Young House Love

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Blogiversary IV: A Few Fun (& Crazy) Blog Stats

As if this morning’s pie charts weren’t enough, we’re back to get all numerical and statistical on you. Each year we like to break down what YHL looks like by the numbers. Some are crazy. Some are surprising. Some are serious. Some are, well, just for fun. We’ve included some of last year’s numbers just for comparison’s sake, but you can also look back at our past by-the-numbers posts for our last three blogiversaries to see how things have changed: 2010, 2009 and 2008.

Number Post Blogiversary

2,014 – The number of published posts to date on Young House Love (Last year: 1,527)

16 – The number of published posts to date on Young House Life (clearly someone’s gotta pick up the slack over there).

570,314 – The number of total comments left by you fine folks. More than DOUBLE our number last year (258,904) meaning there has been more commenting action in the last 12 months than in our first three years.

38,754 – The number of comment responses we’ve posted, which is more than TRIPLE last year’s total (13,039).

9 – Number of months we’ve lived in our new house

21.5 – Clara’s weight (wonder how long she’ll let us keep sharing that?). Up from 14lbs last year. She’s tall and skinny like… well, a bean (a string bean to be exact).

8.5 – My main man Burger’s weight. Up from a whopping 8lbs last year.

210,460- Most blog hits we’ve received in a single day according to WordPress.com stats – the day our Washington Post feature came out (last year’s top day: 97,024). But yesterday we were just 7K away from topping the Wash Post day!

4,048,011 – Total number of blog hits we received last month (insanity – last year’s stat: 2,144,976).

68,164,565 – Total blog hits to date (nearly double last year’s number: 36,698,957)

4 – Number of times we’ve driven by our old house to check in on it (including once after Hurricane Irene – it was fine!)

1 – Number of times we accidentally turned down our old street when we meant to go to our new house (we’re proud of ourselves since it’s only a mile away).

150 – Total number of mood boards featured in our Mood Board Gallery.

146– Total number of weekly giveaways that we’ve held since starting them back in November of ’08 (after you guys requested them during our very first blogiversary)

35- Our average number of posts per month

3 – Number of soda-themed shirts I (John) own (I do own non-soda-related shirts, despite the fact that they seem to be the only ones that show up in pictures).

12 – Clara’s current catalog of animal sounds. She can moo like a cow, neigh like a horse, baa like a sheep, maa like a goat, meow like a cat, woof like a dog, hoo like an owl, cheep like a chicken, roar like a lion, quack like a duck, say “ooh-ooh-ahh-ahh” like a monkey, and even imitate a sloth (which according to one of her books says “slowly slowly” – so she slinks around saying that).

2,405- Average number of words written per post (we’re chatty, huh?)

19,204- Average number of words written per week (admittedly, this is kind of insane)

648 – The total number of projects that we link to on our Projects page (and we still have around 50 to add, but haven’t gotten to that part of our to-do list yet. Sorry!)

58: Photos of Clara that we’ve taken for her photo project (52 weekly pictures + 5 monthly + 1 for her birthday card)

230,652 – Number of Pinterest followers (this. is. insane.)

22 – Total number of steps from our bed to our desk (in the last house it was 7, so we no longer risk posting in our sleep anymore).

6:30 – The time tonight that we’ll be participating in a local panel discussion called “Hobby to Business: Making A Living Doing What You Love.” How fitting for blogiversary week, no? More details here (psst- we’re not getting paid for it, just thought it sounded fun).

So there you have it. The stats of the year. Do you guys count things like steps from one room to another or how often you intentionally and unintentionally drive to an old house? Can you picture how cute Clara is when she slinks around the house saying “sloooowly, sloooowly” – seriously it’s amazing. We’ll have to get it on video pronto.

Psst- You can also look back at our past by-the-numbers posts for our last three blogiversaries here: 2010, 2009 and 2008.

Comments

  4. Bethany Peterson says

    I think I’ve driven by our old house about 10 times (a lot after we first sold it and I always do a slow roll by, so they probably thought they had a stalker.) They’ve done some nice things, so I feel like we left it in good hands.

    Reply

  5. Meg@Keeping up with the Jenks says

    Congratulations on the phenomenal growth!! I’ve been reading for about 2 years (and just got up the guts to start commenting) and I am shocked when people DON’T know about ya’ll!
    P.S. I really need the name of that book. The extent of our impersonations is a train…woo woo.

    Reply

  6. Brandy says

    I’d have to say the stat that suprised me the most was the number of soda themed shirts John has. I thought it would have been MUCH more than 3. ;) LOL I don’t know if you have this book, but my kids loved “Moo, Baa and La la la” by, (I think), Sandra Boynton. I loved reading that to them and having them copy the animal sounds, especially the singing pigs. :):) Thank you so much for sharing all of your awesome tips! My family and I just moved in to our new, (to us), home and I had to scrape the paint off my fingers real quick to thank ya.

    Reply

  7. Kristen says

    The speaker bio for you guys has Burger’s weight listed at 9lbs. Good thing he’s not a lady, so he won’t get offended!

    Reply

  8. ashlie says

    I gotta say I’m not surprised by the amount of hits you guys get in a day – especially considering I basically keep refreshing my computer from 9:30 until the morning post goes up! Oh they joys of maternity leave…

    Reply

  9. Ashley says

    Just discovered your blog. Well an hour and a half ago, which is the time I’ve spent poking around so far. I just love the authenticness of your family and blog.

    Reply

  10. javonne says

    Have you ever inquired or wondered about how many of your readers found you? I know you probably get a lot when you get a shout out from a magazine or tv spot but someone mentioned your site on another blog that I follow and I decided to stop in and check you out and I’ve been hooked ever since!

    Reply

  11. Stacy says

    Ok so your speaking engagement is less than a 5 min walk from my house. Debating just how stalkerly I’ll feel if I go.

    Bonus the subject matter is interesting.

    Double bonus that the Skull-a-Day guy is also talking.

    Triple bonus…THERE’S AN ART CENTER LESS THAN 5 MINS FROM MY HOUSE!

    Reply

  12. Ellie says

    I love numbers! And break downs of everything like this one and the post from earlier today are absolute happiness to the soul. *eee*

    Thanks so much for sharing this with us! <3

    Reply

  14. Susan says

    HAPPY BLOGIVERSARY!

    Your blog is always interesting and has, on occasion, made me laugh out loud. Who could ask for more?

    Thanks for the posts this week – I’ve always been curious about how this has worked as a business. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  15. Taylor says

    I love that you’ve driven past your first house. :) We’ve done it too, and one day I’m sure I’ll knock on the door and ask to show my son where he lived the first few years of his life.

    Reply

  16. Paloma says

    Speaking of animal sounds- her goat noise reminded me of this video that I sincerely hope she NEVER imitates for both your sakes:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7Ve-LGPdtY

    It’s an angry goat being goaded by a fast speaking Spanish speaker inquiring about random things like the government.

    But really, congrats on having it all :)

    Reply

  17. Martha says

    I love the list of stats! I can’t believe how many hits you’re getting!! Quick question – when someone visits the site and browses through a bunch of different links, how many times does it count that? Is only the initial load counted as a hit or is each page viewed counted as a hit?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      In that count it’s every time the page fully loads (so it doesn’t count google reader folks or us – since the site knows our URL and doesn’t count it).

      xo,
      s

  18. Krystle @ ColorTransformedFamily says

    That is an insane number of comment responses. I was checking out your Pinterest page the other night and was suprised at how many followers you have. Of course, I must add I was equally suprised at the number of pins. Somebody obviously uses Pinterst for inspiration!

    Reply

  19. Heidi P. says

    crAAAzy. I kind of feel bad for commenting – it takes up so much of your time!! But here I am, doing it. Sorry!!

    Just wanted to say I LOOOOOOVE the mental image of Clara’s sloth impression! My little guy’s favorite animal sounds are elephant and dinosaur. OH and shark. We have this animal book w/ just about every animal, so I had to come up w/ sounds for them! So for shark, I said “duh duh .. duh duh .. duh duh duh duh” like the Jaws music. So that’s what he does for sharks now. I’ll have to teach him sloth, though. :) And turtle :)

    Reply

  20. Cathie says

    Happy Anniversary! Thanks for all of your hard work. Your blog is a little bright spot in my day and I check in every day to see what’s going on.

    You’ve inspired me to start sewing, paint wood furniture, do a new-sew crib skirt, spray paint things, do a photo frame gallery and lots of other fun things that I just hadn’t really considered before. Thanks!!!!!

    Reply

  22. Kathy says

    WOW! Who would’ve guessed that your most successful blog year was during Clara’s first year! Raising a baby and a blog at the same time is an amazing accomplishment, guys!!

    Reply

  23. Abigail says

    ah! yes! video of ‘slowly slowly’! that sounds hilarious.

    These numbers are great – congrats on all the amazing growing you guys have been doing around here!

    Reply

  26. kama says

    I wanna be like you when I grow up! How amazing and awesome is this post…just mindblowing when you look at the stats. I rarely post, but feel the urge just to tell ya how much I appreciate your blog, your humor and your candor. I never watch TV now with a 10 month old and this kinda replaces my fix for any type of ongoing storyline/saga. I anxiously await the days post to show up in my news feed – ah the excitement!

    We just gutted and remodeled a house from the 70’s and i had big plans to document and blog about it. We are almost finished and no blogging to date :( – still not sure where you find the time for all this!

    Thanks again for sharing your lives will all of us!

    Reply

  27. kiki says

    After you teach Clara the turtle, teach her the shark. If you ask my little niece what a shark says, she’ll immediately put her hand on her head to make a fin and start singing the theme song from “Jaws” – dun dun. dun dun dun dun. It’s hilarious.

    Reply

  28. elizabeth says

    Just wanted to say thank you! I’m another reader who definitely appreciates the personal touch you guys give your blog. Knowing that my comment will be read by one of you is such an awesome feeling! I have no doubts that is why you have so many adoring fans! I have a baby girl that’s about a year younger than Clara and we just moved into a 55 year old brick rancher! We’ve been here barely a month and i’ve already got a notebook full of ideas inspired by you guys! Plus our little family is young too, i’ll be 24 next month. It gives me hope that you guys were around my age when you started your dream careers. Maybe there’s hope for us!

    Reply

  30. Robin says

    Here is another stat for you… Who is completely obsessed with you guys, in a totally non-stalkerish way? Two thumbs pointed at THIS GIRL! You are both so inspiring. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  31. Reenie says

    …”and even imitate a sloth (which according to one of her books says “slowly slowly” – so she slinks around saying that).”

    ~ OMG…..too cute!!!

    WOWZA!!! Those are some numbers!

    Congrats to you guys ~ woot woot!!

    Reply

  33. Robyn says

    Man, I only have like 10 followers on Pinterest. And one of them might be my mother so I’m not sure that counts! Think about this: how many times do you think your pins have been repinned? Must be bananas!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, the funniest thing is when someone emails me or pins something for me and it’s something I pinned the night before. Stuff gets around over there! Haha.

      xo,
      s

  34. Angela says

    I just looked at your pinerest page. I thought to myself, “self, just look at this for a minute.” Thirty (but very inspired) minutes later, I finally tore myself away. :) I love it love it love it.

    Happy blogiversary!

    Reply

  35. Courtney says

    I was at Tar-jay the other day and they had a whole section of soda shirts. I thought of John, and then calculated the level of creepiness it would be to send one. I held back…

    Reply

  39. Steph says

    I just wanted to say thank you for all the hard work and time you guys put into the blog! I really wish there was a way you guys could measure all the projects you guys have inspired! You guys give me (and I’m sure so many people) the confidence to do home improvement projects I never in a million years thought I’d be able to do. So me and my house thank you! :)

    Reply

  41. Jacinta says

    Just a suggestion for another animal noise to teach Clara. I always teach kids this one, I think it is adorable. What sound does a fish make, usually followed by opening and closing their mouth for a few minutes. As they get older they can also do the suck in their cheek thing as well.

    Congrats on the 4 years. I love your blog

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Nooo! Use it as encouragement! We were blogging to no one for at least the first 100 posts! Seriously, zero comments! We definitely worked up to this after four years and 2,000 posts!

      xo,
      s

  47. Maggie Rose says

    I think I’ve been reading since sometime in year one (or just after). Found you when a blog friend reposted your just-completed bedroom closets with the curtains and I thought it was brilliant! It’s been amazing to see how you’ve grown, both as a business and as a family. Can’t wait to see what the next year will bring!

    Reply

  48. Laura K. says

    I didn’t see a Google Reader subscribers stat so I unsubscribed and re-subscribed to see that it’s 36,718. I’m sure there are a ton of other ways people read YHL every day, but I thought that was another interesting stat!

    xo,
    Laura

    Reply

  49. Katie says

    I am loving this weeks posts and can’t wait to see what else you guys share…since I know you love over-sharing :) I REALLY hope you guys do a book tour when your book comes out…I would totally drive to see you (in a totally non-stalkerish kinda way!). If you do have a book tour, make sure to come to the midwest…preferably Michigan please :)

    Totally random question that’s not related to the blog stats…you’ve mentioned several times that after Clara was born your doctor “forbid” (for lack of better word!) you from having another baby for 2 years. Is that because of the c-section or is there a higher chance of having the same complications if you were pregnant in less than 2 years? Your post about Clara’s birth story totally made me cry and it inspired me to write a birth story for my daughter (it’s still on the to-do list…). I also had a c-section and complications at the end of my pregnancy (intrauterine growth restriction and pre-eclampsia…my little girl was born at 35 weeks and weighed 3 lb 9 oz) and my doctor recommended waiting 2 years as well to let the internal incisions heal. My complications may or may not happen again, unfortunately there’s no way of predicting how the next pregnancy will be. So from one mama to another (who had a scary birth experience as well) I was just curious and thought I’d ask :) Good luck at your speaking engagement tonight! Actually you’re there now…unless VA is in a different time zone…okay now I really feel like a stalker. Oh well, love ya guys and your blog!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      My doc just explained that the specific placental abruption issues I had might be elevated if I were to get prego before everything inside got nice and strong and healed (since the placenta could prematurely detach again if things didn’t heal fully and I was in a weakened state). Of course the chance of that happening again even after waiting is still there (since I had not had any babies/c-sections prior to Clara when it happened the first time) but I like the idea of waiting to get super healed and strong again so I’m giving myself and the baby the best chance at a complication free birth! Hope it helps! And we’d love to come out to Michigan on a book tour next fall!

      xo,
      s

  50. KIm Sutcliffe says

    Amazing stats! I think an interesting one to know would be the average time a person spends on your blog at a time – not sure if you can tell this or not – I can’t believe how quickly an hour can pass by and I’m still on your site!!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh man I would love to know that. I think we can tell how much people generally click around (averages and stuff) but not how much time. That would be really fun to learn though!

      xo,
      s

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