Monthly Meta for July 2015

I first told my readers to "stay tuned for the monthly meta" at the end of Science Fiction and Fantasy at the 2015 Teen Choice Awards.  That was almost two weeks ago.  Since today is the last Flashback Friday of the month, it's well past time to follow through, beginning with the goals I set for myself in Monthly Meta for June 2015.

July 2014 saw 12,764 page views, so the minimum goal is for 412 page views per day for a total of 12,772.  The medium goal is 13,184 to finish a day ahead and 13,402 for a five percent increase, each of which will require 425.3 and 432.3 page views per day respectively.  I'm trying to do that while posting no more than 44 entries during the month.  So far, I'm meeting all these goals.  Wish me luck on doing so for the rest of the month.

The blog ended up with 13,378 page views for July 2015, making it the fifth consecutive month with more than 13,000 page views.  It earned 431.55 page views per day.  Both were a bit short of the high goals for the month, but I'm not too upset about it, as I easily beat the minimum and low goals and came close enough to the high goal.  Besides, I had an excuse; I only posted 34 entries last month, ten less than my self-imposed maximum.  Consequently, I achieved an average of 393.47 page views per post, which appears to be a record, exceeding April 2015's 374.74 page views per entry.  While I usually care more about page views per day, I'll take the record in views per entry.  Besides, readership is still up over last year, so I'm pleased.

As for comments, I'll let what I wrote last month speak for itself.

While I don't make goals for comments, as any efforts I make to prompt more are less effective and predictable than what I can do to increase page views, last month was another good one for people responding to my posts at my blog.  Readers left 36 comments last month, the highest since February 2014 with 42 comments.  This is also the most per month so far this year.  I'd be pleasantly surprised if I could do that again this month, but I have no expectations.

I was right to have no expectations, as readers and spammers left only 17 comments during July.  This month is already much better, as 39 comments have been left, including one entry with 10 comments.  The month is not yet over, so I'm optimistic for more.

Speaking of comments, the first entry I'm sharing in this month's retrospective is the one with the most comments left during July, Bald Eagle facts for 4th of July weekend from DNews, posted July 3, 2015, with 3 comments.  It was also the tenth most read entry posted last month with 97 page views according to the raw counter, a double honor.  It got its readership through being shared on Facebook.

Follow over the jump for the rest of July's most read entries.

Penny Dreadful's Emmy nominations for music, posted July 17, 2015, also earned a double honor.  It was both the most "liked" entry on Google Plus last month with 17 pluses by the end of the month (18 now) and the ninth most read entry actually posted during July with 113 page views according to the raw counter.  It showed up on the default top 10 during the first week of August with 93 page views.  As I found out with 'The Last Ship' returns and other summer TV fare, nothing beats posting to an active Google Plus group with a rabid under-served fandom for getting "likes" and page views, especially "likes."

Music for a dwarf planet, posted July 15, 2015, was the eighth most read entry posted during July.  It earned a lot of its 114 page views according to the raw counter from being linked to by Infidel753.  It was neither the first or last to be worthy of this honor.  I also shared the link at Greer's blog.

50 years of the Maple Leaf Flag for Canada Day, posted July 1, 2015, was either the sixth most read entry posted during July according to the raw counter with 119 page views or the seventh according to default counter, which never registered it as having at least 101 page views.  It was the first entry of the month to be linked to at Infidel 753's blog.  I also shared the link at Greer's blog.

The default counter listed Cthulhu and Pluto plus Mordor and Charon posted July 16, 2015, as the sixth most read entry posted during July with 102 page views, while the raw counter had it ranked seventh with 118 page views.  Either way, it did end up on the top ten for the month on the last day.  It earned its page views through being shared on Facebook--no Greer, Kunstler, or Infidel 753 to push it over the top.

"We eat a lot of oil" posted July 21, 2015 with 2 comments, was both the tenth most read entry overall as of July 30th and the ninth most read as of the end of the month, but also the fifth most read entry of the month according to the default counter with 105 page views (128 according to the raw counter). It earned its page views by being shared at Kunstler's blog.

Even though it was posted month on June 28, 2015, 'Falling Skies' vs. 'Defiance' for the final season premiere of 'Falling Skies' managed to get into the top ten with 108 page views according to the default counter on the last day (7-30) it was displayed there.  It maxed out at 170+ page views on the 28th.  As a result, it was the ninth most viewed entry for the month, even though it fell out of the top ten on the very last day.  It earned its page views from being shared at Greer's blog as well as on the Defiance fan communities on Google Plus, earning it six pluses.

The default counter and raw counter both agreed and disagreed on Oil falls to lowest prices since March posted July 27, 2015.  They agreed that it earned 109 page views, a rare thing in itself.  However, they disagreed wildly on where it fell among this month's posts.  The default counter ranked it eighth overall for the month and fourth among the entries posted during July.  The raw counter ranked it as ninth among of last month's posts.  I'll take the default counter; it's easier that way.  The entry earned its views by being shared at Kunstler's blog.

Here is an entry that earned its page views, 178 according to the default counter and 196 according to the raw counter, through being shared at the Coffee Party's page on Facebook.  That was enough to have July is Juror Apprecation Month in Michigan, posted July 7, 2015, end up being the seventh most read entry overall and the third most read of those actually posted during July.

This entry from the back catalog (posted April 6, 2014) came in fifth overall with 199 page views according to the default counter during July.  Game of Thrones D&D character alignment charts earned them from web search and sharing on three fantasy groups on Facebook, reaching 950 people.  It's amazing what the right social media promotion can do.  The post ended July third on the all time list with 1457 page views, 3226 according to the raw counter.

When the month started, Happy 4th of July from James Howard Kunstler's Tea Party! from the first year of the blog (posted July 4, 2011) had fallen from fifth place overall in March to seventh place overall.  Sharing it at the Coffee Party Facebook page lifted all the way up to fourth place overall with 1236 page views (1838 according to the raw counter).  It was also the fourth most read for the month with 357 page views.

The fourth most read entry overall and the second most read posted during July with 424 page views, 444 according to the raw counter, was A drum corps Stars and Stripes for the 4th of July with two comments.  This holiday-themed musical entry earned its page views from being shared on the drum corps groups on Facebook on the holiday, which helped contribute to more than 1000 page views on the 4th and nearly 900 page views on the 5th.

The third most viewed entry of the month and the single most viewed one actually posted during July 2015 was Liberty vs. Security on Bastille Day posted July 14, 2015.  I shared this visual commentary on the Coffee Party Facebook page.  Infidel 753 then linked to it.  Between the two, it earned 445 page views, 446 according to the raw counter.  That was enough to earn it the new entry trophy for the month.

The second most read entry for the month was Plague in the news and in history from the back catalog (posted August 4, 2014) that I shared at Kunstler's blog in response to his mentioning the plague origin story for "Ring Around the Rosie."  That brought in 437 page views from my comment, most of which contributed to the 456 page views for this post.

The most read entry of the month and the winner of the back catalog trophy (posted July 4, 2014) is A drum corps 4th of July!, the other holiday-themed musical entry I shared over the July 4th weekend, earning the blog nearly 2000 page views over two days between the two.  Thanks to the drum corps people on Facebook, this entry ended the month with 510 page views.  That translates into about 550 page views according to the raw counter during the month.  It has 816 views over its history.

Normally, I'd look ahead to my goals for this month, but I've already exceeded them. My minimum goal was 389 page views per day for a total of 12,059 page views for the month on no more than 44 entries.  The low goal was 402 per day for a total of 12,462.  My medium goal shot for a five percent increase over last year with 12,679 for the month via 409 per day.  The high goal was to reach 13,000 for the month to extend the streak, which would have taken 420 page views per day.  I hit the first on the 22nd and knocked out the rest on succeeding days.  I'm now at just over 14,000 with three days to go.  I can coast on one entry per day for a total of 38 posts and still set a new monthly record for page views.  Stay tuned to see if that happens.