----- Original Message -----
From: "Janet Jackson" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 1:36 PM
Subject: Re: good news about my website
>> Hi Janet -- does your hit counter tell you where the visitors come
>> from? I'm always curious if folks are getting hits from my links.
>
> No, it's just a basic number. Sorry!
>
>> And the longer you are up, the better it gets. Last week's report for
>> my poem site (not the blog) is 25 hits/ day, with 57 page views/ day
>
> That's great when you compare it to the amount of reading I imagine
> you'd get with print publishing unless you're very well-known.
> But I still intend to do a book. Should be working on it now, eh?
>
> It occurs to me that reading poetry on the web is a bit like hearing
> music on the radio, where you listen to and enjoy a lot more different
> things than you'd ever bother to buy CDs of. People probably enjoy
> browsing around and reading poems without having to buy books - I know
> I do!
>
> Janet
>
Not wishing to put a damper on
but website hits have to be put in perspective
90% or more will be search-engine spiders
and of the rest
a lot will be the kind where someone searching for information on say,
crocodiles
finds themselves visiting a page on your site which has a poem that includes
the word crocodile
they'll spend less than a couple of seconds looking at your poem before
moving on.
Nonetheless you will get a few people who will actually read your poem
who would never have done so but for this serendipity
and this makes the web worthwhile for me and lots of people.
Even those activily searching poetry on the web
probably only read fleetingly online
whereas those picking up and reading a print publication
are likely to spend time reading more of the work and more deeply.
So it IS good news about the hits
but don't be fooled into thinking a page-hit is someone actually reading the
page.
yours
Gerald England
New Hope International, Haiku Talk
reviews, poetry. travel photography and more
http://www.nhi.clara.net/index.htm
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