It is time again for an extremely unscientific analysis of some blog visits. Last time I compared two articles and drew very questionable conclusions. This time I took a look at the top 10 posts of one week. Also now I will try to unravel the psychology of the average Thailand blog reader.
What stands out in the top 10? Crime scores well: two posts are about scamming tourists, one post is about a gruesome murder. That the gruesome murder scored well, I am a bit surprised. Do blog readers have an iron stomach? Apparently so, because despite the warning on the homepage, the article was eagerly read.
However, I am not surprised that the question of austerity comes in second place. The expression 'Look, look, don't buy' typifies the Dutch and in Belgium they also have their own ideas about the Dutch wallet. I don't know how Thais think about Dutch generosity, although when we first met a lady I met on a dating site asked me if she was a 'stingy Charlie'. Never happened, by the way, you understand that.
The extremely serious and well-thought-out article by Tino Kuis about the concept thainess ranks fifth. No, blog readers aren't just interested in sex & rock 'n roll, if you think so. And they are not humorless Dorknopers, judging by the reactions to the article about Thai logic. As for the other topics: draw your own conclusion.
Top 10 posts
- Scammed in Thailand – tonight on TV 1939 page views
- Expats in Thailand, what do you cut back on? 1684
- Thai logic 1655
- A gruesome murder 1628
- I am Thai! 1580
- Thailandblog.nl scoop: Soon buddy herring in Thailand! 1448
- Watch out for scammers in Bangkok (video) 1270
- Reader question: Why are Pakistani tailors allowed to work in Thailand? 1191
- Reader question: What can I do about ants in my home in Thailand? 1155
- Nok Air comes with cheap one way airfares 1152
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Fallen by the wayside, but more than 1000 page views
- First time Bangkok? Read the tips from Thailandblog
- Rabbit-devouring snake caught in house at Pathum Thani
- Soy Cowboy Bangkok (video)
- Reader question: Does anyone have experience flying with Aeroflot to and from Thailand?
- Reader question: Where can I go for crowns and implants in Bangkok?
- Top 10 most popular Thai nicknames
- Column: A Thai-Cambodian Mistake
The first highly unscientific analysis of some blog traffic figures appeared on March 12.
How does it come to a daily visitor number of 150.000 visitors as Thailandblog always reports.
I wonder if these numbers are correct.
@ Henk It is no coincidence that my analysis is called 'extremely unscientific'. So you can't draw any conclusions from it. The figures are a snapshot and not the final figures. And I only looked at the posts > 1000 visits (page views; not unique visitors, that's something else).
Henk, first read carefully before you shout something. Thailandblog currently has 185.000 visits per month. That's just under 100.000 unique visitors per month. It has never been claimed that we have 150.000 visitors per day. That number is reserved for only a few websites in the Netherlands.
Hope Thailandblog stays for a long time. I have already learned several interesting things (learned, with d or t??). But I think I can conclude that there are 2 groups of visitors to this blog. Especially expats and tourists. Why my conclusion? The same names often appear every day in responses to stated topics. And according to my non-scientific analysis, there are only between 2000 and 3000 comments per month, as opposed to 150.000 visitors. Hence my assumption that the majority of visitors to this Thailand blog are short-stay tourists. Sounds harsh, but it's just reality.
Dre, your reasoning that the number of comments in relation to the number of visitors indicates that the majority of Thailandblog visitors are 'short-stay tourists' is very unscientific, but nevertheless you may be right. But so what: it doesn't matter why someone is interested in Thailand, does it? Whether that is because one lives there as a premature retiree or not, lives and works there as an expat, visits the country more or less regularly as a tourist or only intends to travel there - all are equally valuable.
The fact that most responses come from a relatively small group is a not unknown phenomenon on forums, most people read enough and don't feel the need to respond - or think they can't add anything to what has been written.
@ Dre You give me an idea. In my next highly unscientific analysis I will look at the reactions. I do know that an average of 7 percent of visitors respond to blogs. Most visitors to Thailandblog live in the Netherlands and Belgium. Expats form only a small part of the visitors, but they are quite active with reactions.