Year 1

October 3rd, 2007
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Approximately 1 year ago, I started this website after purchasing a computer here in Japan. I was using iWeb for a few months, but wound up turning to 1&1 hosting and WordPress as an alternative platform when I realized how limited iWeb was. In one year, I’ve gone from 0 to occasionally 40 feed subscribers. That surprises me, to be honest. I figured my mom would be the only one to subscribe. (Although…I don’t know if she knows how…so scratch that, actually…) By the way, if you’ve not subscribed – please feel free. Use this link or any of the others on the sidebar.

I also went from 0 to 14,722 unique visits in a month (as of last month) according to my statistics utilities. I thought that the upward trend was coming to rest on a plateau around the end of May and June, but low and behold…people kept visiting. That is really neat. (Granted, some visit for weird reasons. But still.)

I signed up on Technorati in February, and I think I’m still the only person to favorite my blog. (Sigh.) My “authority” has gone from 0 to 25. (And down to 22 and back up again. Depends on the day, I guess.) I suppose if you’ve read this far you won’t be too upset if I put a shameless plug in here. If you like my blog, please consider adding me to your Technorati favorites and maybe even to your blogroll. :-) Lastly, as of writing this post, my blog has 226 posts and 1,032 comments. Next year I hope to bring that number closer to 300 posts. Almost a post a day. (But not if it means sacrificing quality. I don’t want any “I’ve fulfilled my obligation today” posts.) In any event, I want to thank you all for what was, in my opinion, a very successful first year of casual blogging. Here’s to a second year that’s just as fun. Thanks, guys!

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Deas Customary Drivel

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  • Well, huzzah for breaking down the Great Firewall of China, anyway, hey?
  • Probably as it's one of the few sites the chinese government doesn't block. Huzzah for avoiding profanity, Richardson!
  • They come from the same dark chasm into which your socks disappear... And from China, recently. 5% of my traffic this past week has been from China. Huh. Intriguing.
  • congrats on a year! I was wondering why you changed from your old snazzy thing. that's an insane amount of unique hits per day. where are these silent people coming from?
  • Yes sir! :-D
  • Listen to your mom!
  • Thanks a lot, Carlie! I hope your blog is even better off than mine is at present in a year. I like that the English language Japan-related blogging community is growing. :-)
  • I like the new layout, only because it does load a lot quicker and is much easier to read. (And it's similar to mine!)

    Congrats on the year. I hope my blog is where yours is in a year, that would be awesome.
  • Woohoo, the new template already knows my name even though the old one could never remember it!

    PS: re my PPPS - check your mailbox tonight for something interesting, assuming I can get an FTP client to work on my site...
  • Hey Mom - truth be told, I do too. But this is way easier to read. I'm gonna try to redesign this fall / winter. And hopefully it'll be less bland. :-) And don't sweat subscribing - I just think it's the easiest way to keep up with the updates. I'll show you how when I'm home. Yay!
  • Mom
    Sorry, Deas, but I like the old blog page better than this bland green and gray thing. And I wasn't aware that I needed to subscribe to your page. I just check it whenever I can. I'll subscribe if that makes you happy. :) Counting down the days until Dec. 17th!
    Love,
    Mom
  • Clay - I think I get it. You're asking what about the theme is Japanese? Yeah...nothing...at the moment... But it's better than the slow loading theme!

    Lost in Ube - You're right on the money. And...Sasuke rules! Ha ha. Good job with that, by the way.
  • As I said over at What Japan Thinks, posting everyday is a big plus. You end with a wider range of topics and thus more searches point to you. And of course lots of return visitors.
    Then again, I posted all of twice in September and it was my busiest month for me by far (nowhere near what any of you guys get though). Good 'ol SASUKE!
  • Whatcha mean, Clay? If you're talking about the text in the header, it's all there...for me, at least. Is something screwy? I'll try to fix it if it is... Ha ha.
  • Well, much quicker than the old template. But where is the Japan?!
  • Ken Y-N - I'd love to know where my traffic comes from as well. FireStats gives me some hints, but it's not perfect. As for the ads, I've contemplated it before, I'll admit - but to be honest I don't think I have enough visitors to justify it, and I don't think I'd clear even the cost of hosting the site. Ha ha.

    About the template - I know it's hard to read and slow. I'm trying to set something up, but what with the computer problems and all I keep getting cut off from update R&D.; I'll switch to a temporary theme for the meantime if possible. Dunno how to alter it to save names (I use Firefox to do that...?). Tell me how and consider it done. And please, do drop me said line. :-)
  • Interesting numbers indeed! I'd love to know where your traffic comes from - searches, links, or bookmarks. I manage about 35,000 uniques but have over 1,000 subscribers and an Authority of 340 or so on Technorati. I can't help thinking I should have many, many more search visitors than I actually do.

    Have you ever thought of sticking ads on your blog?

    PS: Please fix your template to remember our names!

    PPS: Your site's really difficult to read if I don't load graphics, and if I do load graphics, Opera slows down badly

    PPPS: I'll be dropping you a line later this week with an offer to increase your traffic in exchange for 15 minutes of work 8)
  • Thanks very much for your kind words, Michaels. I fully intend to keep it up. Hopefully things will keep improving as I continue to get the hang of it. Ha ha. :-)

    Good luck figuring out a homestay / study abroad program. I recommend Waseda University's SILS, having graduated from it myself.
  • Michaels
    The frequency and quality of your posts are a definite plus (quite how you find the free time to update I don't know ;)). It's actually along the lines of a blog I'd like to do myself (If I ever manage to fund a Japanese homestay or study abroad program).

    Anyway, I'm rambling; bottom line, keep it up bud.
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