Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Trendspotting: Patterns in Blog Statistics

Has anyone else noticed that their blog statistics regularly peak on Tuesdays? For the past six weeks, this has been the trend in my stats and I wondered if it was the result of my own activity, or if there is some predictable pattern occurring across the blogosphere.

Hits to my blog increase steadily over the weekend, peaking on Tuesdays and then dropping off sharply on Wednesdays, only to start the same climb upward all over again.

I wondered if I tend to spend more time on the care and feeding of mybloglog.com and blogcatalog.com at the weekend and if that might be influencing the numbers. But this past weekend, I spent very little time on those two sites and the pattern is exerting itself once again this week.

Could it be that we all lose energy for visiting blogs and Web surfing mid-way through the work-week? Do we tend to visit other blogs and comment more toward the weekend, leading to a "spill-over" effect that peaks on Tuesdays? I’d be interested to hear if others are noticing this trend or even a different one. Any explanations?

I love a good mystery!

10 comments:

Dee said...

While I was reading some email marketing ebooks I learned that emails sent on Tuesdays generate the least clicks and sales. Is it possible people would be busy reading blogs?! Today's traffic stat graph looks like a skyscraper next to other days but it just happened to be a good day.. I got many stumblers.

Sharon E. Herbert said...

Hmm... that's really interesting, Dee, I didn't know that. I wonder if there are any marketing gurus out there who can explain that particular Tuesday trend? Thanks for your comment - glad you're having a great blog day!

Anonymous said...

Weird, I usually experience the same such stats. There has to be a definitive explanation.

I would say, for me at least, I do most of my blog reading, tagging, and stumbling in the beginning of the week to try and "catch up" after working on my own stuff over the weekend.

Dazd said...

Tuesday thru Fridays seem to be my high traffic days. Then the weekend rolls around and the site traffic is down 2/3. But when you only get 40 visits a day, it makes little difference in watching the stats. :)

meleah rebeccah said...

I usually get NOTHING on the weekends... no traffic, no visits, it's lonely!

But on week days, I guess I do alright.

Sharon E. Herbert said...

Strange that one-eye view and I have a similar trend in stats, while dazd and meleah see traffic drop on the weekends... (Note to self: visit dazd and meleah's blogs on the weekends so they don't get lonely ;-)

Thanks all for your comments!

Dazd said...

So I found a neat trick to get more hits all at once. Post the video for Tim McGraw's ACM performance from May 15th.

Avg. 35 hits a day now over 185 today.

Find a popular search and post it?

Anonymous said...

I see the Tuesday Effect throughout many of my clients' sites (my own too). Is Monday a good day for anyone? Perhaps we start to click more once Monday and its associated Blues are behind us.

It's interesting that you mention this. You've really got me thinking...

Sonadora said...

Monday and Wednesdays I usually see my most traffic. I get a sharp drop on Thursdays and then up on Friday, down but steady on the weekends. Always seems odd to me what days people show up and what days they don't.

Webomatica said...

Not sure about tuesdays but definitely the work days are more active.