Site analytics
This page provides site analytics for my site during the period of 2022 (Jan 1 through Dec 31). I gather up these analytics to analyze trends and plan content.
Here’s a screenshot of site traffic analytics on idratherbewriting.com for 2022 according to Google Analytics.
Overall page traffic
In 2021, idratherbewriting.com had 1,535,622 page views, or about 4,207 page views a day. More details are in the following table:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Pageviews | 1,535,622 |
| Unique pageviews | 1,387,792 |
| Average time on page | 2:53 |
| Sessions | 1,068,404 |
| Sessions per user | 1.3 |
| Pages per session | 1.44 |
| Users | 820,365 |
| Bounce rate | 83% |
A "page view" is when the page loads, regardless of whether it's the same visitor or a different visitor. A "session" refers to a unique visit to the site. If the same visitor views 10 pages, it only counts as a single session.
Traffic growth since the beginning
Blog vs. API doc site traffic
About two-thirds of the user traffic goes to the API doc course rather than the blog.
Top 10 pages
| Page Title | Percent of Traffic |
|---|---|
| Swagger UI tutorial | 6.3% |
| Documenting API parameters | 6.2% |
| Learn apidoc | 5.7% |
| Access JSON values in Swagger UI | 3.1% |
| Swagger UI resource endpoints | 3.0% |
| Awakening moment to how smartphones fragment our attention | 2.8% |
| Swagger UI YAML | 1.7% |
| Swagger UI OpenAPI step 6 security object | 1.6% |
| Swagger UI OpenAPI step 5 components object | 1.5% |
| Documenting API sample responses and schema | 1.5% |
| Install curl | 1.4% |
Trends over time (2019 through 2022)
This section compares the same values for the past four years, providing a sense of trends over time. The percentage change from the previous year is listed in parentheses after the value.
| Metric | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Page views | 1,974,524 | 1,814,770 (-8.09%) | 1,865,635 (+2.80%) | 1,535,622 (-17.68%) |
| Average page views per day | 5,409 | 4,971 (-8.1%) | 5,111 (+2.8%) | 4,207 (-17.7%) |
| Average page views per hour | 225 | 207 (-8.0%) | 213 (+2.9%) | 275 (+29.1%) |
| Unique page views | 1,704,059 | 1,592,088 (-6.6%) | 1,865,635 (+17.2%) | 1,387,792 (-25.6%) |
| Average time on page | 2:40 | 2:43 (+1.9%) | 2:48 (+3.1%) | 2:53 (+3.0%) |
| Users | 909,236 | 916,922 (+0.9%) | 982,313 (+7.1%) | 820,365 (-16.5%) |
| Sessions | 1,207,264 | 1,195,729 (-1.0%) | 1,266,999 (+6.0%) | 1,068,404 (-15.7%) |
| Sessions per user | 1.33 | 1.30 (-2.3%) | 1.29 (-0.8%) | 1.3 (+0.8%) |
| Avg. session duration | 1:41 | 1:25 (-15.8%) | 1:19 (-7.1%) | 1:16 (-3.8%) |
| Page views per session | 1.64 | 1.52 (-7.3%) | 1.47 (-3.3%) | 1.44 (-2.0%) |
| Bounce rate | 78% | 81% (+3.9%) | 82% (+1.2%) | 83% (+1.2%) |
Locations
| Location | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | 32% | 29% (-9.4%) | 25% (-13.8%) | 28% (+12.0%) |
| India | 17% | 19% (+11.8%) | 20% (+5.3%) | 17% (-15.0%) |
| UK | 5% | 5% (0.0%) | 4% (-20.0%) | 4% (0.0%) |
Browsers
| Browser | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | 76% | 78% (+2.6%) | 77% (-1.3%) | 73% (-5.2%) |
| Safari | 8% | 8% (0.0%) | 9% (+12.5%) | 12% (+33.3%) |
| Firefox | 9% | 8% (-11.1%) | 7% (-12.5%) | 6% (-14.3%) |
Device types
| Device type | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desktop | 88% | 88% | 86% (-2.3%) | 82% (-4.7%) |
| Mobile | 11% | 12% (+9.1%) | 14% (+16.7%) | 18% (+28.6%) |
Mobile device type
| Mobile device type | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone | 38% | 37% (-3.45%) | 40% (+7.89%) | 47% (+16.36%) |
| Google Pixels | 2% | <1% (-50.00%) | <1% | <1% |
Traffic origins — organic and social referrals
| Traffic Origin | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions | 1,207,264 | 1,195,729 | 1,266,999 | 1,068,404 |
| Organic Search Traffic | 85% | 89% (+4.7%) | 90% (+1.1%) | 81% (-9.1%) |
| Sessions via Social Referral | 11,163 | 13,840 (+24.4%) | 11,346 (+1.5%) | 48,018 (+3,962.2%) |
| From LinkedIn | 42% | 48% (+14.3%) | 44% (+6.0%) | 16% (-63.1%) |
| From Twitter | 23% | 18% (-21.7%) | 11% (-52.2%) | 7% (-61.5%) |
| From YouTube | 7.5% | 13% (+73.3%) | 19% (+46.7%) | 4% (-79.0%) |
Posts analyzing site analytics
For more details about analytics, see the following posts. These posts expand on audience interests and demographics.
- 2021 — Site analytics for 2021
- 2020 — Site analytics for 2020 – trends, reflections, and thoughts
- 2019 — Reflections on my 2019 site analytics
- 2018 — Site analytics from Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2018 – are more engineers writing docs now?
- 2017 — Unexpected realizations after a comprehensive review of my 2017 site metrics
- 2016 — Analyzing top posts on my blog during 2015 —- Deciding between brand versus readership
- 2015 — Top 10 posts, podcasts, tweets of 2014 – and what it all means
About Tom Johnson
I'm a technical writer / API doc specialist based in the Seattle area. In this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, visual communication, information architecture, writing techniques, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my API documentation if you're looking for more info about that. If you're a technical writer and want to keep on top of the latest trends in the field, be sure to subscribe to email updates below. You can also learn more about me or contact me. Finally, note that the opinions I express on my blog are my own points of view, not that of my employer.