the power of linkage

Wmtc usually has around 250 visitors a day. That feels like a lot to me, as I watched the numbers climb from zero, and as I don't have an existing interest group from which to draw readers, like a certain person who blogs from the basement. (Joy of Sox has thousands of visitors, and rightly so.) A heavy day at wmtc might be around 320 visitors and 400 page loads.

Yesterday wmtc was linked at Crooks And Liars. I had 820 visitors and 1,510 page loads.

Michael Stickings, who blogs at The Reaction, linked to my post about Doris Lessing's Nobel Prize in a blog round-up. I didn't know Michael was part of C&L, and I don't know why he chose that post to highlight, but I certainly did enjoy seeing this blog linked at such an excellent site.

One of the advantages to getting rid of the URL forwarding with frames is that I have access to stats again. I missed obsessively checking how many visitors I have, where they come from, the bizarre search strings people use. On Statcounter's "visitor paths," I can see how many people went to only the Doris Lessing post, and how many stayed a bit and looked around. Many people clicked on some of the posts linked in the sidebar.

Sometimes when I've linked to another blog, the blogger will tell me there was a huge increase in visitors. People will say something like, "Uh-oh, now I have to actually write something interesting!" That's how I feel today. Here I am babbling about Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar and 800 people are visiting. It's like I'm eating ramen noodles and guests show up for Thanksgiving dinner.

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