When I started blogging in April, I had no idea what I was getting into. I could not have been more thrilled with the community that I have found and the interesting ideas and persons that I have “met” online. I have had viewers from 136 countries (or other political unit that WordPress designates with a flag).
There were a few interesting items:
1. I am surprised that people found my site from so many countries. While the U.S. is by far the most views at approximately 65%, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of viewers from other countries, especially Canada, Philippines and UK. The Philippines number is skewed due to views on Sunday reflections. The UK has been increasing in recent weeks.
2. Views are a combination of established readers and search engines. Google is a dominant player in the latter, much to my chagrin. One of the reasons I choose the domain http://www.teilhard.com was to establish the SEO territory for Teilhard de Chardin. It has been a mixed success. I am still on Page 2 for a Google search on “Teilhard de Chardin” despite being at the top of the first page for Bing/Yahoo! search engines for many months.
3. The SEO gateway is especially skewed with my “Sunday Reflections” posts. There are some that have been very popular due to new viewers finding the site through SEO. Four of the Top Ten views were Sunday Reflections (see below). That is one of the reasons why I am going to keep doing them in 2014. Most importantly than the “hits”, I find them to be a good discipline to help me focus on the Sunday readings and themes.
Here are some high-level data on the site from the past year:
Top Countries:
1 United States………64.8%
2 Canada………………… 9.8%
3 Philippines…………… 4.9% (big surprise; largely due to Sunday Reflections)
4 United Kingdom….. 4.3%
5 Australia……………… 2.0%
6 France………………….. 1.4%
7 Ireland………………….. 1.3%
8 Italy……………………… 1.2%
9 India……………………… 1.1%
10 New Zealand……….. 0.5%
Other……………………….. 8.8%
Here are the Top Five BlogPosts (other than Sunday Reflections):
Brené Brown: The Power of Vulnerability
Laura Keynes and Why New Atheists are Good for Christianity
Orthodoxy of Teilhard de Chardin (Part I): Pope Benedict and Spirit of the Liturgy
Theology of the Movie Gravity: Evolution, Death and Teilhard de Chardin
The Noosphere (Part I): Teilhard de Chardin’s Vision
Sunday Reflections That Made Top Ten Posts (Advent Has Been Popular :-):
First Sunday of Advent (December 1, 2013): Preparing for Christ (Top Post of 2013)
Second Sunday of Advent (December 8, 2013): Burning Away What Divides Us
Third Sunday of Advent (December 15, 2013): Expectant Waiting and Dynamic Faith
Sunday Reflection, 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 4, 2013): What Possesses Us?
Tomorrow, I will share my top seven eight posts that did not make the Top 20 most viewed posts.
Teilhard de Chardin 
Congratulations on a great blog which really fills a need 🙂
Thank you very much Claire. Your blog definitely fills a need also:-). It has been a pleasure connecting with you this year.
Peace,
W. Ockham
So glad you are here. It is very odd in some ways this blogging thing. I know I had no idea what I was getting into when I began, but it is the presence of those like yourself which makes this such a pleasure 🙂 Happy 2014 William and all your readers.
Thank you Jessica. You have created a wonderful blog and community. I am honored to connect with you across the Pond.
Peace and Happy New Year!
W. Ockham
One of the lovely things about the Internet – and the same to you my friend 🙂 x
I too got a huge surprise at wordpress by the community here. I had no intention of finding something to blog about for everyday. The visits from all around the world and their comments and posts that they write quickly became interesting and I’ve found myself being far more reflective and responsive in many ways in my life – with greater ease and compassion – with broader awareness – with deeper relationship and love of God – with deeper insight… anyway, it is a terrific experience. So, I share in finding myself in gratitude reflecting now on the positive and surprises.
Happy New Year.
Thanks for being here.
~ Eric
Eric,
I am delighted to have to have connected with you via your blog. You are filling a much needed space in the Christian faith and our connectiveness with all of humanity and God’s creation. I truly enjoy your insights. Keep up the great work!
Peace and Happy New Year!
W. Ockham
William, it was great connecting with you in 2013. Your posts provide a much-needed boost to my spiritual journey. I look forward to continuing this journey with you in 2014.
See you on WordPress!
William, I also find much on which to reflect on your blog. Teilhard is certainly a theologian who speaks very deeply to me and I know that is true of you also. Thank you for all that you have shared with us. Blessings in 2014.