Checking In, Looking Back At the Blog
Today I checked some of my usual blog metrics to see how many visitors I receive to my site. (God that sounds so terribly IT of me) When I first started the blog I would be lucky to get 5 to 10 hits a day. Using the tools I use I could tell that most of the visits were coming from close friends back home.
As time has gone on I have seen the readership of the blog expand. First to about 15 readers a day, then 20 and so on. In the past 2 days I have been getting more than 60 visitors a day. Knowing full well that I don't even have 60 friends that I've sent the link to it seems apparent that my blog must be reaching people well beyond my small circle of friends.
Thinking on this topic a little further I started to think about why I started this blog originally. I started if for a couple of reasons:
- A way to share what I am doing with friends and family
- A way to document my personal experiences for myself
- A way to make available my experiences to others interested in moving to Switzerland
I would like to think that the fact that my readership seems to be so high lately it must be useful. Or at least entertaining. I also attributed the recent spike to a fact that my blog was picked up by Swissinfo.ch recently. Swissinfo.ch is an English language website with information about Switzerland. They host a blog called write on about living in Switzerland and they have been kind enough to post a link to my site in their sidebar.
I did not ask Swissinfo.ch to post a link. They must have just come across my site and found it a useful reference for others considering a move to the country. I find that a bit flattering
So for those of you reading the blog looking for clues about moving to, and living in Switzerland please have a look around, enjoy my posts, and hopefully you'll learn something from the archives. For those friends and family that have been consistently reading to keep up to date with the things I am doing thanks as well.
And, as a final thought, if you are stopping by to do a bit of reading about a potential move or for any other reason post a comment, I would really enjoying knowing why you've decided to stop by. Feel free to post a comment if you have a second.
posted by SwissMerica at 8:05 PM
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4 Comments:
Hi there. In response to your request for outside visitors to leave a message, I hope you don't mind that I have come across your blog, and would like to comment. Yes, indeed, I came across your site via Swissinfo.ch ~ I've been here in Switzerland for almost six months in near isolation and I had never really stretched to find any kind of English speaking communities, individual or collective. Now that I have stumbled upon one, with many links, I am indulging in as much link-following and wider reading as possible.
I liked following these statistics and seeing your reaction mainly because I decided to reignite my own journal just a few weeks ago after around 18 months of relative silence, and much of that had to do with the 'act' of writing - who it was for, what was made of it, how deeply anything and everything was read into, and who actually cares.
I don't have the know-how to track the number of hits my page might get over a given period - in fact, given that LiveJournal works through viewing 'friends' pages' anyhow, visits to the site itself are bound to be minimal, but I know how much it can boost the act of writing to know that efforts can be registered and acknowledged by an outsider - so I am glad to have come across the page, and I send all my best wishes.
Keith [Geneva]
Bristolian_KaM / Royal_Arbor
1:53 AM
Hi there,
I am so happy to have found your blog. I am currently considering a move to Zurich (from CT USA). I have so many questions and thankfully some of those questions have been answered by your blogs. I think my main concern is learning German. At this point I don't know any German..ouch. I will be moving with just my dog so trying to meet others that I can communicate with is very important.
Thank you again. I look forward to reading more about your wonderful adventures.
3:06 AM
Dear DB,
Thanks for leaving the note. I am very glad you find the blog useful. I hope it will help you make some informed, or should I say more informed decisions about your move.
In Zurich almost everyone speaks at least a little English. While you can probably get by with minimal German, my feeling is that you should try to learn the local language. Even a little German goes a long way.
To get started I might recommend the 'Teach Yourself German' books which include a CD. The first book will at least give you a bit of a base so you can do some basic things like order at a restaurant, or buy a train ticket in German if you feel like it.
Good luck.
8:11 AM
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1:46 AM
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