One of them took hours to write and compile, one was as simple as you can get and the other just popped into my head late one evening. Here’s a look at their stats and why they did so well.

1. Custom List Post - 40 Free Fonts Ideal For Retro And Vintage Designs - 236,289
I poured my heart into this one. Rather than just listing some random fonts and copy/pasting the images drawn up by their authors, I downloaded each font and used it in its own retro-style design. You guys obviously enjoyed the extra attention that was given and the pageviews speak for themselves.

2. Plain List Post - 60 Highly Clever Minimal Logo Designs - 177,180
Nothing special here. I like the logos that I chose for the roundup, but I think there was more luck involved than anything to account for the stats. Let it be known that plain list posts can drive traffic. Let it also be known that they can be quite boring.

3. Creative Post - Photoshop Shortcuts – The Fun Way - 103,117
The idea to display a few of my favorite Photoshop shortcuts in a unique and creative way was well-received by my readers. A couple of big boys including Smashing Magazine, Design Informer and Webdesigner Depot helped to give it extra attention via Twitter. Thanks guys!

A Huge Thank You

My Readers

I first want to take the time to properly thank my readers. Those of you who read my articles, engage in comments and share my content are the ones who are the driving force behind this blog. I thank each and every one of you for supporting the site and for making Bluefaqs what it is today and what it will be in the future.

Starting a design blog from scratch isn’t easy. It takes time, creativity and lots of dedication. Getting a boost from more established blogs doesn’t hurt either. Now would be a good time to thank one of those blogs in particular.

Smashing Magazine

The ultimate web design blog in my opinion is Smashing Magazine. Their content is top-notch and their following is astronomical. I want to personally thank Vitaly, Sven and the rest of the gang for the exposure that they have given Bluefaqs. By tweeting several of my articles, including me in a couple of #FollowFriday’s and by following me on Twitter, they have helped to give Bluefaqs a very appreciated boost.

Where Bluefaqs Is Headed

I absolutely love the design community and I’m extremely proud to be a part of it. Rarely do you find such a strong community with so many creative individuals eager to share their knowledge and help others out in a time of need. I have found my niche!

Bluefaqs is my venue for contributing to this community. I don’t want and won’t let this blog become one of those 100,000 other design blogs who are here today and gone tomorrow. That being said, each and every article published here will be held to a certain standard and more emphasis will be placed on the quality of posts.

While hitting the milestone of 1,000,000 pageviews is a small accomplishment for some and a larger one for others, to me it’s reassurance that the goals that have been set in place for this blog are taking place. I promise to contribute to the community to the best of my ability, to grow my skills and to share what I have learned in the form of articles on this site. Thank you all for making Bluefaqs what it is today.

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