Tuesday, January 08, 2008

State of the Ramblings

Today marks the third anniversary of Sean’s Ramblings. Things have changed significantly here since its humble beginnings. I used to write about the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kevin Pittsnogle and how the Dr. Scholl’s “Are You Gellin?” commercials were the worst ever. Now, I write about the Pittsburgh Steelers, California Tortilla and how the Verizon Wireless commercial where the father goes around the house handing new phones to his wife and kids while telling them each individually that they are his number one is the worst ever. In all seriousness, I do think that this site has improved from when I started simply because my writing is much betterer than three years ago.

The past year has been a huge for Sean’s Ramblings thanks in part to referrals from Deadspin, DC Blogs, the Post-Gazette’s Blog ‘N Gold and Empty Netters and even Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people from all over the world visited this little place on the web looking for the Spider Pig lyrics from The Simpsons Movie (type Spider Pig Lyrics in Google and Sean’s Ramblings is listed third; second on Yahoo). More on this momentarily. Some of the highlights of the past year include my California Tortilla journal, the Jenna Bush wedding entry, my hockey road trip recap (parts I & II) and the post where I asked when Pittsburgh became a country town. In addition, there are some very interesting comments as a result of my posts about the Spice Girls, Daughtry and the terrible song “I Did Yo Boyfriend” by Melody. (Sorry for all the links.)

Over the past six months, I have averaged more than 100 hits per day primarily from people searching for Spider Pig lyrics, Jenna Bush’s wedding plans, the aforementioned Verizon commercial and the select a Presidential candidate quiz. The increased traffic is great, but my guess is that 99.99% of these folks visit this site once and never return. This is my quandary. I would like to increase the number of regular readers to this site, but I also like keeping my anonymity somewhat in check. In addition, I have read several articles stating that if you want your traffic to grow, you should focus on one particular topic. I’m not willing to do that. While I like writing about Pittsburgh sports, there are plenty of other great places on the web to visit for that information (and many of them are linked on the right). I enjoy writing about sports, but I also like writing about music, pop culture, television, and anything else going on in my life.

So as year number four begins, I still don’t know where this site will go. Since it is 2008, there will probably be a few more entries about politics and the Olympics. However, if I had to make a prediction, my guess is that I’ll continue to write what I want on dozens of different topics.

Thanks to all of my regular and irregular readers for your support, comments, and just for stopping by. Although it may not look like it, I generally put a lot of time and thought into what I write. I do this because I enjoy it, and I hope that you do too.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats, Sean, for your longevity and your ability to stay grounded with what you want out of this blog. Your blog is YOUR blog so you can choose to make it go in any direction you wish.

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary, Sean!

Your blog often makes me laugh and is one of the few things I have on my "favorites" bar. It has also made Rob and I think of starting our own blog - we'll let you know if the "Rob and Christine Show", as we have decided it would be called, ever happens.

Hope 2008 proves to be as successful, if not more so, for you!

Sean said...

Thanks Arjewtino & Christine for your nice comments.

If the Christine & Rob show happens, please let me know!

Nick said...

Love the blog. It's a great reason to set up an RSS reader!