Every September 9th, I write a blog post that is different from anything else during the year. You see, it was on September 9, 2009, that I launched this blog. Four years have flown by. So, every September 9th, I write a little bit about blogging (it’s the only time I really blog on blogging), my analytics, and just sort of general thoughts on this blog. (When I refer to the “year” in this article, I am referring to the time period September 9, 2012 through September 8, 2013.)
First off, I will start with a few stats. The most popular blog article this year (clocking in with about 57,000 page views), without a shadow of a doubt, was this article on the Starbucks Refill Policy:
The sad thing about that being the most-viewed article is that it demonstrates the enormous angst and confusion regarding the refill policy, evident on both sides of the counter. You are welcome to talk about the refill policy, but please do not do so in THIS article. Please refer back to the Refill Policy article.
When I started this website four years ago, I just wanted to create a (mostly) fun, uplifting fan site with a bit of the stamp of my personality on it – for better or for worse. To this day, I still continuously think of this as my “little blog.” In some ways, it is no different than when I started. I am still just writing about my world of Starbucks. Thank you for bearing with me through all these ups and downs.
I owe a thank you to every single reader. I owe a thank you to everyone who leaves comments. And a huge, huge, thank you to those who subscribed. If you haven’t said “hello” to me in the comments in a while, I do hope you’ll drop by and say hi.
Here are a few of this year’s numbers:
- In the past year, 601,190 absolute unique visitors visited this website.
- Those 600k visitors viewed 1,140,016 pages on this blog over the past year.
- About 73% of this site’s visitors are in the United States.
- Another 8% of the visitors are in Canada.
- And about 3% are in the United Kingdom.
- Following the United Kingdom, Malaysia is the next country visiting this site – they come in at almost exactly 1% of the site’s visits.
- For those readers visiting this site from the United States, the state that visits my blog the most, by far, is California. After that, comes Washington, and then New York.
- The state that has the fewest people reading this site is South Dakota. All 50 states are represented.
- The number one traffic referrer to this site is a near tie between Google and Facebook.
- Over the four-year lifetime of this blog, this site has had over one million visitors, and over two million page views.
So thank you again. I mean it. The blog is indeed hard work. But it makes it so much more worthwhile knowing that I’m sharing some Starbucks fun with thousands of people all over the world.
I am going to switch gears for a moment and talk about Facebook. This is my blog’s Facebook page:
I invite you to check it out. I want to write about Facebook a moment because I have been happy with how many people are liking, viewing, commenting and joining in on Facebook – it has experienced a lot of growth and activity this year. It represents its own community.
For those who do not know, Facebook is a double-edged sword to bloggers. On the downside, Facebook badly wants people to spend money “promoting” (something called “boosting”) their posts. It doesn’t matter if you are a huge corporation like Starbucks or one little person in Seattle, they want your advertising dollars. Facebooks uses an algorithm called “EdgeRank” to filter what your fans see of your status updates. It’s fairly well documented that there is almost no way to reach 100% of your Facebook likes. Lots of sites state that the average status updates reaches about 17% of the fans of a page.
For me, I notice that my links have the lowest reach. It would make sense that the “EdgeRank” algorithm would discount links going to external websites: it invites the opportunity to leave the Facebook ecosystem. I can only say that I have seen a lot of anecdotal evidence that pure text and images status updates do better than status updates with links to an website. I think I do a little better than the 17% organic number mentioned.
And that leaves paying Facebook money to boost your posts. I have done that. Facebook is wonderful in that people can find your blog articles. And at the same time, it is frustrating because “EdgeRank” makes your reach much lower than you think it’s going to be absent paying Facebook money. (I have definitely given Facebook more money than I would like to admit to “boost” my posts.) The best I can hope for is perhaps fans who will periodically come back and then your Facebook page on some kind of regular basis, asking themselves, ‘what’s new?‘
Despite the controversy over promoting posts (paying money to ‘boost’ your article), I can say that this past year I have looked my Facebook page fondly because of the interesting conversations and overall positive vibe.
It brings a huge smile to my face to see that people are writing their own status updates, leaving comments too, and engaging with other Facebook fans. At times I have felt some frustration because I would like Facebook fans to comment here too, but at the end of the day, I am just happy that it is one more space to connect over coffee. I am okay with that.
I would invite you to join in on Facebook too.
This year, I attempted to continue to write content for multiple blogs. This is too much! This site is the only one where I am always here updating, on a regular basis. But if you should want to check out some of my other blogging endeavors, here you are – I hope you’ll like them, and follow them too:
- Seattle’s Best Melody – This is a fan site for Seattle’s Best Coffee. I only update it about once every four to six weeks.
- MelodyEats.com – This is kind of a fast food review blog. I realized after I started this that I am better equipped to write about coffee and tea than any actual food. Nonetheless, I have a lot of fun with this site. I hope you’ll check it out.
- StarbucksMelody.com – You know this blog!
I’ve mentioned that the refill policy article is the most-read on this site over the past year. I do have a personal favorite article from the past year. This one was so great. I interviewed Chad Moore, who is the store manager of 1912 Pike Place Starbucks. He just has one of those great personalities where you easily feel inspired by him. I owe a thank you to the PR department for assisting me in my request to interview Chad Moore.
Thank you for bearing with me. I know this is a long, and an out of character blog article. But, I only do this kind of post once a year, at my “blog anniversary.”
Finally, if you like what I do here, I hope you’ll consider saying thank you with a Paypal donation.
And, I hope you will join me in the next year’s Starbucks adventure. I hope to share more of Seattle with you, keep you up-to-date on news, share sneak previews where I can, and continue to raise my cup of coffee with you. I have always joked that I will keep blogging until I run out of things to write about. Hasn’t happened quite yet.
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Thanks for the great post and blog, Melody! I’ve found your blog to be even more valuable and insightful now that I have a Nespresso at home and go to Starbucks less often. You help us stay up to date and do a great job at it!
Congrats Melody! I love the site and how even though I work for Starbucks you know so much more before I do 😉
Yea to four years Melody! It has been an absolute pleasure to get to know you and read all stuff related to SB. And your community has such great people in it. I am not a Facebook person so cannot comment on that, but I so enjoy all the pieces you write here. It is hard for me to say which blog post is my favorite. Keep up the great work. I also like your Melody Eats blog. Thanks. and Congratulations to you.
Happy blogiversary melody!!!!!!! 🙂
@Nathan, Purple1, Mark, Jocelyn – Thank you! I know you have been readers for a long time. Jocelyn – I think you found this blog in 2010, when it was less than one year old! Nathan, I don’t know when you started reading, and I am not sure when you did either Purple1. Well thank you! Your support means a lot to me.
Huge congrats to you again, Melody. From the very beginning of this blog, you have been so absolutely positive and informative on EVERYTHING related to Starbucks unlike any other website. My favorites are when you write about store design and include photos of some of the awesome new stores, but I always look forward to reading everything you write both here and on Facebook. I recently realized that you have achieved something significant as this blog site now regularly shows up in my Google alerts for Starbucks. Please continue to keep up your good work.
Melody, Congrats!! Enjoy a beverage and treat on me! Thanks for all the work you put into keeping us informed, entertained, and engaged in all things Starbucks.
Melody, thank you for the past 4 years and looking forward to many more. You never need to apologize for any of your blog posts, it is you and what you have at the moment. IMHO, you are doing it right (but what do I know, I am just an old codger 😉 ).
I particularly liked the stats you put in this post. An intangible though is that you have a diverse regular following.
Keep being you and to your readers, thanks for your contributions.
Yay Melody for your blog anniversary!!!! Time flies! and for sure, I am thankful for not only your blog and info, and place to voice our thoughts, but also for getting to know you and the others on here who have become a kind of tight-little-virtual group! (and your visit, our whirlwind trip to Clover Sbux in ~36hrs….and suddenly you were back at O’Hare and on the plane! ) with a little Lou Malnatti’s pizza under your belt! (like good coffee, a necessity of life: good Chicago pizza!)
more soon…..need to be on my way now. Again, Congrats!!!! 😉
Wow, 4 years! I’m relatively new to this blog (only a few months) but I have really really enjoyed reading all the posts and comments. I know it’s a lot of work to keep the site going, but it is really appreciated.
Congrats!!!!!
Happy Blogiversary Melody!!! Wow what a fast four years! Your voice on SG was always a passionate one of reason and I am so happy you have found (and built) a home of your own – one where you warmly welcome everyone and foster a sense of community.
Thanks for all you do!
Happy Anniversary, StarbucksMelody!!!!
What would we do without your great posts, photos, updates, previews, interviews, info, and voice (shall I go on)? I love being able to enjoy the site without anti-social comments, unlike other sites. You’ve done so well, cultivating this blog’s culture. You should be very proud!
I’m not sure how you have time to do all that you do, especially with a full-time job, but it’s greatly appreciated. Here’s to many more!
Cheers,
The Kwan
Thank you to everyone! Rachel – you have been reading since the very beginning! Thank you! Time flies Denise. And I understand about juggling a lot. Welcome Mahoro, glad you found this site this year. 🙂
I appreciate the warm wishes!
I think I found you about two years ago. I’ve learned tons from this blog as I’m sure many others have. It’s comfortable here and I love that there is no fighting, just comments & respected opinions. I look for responses from people that I’ve come to recognize their names and appreciate the help I’ve received on different topics when I had a question. Keep up the great work, we appreciate it so much.
Congtulations on hitting the four year mark Melody! I love your blog and its uplifting passionate articles. It is a great place to connect with customers and partners from different parts of the world and is truly a great fourth place. Keep up the magnificent work, and I can’t wait to see what the future will bring.
Congrats Melody on 4 years of sane Starbucks blogging. You have done a wonderful job of dedicating your time to this blog. Quite honestly…. I don’t know where you find the time, but I guess its a job that at least you can claim you enjoy. I have learned a lot here, while trying to keep a low profile. I like the fact that I can read your threads, and not necessarily have to say anything. Onward!!!!!
Lou Malnati’s huh??? Must have been nice. 😉
Congratulations and Happy Anniversary! I always enjoy keeping up with new things, tests, and starbucks experiences through you since with my jobs the last few years I can not go as often as i would like.
thank you for clarifying all the crazy policies and giving us a look at Seattle exclusives.
@Becky E, Devin, Chgo. and AmazonV – Thank you! Hopefully I will make it another four years! Who knows.
Congratulations, Melody! Sure doesn’t seem like four years. May you have many more! 😀
Thank you Rose! Cheers!
A very happy 4 year anniversary of awesome Starbucks blogging-ness & all that implies Melody! I always enjoy seeing what you’re gonna write about! Despite it being only & mainly about the US base & their stores, and I’m from & work for Starbucks over here in the UK in one of their West London stores, it’s all still a lot of fun to check out all the same…Keep up the great work! ^^ <3 x
@Kimmy – Thank you!
@Denise – I think I do update a little more frequently now than years ago. Part of it is always have ideas of what to write about. And then I get so excited that I cannot wait to hit the ‘publish’ button.
congratulations on 4 years! running a blog is hard work and you’ve managed to fill it with interesting content! i’m so glad i stumbled upon your blog! many more posts for you!
I guess I assumed you had been writing this blog forever! I think I found you last summer and just recently realized you had a Facebook page as well. I like using FB to connect to you more ‘instantly’. I didn’t realize EdgeRank dropped you quite that low though! I certainly appreciate your positivity and overall attitude when it comes to SBux. I think hands down, you have the most polite and helpful responses on both their FB page and MSI. They would be well served in recognizing your contributions to their customer satisfaction 🙂
Congrats on 4 years Melody! I know I started reading you towards the beginning, as I found you during my 13 month hiatus from partnerdom. I have enjoyed reading your many posts, especially about all the crazy things we don’t see here in hot Fresno, CA (especially the Clover / Reserve coffees, I’m frustrated that I have to travel 3 hours in 3 different directions to find a Clover store), like the fun remodels and new stores. Please keep up the great work, I’m sure you and Starbucks will be here for the next 40 years!
Hi Melody, I first discovered your blog this year and it has helped me learn more about Starbucks than I ever thought I would know. Keep up the great work. Here’s to another successful year!
Congrats on 4 years, and such a lovely little piece of cyberspace, Melody. I love the perspectives you and the commenters offer, and it’s always fun to come here and see what’s new!
Here’s to 4 more years (at least, lol!)!
Four years is, in blogging years, almost a lifetime, especially when you’re trying to add new content 4-5 times a week, if not more. So congratulations! I’ve enjoyed stumbling upon this blog (and your Twitter account). And by far, the most helpful post I’ve read in the past year was regarding the Refill Policy. I’m still amazed how many Starbucks employees are still in the dark.
Looking forward to following for another year.
I can’t believe it’s been 4yrs! That’s awesome. I remember reading along on your first posts- and I still like to name drop your site to Starbucks friends 😉 I just liked your Facebook page- I don’t know why it never occurred to me that you would have one!
Melody thamks for all you do. Youve grown my love forbstarbucks. I go to ky store with info i get from you akd feel important.
Congratulations on four years of blogging, Melody! Truly, your blog is my source for all things Starbucks. So much so that when I mention new features on the horizons at my local stores, many managers and baristas ask how’d I hear about it, and my response is always the same, “Starbucks Melody.” 🙂 Here’s to at least six more years of blogging before you run out of things to write about. Cheers!
@Kristina, Tim, Brian, and everyone – I owe many thank yous still! I genuinely appreciate your support!
Congratulations on 4 years Melody!!! I am so happy that I came across your blog as it is truly my Starbucks information source… It is still my goal to catch/meet you in Seattle someday. Thank you for all of the insight that you provide.