Top 100 Knitting Blogs With Public Traffic Stats
Hello. My name is Kathryn, and I’m still a blog stat junkie.
We’ve looked at Top Linked sites and Up and Comers. Now it’s time to zero in on traffic, my favorite measure of blog health.
You can have all the links in the world, but if no one actually visits, what’s the point?
Peeking behind the traffic curtain of knitting blogs is totally addictive. I love researching how sites build and retain viewership.
- Are they growing traffic, why or why not?
- Do they offer beautiful patterns?
- Do they tap into a new web trend?
- Do they tell a story like there’s no tomorrow?
- Do they crank out finished projects?
- Do they take great photographs?
- What percentage of daily traffic comes from Free Knitting Pattern Sites? Google? Links?
I could spend hours dinking around site stats under the guise of blog research.
Everyone Gets Lots Of Traffic Except Me
So not true.
New bloggers, struggling for visitors, view established, high traffic blogs as the norm. It is actually the complete opposite.
In my sample of 236 blogs with a total of 37,144 daily uniques:
- The top site (Yarn Harlot) got 9402 visits, the bottom site had 1
- The average site gets 157 visits
- Remove the top 5 and bottom 5 sites, and the average drops to 80
- Half of all sites get fewer than 30 visits a day
- 80% of knitting blogs get fewer than 100 daily uniques
It’s very easy to fall into a false emotional trap that everyone gets thousands of hits but me. The reality is if you have 30+ regular readers then you are in the top half of all knitting blogs.
How To Interpret The List
Are there other sites with lots of traffic? Yes. Are their stats public? Not yet.
For every well known knitting blog with large private stats, there are easily 10 smaller sites struggling to get a foot hold in cyberspace. Though not scientific, my sample is large enough to give us a good feel for how the average knitting blog is doing.
All blogs were visited and ranked on February 4, 2009. Please note as you revisit these sites that their Average Per Day unique visitors will fluctuate, sometimes significantly. The Top 100 list is a snapshot in time. Rather than an absolute ranking, think of the list as representing percentile groups. In my sample of 236 sites, if you are number 1-20 on the Top 100, you are easily in the top 10% of all knitting blogs ranked by traffic.
How To Join The List
Want to play? Make your stats publicly available on your blog and then drop me a note in the comments or contact page, and I’ll add you to the database for the next quarterly roundup.
Want to play but don’t have a stat counter? I recommend Sitemeter. It’s free and the overwhelming choice among knitting blogs.
You do not have to have any Technorati rank or authority. I’m also not concerned if you’ve posted regularly. If you are getting great traffic, yet last blogged in 2007, that still has merit to me. You are obviously offering something readers want.
The nice thing about using the 7 day rolling average for Daily Uniques is that a new blog is not theoretically disadvantaged compared to more established blogs. If you’ve got great traffic, you will make the Top 100 regardless of your blog’s age.
If your stats don’t make the quarterly traffic cut off for the Top 100, I’ll include you alphabetically below in the Up and Coming Knitting Blogs – Traffic. Here you can let others know your stats are public and get some linkage and visibility. And, you will be in the database so as your traffic grows, you could make the Top 100 next time.
Go Look!
It’s OK. They’ve made their stats public on purpose. Go peek. You know you want to.
Top 100 Knitting Blogs – Traffic
Up And Coming Knitting Blogs – Traffic
Related Posts
February 6, 2009
27 comments
I made the list of top 100 knitting blogs? me?
i didn’t know such a list existed, let alone that i was on it!
Wow! your post just made my day!
I obsess about my blog (and traffic) and i am thrilled that any one looks at it, and links to it.. but to make the top 100 list (be be in any group that includes the yarn harot!) wow..
(off to post about this.. (and generate more traffic!)
How fantastic is this!!!!!!! I was amazed at the number of knitting blogs. I had no idea there were so many. Thanks for sharing. I linked to this on my blog so I can check back and read some of them. π
Wow! To think didn’t even know i was in the top 100. Crazy. Exp. considering that I only had sitemeter on my site so that advertisers would know how many views they got…
I love your blog! Thanks so much for the stats. I had absolutely no idea where I stood. *off to riffle through your site*
Wow what a great list and a way to find even more great knitting blogs. I don’t see a few on here I expected though, maybe they aren’t public. I do see several friends on here and hope one day my blog will also make this list.
There are definitely some familiar names not on this list because their stats are private. Hopefully one day they will change their minds.
It’s my goal to acknowledge knitting sites for their hard work and success, be it via links, traffic, or RSS.
Wow! Who knew?! Thank you so much for researching this. You made my day!
[…] presents Top 100 Knitting Blogs With Public Traffic Stats posted at knittsings, based on publicly available […]
I would like to play too π http://knittedtoat.blogspot.com/ Thanks!!!
Ooo, I am tossing my blog in, too! Fun! Thanks for doing all this work!
This is so cool. I’m smack in the middle here. who would believe it?
I am quite shocked! Nice to know though. π
I was looking around the web tonight and stumbled upon your wonderful research. I am amazed that I’ve made your list, and at #10! You have made me smile and encouraged me to update my site much more often from now on. I have so much to share. Thank you.
I’d like to play, but I don’t know if I’ve done it right. I have a counter (at the bottom of the page) and I did NOT check “protect with password.”
Is that what I’m supposed to do?
And how can I post the little piece of art with a link to this page?
Johann,
You will need to log into your Sitemeter account and look for the links that talk about making your stats public. It’s been a while since my webmaster did it for me, but as I recall you had to click an option to make it public and also paste in html code to your blog that Sitemeter provides. The code automatically provides the small graphic. You should have several different styles to pick.
Thanks for sharing this information. I’m not at all technical and found this interesting reading ~ and might I say ~ you have done your homework – LOL
I guess I’m an up and comer. Who knew?
Thanks for an interesting post!
Found this website for hand knit mittens, very nice looking mittens.
Hi Kathryn. I have tried repeatedly to leave you a comment using the “contact” in the sidebar of your blog, and it keeps on getting rejected. I’m sure I’m not using any HTML code, or anything else that could cause it to be rejected, but it still won’t be accepted.
So I have to apologize to you for having to contact you this way.
My blog made it in your “up and coming” category, and you had mentioned that you wanted blog owners to contact you to keep the blog in the running, and that’s the intention of this message.
Thank you so much for tracking all the blogs. It’s a great resource, and very flattering to end up on the “up and coming” list, AND to see several of my knitting friends whose blogs have made it into either the up and coming list, or who are on the top 100.
Rosemarie Buchanan (inventor of the Belly Button Start for Circular Projects)
Vancouver Island, BC, CANADA
Interesting,plus nice to find some more blogs to read. I’d love to have mine added, I’ve been around awhile.
http://catmum.blogspot.com
I’m with Helen… who knew!
I’m off to do a little dance. And a blog update. π
I’ll be sure and check out this listing. I see you compiled it in Feb 09. Will you be doing an update? I just put the site meter on my knitting blog but have had google analytics on it for over a year. My monthly traffic according to that is about 2100, with 60-70 visits per day. My knitting blog is http://www.SpinningAlpacayarns.com/ if you’d like to check my stats.
I’d love to be included in your next listing!
All of this looks like fun. Please add me in.
Thanks
C
I want to thank you adding my blog Mish Mash… etc. to you list of up and comings.. ;o) I also have another blog .. Fabric Follies Two .. on WordPress that you might want to peek at… thanks again.. ;o)
Linda
How thrilled was I to receive an honourable mention!! Thank you!
Hiya! If you’re still keeping this list up to date, I’d love it if you added Joyarna Knitblog to the list – http://joyarna.blogspot.com . My Sitemeter is in the sidebar.
If you are still keeping a list of up and coming knitting blogs I would love to be added. http://thegaugewars.blogspot.com/
My sitemeter is at the bottom left of my blog.
Thanks!