By Kim McDarison
Nearly one year ago, on Feb. 1, 2021, FortAtkinsonOnline.com was born.
If our baby could have a Zodiac sign, it would be Aquarius. The defining characteristic of the sign is a lover of things that are unconventional.
And while an online-only news site could be viewed by some as unconventional, we might suggest, given our first-year stats, that it is an idea that is coming of age.
We must preface the numbers we are about to share by extending a heartfelt “Thank You!” to all those who added their talents, news, press releases, comments, and other content contributions that are essential to our first-year and extended success.
We must also thank you, our reader. You are the public we, as journalists, serve. Your interactions with us are our greatest achievements and our most valued rewards. We are grateful and honored when you share your stories with us, and work with care to ensure the quality of the stories we bring you. We know your time is valuable. Earning your trust in our ability to bring honest and objective news is, as journalists, our highest priority.
We also must thank our advertisers. All ships rise together. We believe that sincerely. Your ad symbolizes to us an extension of community, and it helps us pay the bills. In 2021, we rolled out our advertising “ad directory” program as a way to best use our space and keep our advertising program affordable. We were new; our traffic was in its infancy. We saw those who came aboard as offering us a vote of confidence, and we wanted to be worthy.
In 2022, our advertising program costs will remain the same. We continue to gather ships. Our success is not possible without your success. We, again, say: “Thank you.”
Here are the 2021 FAO statistics.
Charts and stats: What do they show?
In understanding the charts and stats, is it important that we share what the information shows and what it does not: the numbers gathered by the site itself represent “views” or visits. They do not represent unique visitors, meaning that each view from a single visitor will be counted. Site views do not tell us which stories the visitor read, or how long that visitor engaged with the site. They simply tell us that a visitor arrived and viewed the site.
In 2021, between Jan. 31, the day before we launched the site, and today, Jan. 2, 2022, the site received 380,454 views. The chart below shows the growth pattern, with its associated slow start, and peaks and valleys as readers found and engaged with content on the site.
It should also be noted that we have software on the site that blocks such things as “bots” or other nonhuman entities, and trolls, defined as visitors who come onto a site with “off-topic” messages, which could potentially be counted as a “view.” While our blocking mechanisms are not 100% foolproof, they offer some helpful protections.
The chart above shows the number of views the Fort Atkinson Online news site has received since the day before it officially launched on Feb. 1, 2021 and Jan. 2, 2022.
As might be expected, as our site gained momentum, the stats grew faster. As an indicator of the rate of growth, between Nov. 13 and Dec. 12, stats indicated that 35,607 visitors viewed the site. The site offers an ability to produce a rolling total. We can advance the parameters of a search day-by-day to see the rate of growth. Our most recent 30-day search shows that between Dec. 4, 2021, and Jan. 2, 2022, the site has been visited 53,362 times. To be fair, the chart does show peaks and valleys in viewership, meaning some days have better traffic than others, but the overall rate of growth continues to advance.
The chart above shows the number of views received by the site between Dec. 4, 2021 and Jan. 2, 2022.
Those interested in learning about readership may do so by visiting any story on the site. One must scroll past the story and its associated photographs to see the “reads” statistic for that individual story. The “reads” stats are gathered and calculated for us by a software “plugin,” an individual piece of pre-packaged code made by developers to perform certain functions beyond what comes packaged within a standardized platform.
Our plugin uses a different protocol to calculate reads. A “read” is calculated when a visitor scrolls down and spends some time with a story.
Our plugin only calculates reads on stories.
The above graphic shows the “reads” count at the bottom of each story. The graphic also shows three buttons, two of which are currently available to site visitors: the Share on Facebook button allows you to share the story to your Facebook page. The “Follow us” button allows you to sign up for a daily newsletter sent to your email. The newsletter will list the stories published on Fort Atkinson Online each day. The “Twitter” button has not yet been set up. We will likely offer that option in 2022.
Currently, our site has three sets of stats that viewers can locate on each story: views, at the top of each story, calculated by the site software; reads, at the bottom of each story, calculated by the plugin; and, at the very bottom of each page, there is a counter for page views, both cumulative and by day. This stat is produced by the site software.
The graphic above shows the page views, calculated both as a total since the particular story page was created, and each day. In this case, the story page was created on Dec. 30. The “views today” represent people who viewed something on this story page on Jan. 2. The graphic also shows the search box, where one can use key words to search for any story on the site. The box is available at the bottom of each story page.
Admittedly, we are still learning about stat packages and how they work. This is what we are able to share thus far.
When viewing the numbers, one must remember that they are being calculated by different software packages using different protocols.
The numbers also change daily: views and reads on stories and pages are summaries and therefore increase each day as more people find them. Rolling totals, as produced by the site software for the full site, vary as visits to the site ebb and flow.
A list of the year’s top 10 most read stories is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/the-year-in-review-top-10-stories-from-2021/.
Happy New Year! Thank you! We will do great things together in 2022.
As always, if you have comments, ideas or suggestions, let us know. Send us a comment through the comment box found at the bottom of every story.
The graphic above shows our comment box found at the bottom of every story.
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