Dizzy heights
We expect next month’s Wings Over Scotland viewing figures to take a pretty big fall, as politics will still be on holiday and there won’t be any more stories about the Rangers saga to fill the gaping NewsChasm (tm) left by the summer “silly season”. So we hope you’ll allow us this toot on our stat-trumpet before the inevitable slide.
July saw yet another record-smashing month for the blog, piling almost 40,000 page views onto the previous high – a 17% increase – and boosting the number of unique visitors by an even more startling 27%, to just shy of 30,000. The running total of 986,764 pageviews since we started nine months ago means that in August we should at least be able to boast of breaking through the 1-million barrier well within our first year, which will be some small degree of consolation.
It’s traditional at this point to cough modestly and hopefully towards the “Donate” button – we’ve got just about enough cash from generous viewers now to get on with moving to a more robust server, under our “official” domain name that won’t see the blog blocked for some readers for having “game” in its address – but mostly we just wanted to say thanks once more to the people who are increasingly making Wings Over Scotland their first stop for Scottish political news with just slightly too much focus on football. We’ll try not to let you down.
For perspective, there were 54 posts in total over the month, of which 22 were chiefly about Rangers and 34 about our usual Scottish political issues, but despite being in the minority the Rangers-related posts took 16 of the top 20 spots, including 9 of the top 10.
However, the month’s most-read post (“A Glebe Park Gallery”) provided fewer than 4% of the site’s total views, the lowest-ever percentage for a single post, suggesting (in conjunction with other stats) that a significant proportion of the people who came for the Rangers pieces were staying around to read other stuff.
Remember, we’re not here to preach to the converted. Ultimately, anything that brings more viewers to the site for ANY reason puts more eyeballs on the political stories, and while that doesn’t mean we’re moving to porn and cat pictures any time soon, we unapologetically reserve the right to cover, and continue covering, subjects of indirect but real relevance to the independence campaign in order to increase the blog’s audience.
If you think the balance has been tilted too far in that direction over recent weeks, get politicians to take shorter holidays.
Rev You’ve got an irreverent, analytical and humerous take on all you write that is very enjoyable and refreshing.Even as a non fooball fan I’ve read all the “rangers” stuff! Many of the comments make me laugh and keep me coming back for more.
Will certainly donate.
Thoroughly deserved, best political blog in Scotland by far.
a refreshing alternative to the stomach churning bile and propaganda on other established news sites such as ‘The Scotsman’…
I say ‘established’ only in the historical context. Clearly comparing their plummeting readership with blogs like your own, which are on the rise, must say something about both the future of newspapers in general and particularly those with such a vomit-inducing bias to Unionism and the Torys (blue and red Torys that is).
I stopped buying The Scotsman years ago.
I stopped contributing to their on-line ‘forum’ within the last 6 months or so
After glancing at today’s top political and other ‘news’ stories I am on the cusp of never even going back to their on-line presence.
If ever their was an example of a publication’s decline being entirely self-inflicted then surely The Scotsman is it.
For more perspective, here are the circulation figures for the daily newspapers in Scotland from November last year.
The Scottish Sun – 314,822
Daily Record – 267,075
Scottish Daily Mail – 108,047
Scottish Daily Express – 63,601
Daily Star of Scotland – 63,241
The Herald – 45,646
The Scotsman – 38,289
Daily Mirror – 22,805
Daily Telegraph – 20,416
The Times – 19,042
The Guardian – 12,936
Independent – 7,276
Financial Times – 3,461
So your unique visitors tally exceeds the circulation figures of all the non-Scottish “quality” papers, and even the Daily Mirror. Probably not too long until you surpass the Scotsman’s figures too.
I agree with Mogabee, it’s the perfect balance of ireverence and humour that has me coming back everyday, but it’s also the detailed knoweldge, particularly in issues which are deliberately obfuscated and complicated, like Rangers finances. You seem to be able to cut through the crap and get to the point.
Well done.
And keep the football in there. I think I have seen a Celtic supporters for independence page on Facebook (to go with the Labour Lib Dem and Tory ones!) Not seen a Rangers one yet, but as long as that Celtic one exists I suppose it’s relevant to talk about football on a political blog (And vice vrsa!)
#John Lyons
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rangers-FC-SNP-Supporters/121113214586741
2012 germination seems to be on the up, might be the rain.
just want to add my “well done” i’ve been hooked for ages
To be honest, I was irritated by all the football stuff, and wished it wasn’t there. But then RevStu pointed out the traffic it was bringing to the blog, and I capitulated entirely. But the other upside is that I read enough of it to begin to have a glimmering of an idea what it was all about, and to understand what BBC Scotland and the Herald were on about. I wouldn’t have read it at all if the presentation hadn’t been so amusing.
Roll on the new server. I do worry a bit if our IT guys will see that “gamer” thing, and come after me. I hope all these Twitter links don’t make it look as if I’m on Twitter – I don’t Tweet at all, I never read it and I don’t even have a Twitter account.
Well done Rev!
If you get enough in the way of donations, you may want to pay Jimbo a wee retainer.