Referrers

1. 83

   Rupert Taylorposted 2 months ago

   I have an article that limped along for a couple of years getting dingle-digit views per day. Almost nobody was interested in fried cod tongues or seal flipper pie, then, two months ago, the world hungered for information about these Newfoundland dishes. Daily views leapt to many hundreds and occasionally into numbers with commas in them.
   
   How can you track down where your viewers are coming from. Yes, I know there is a button that says "Traffic Sources" and another one in Author Center>Stats>Referrers but neither are much help. They both basically tell you your views come from the internet. Well, Duh.
   
   All "referrers" tells me is these views mostly come from Google. It can't be that thousands of people have suddenly started asking the Big G for information that nobody was concerned about before. Something else must be going on. If I've stumbled on some sort of wormhole in the time/space continuum that magically boosts my views I'd like to know what it is, so I can exploit it to my advantage (Greedy little rat).

   replyreport
   1. 85

      bravewarriorposted 2 months agoin reply to this

      Rupert, I was going to suggest you refer to your Google Analytics account for the information. However, when I went into my account, it was totally devoid of information. That tells me that HP still has not transferred our GA information to the new, current G-4 format. Not only is GA no longer tracking my HP articles, but all the information that was provided to me before GA went from UA ID #s to GA-4 ID#s is gone! What's up with that?

      replyreport
   2. 84

      Kenna McHughposted 2 months agoin reply to this

      This is another bashing TAG post that will never result in anything.

      replyreport
      1. 85

         bravewarriorposted 2 months agoin reply to this

         They never do, Kenna. At least they're consistent (not in a good way)!

         replyreport
   3. 80

      Patty Inglish, MSposted 2 months agoin reply to this

      Rupert, could there have been a global contest involving Newfoundland cuisine? The Nova Scotia setting of "Son of a Critch" sitcom gave me the inkling of the idea. Or maybe an abundance of fish tongues and seal flippers were overstocking market shelves - or piling up on beaches.

      replyreport
   4. 52

      Lady Dazyposted 2 months agoin reply to this

      I often wonder where my readers come from too.

      replyreport
      1. 85

         bravewarriorposted 2 months agoin reply to this

         Since HP 's Google Analytics ID that has been assigned to each writer hasn't progressed into the GA4 format (as of July 2023), we'll never know.

         replyreport
2. 83

   Rupert Taylorposted 2 months ago

   Yes Shauna, it was in my memory that HubPages no longer linked to Google Analytics, but even when it did, I found it to be full of useless information.
   
   I didn't have the inclination to plough through pages of stats telling me how many left-handed goat herders in Uzbekistan were reading my articles.

   replyreport
   1. 85

      bravewarriorposted 2 months agoin reply to this

      HP told us just before Google switched Analytics from UA to GA4 that they would make the transition for us. Obviously, that was yet another misleading (incorrect) statement.

      replyreport
3. 83

   Rupert Taylorposted 2 months ago

   Kenna - I don't see how my query about the origin of article viewers can be interpreted as TAG-bashing and now my question has veered off track.

   replyreport
   1. 84

      Kenna McHughposted 2 months agoin reply to this

      Rupert, I hear you. No attack intended. Sorry you felt that way. Follow the thread, and you'll see. Any flaw on HP falls in TAG's lifeless hands.

      replyreport
4. 99

   DrMark1961posted 2 months ago

   All I could find is that your page ranked on the first page for Newfoundland cuisine. I am not sure how popular that search is but it is amazing how well some of my articles do when they get such good ranking. People search for all sorts of things you would not expect every day. (I had a top ranked article for vitamin sources for noctural pets and it was getting hundreds of page views a day until Google decided to drop it down the page in thier shuffle. I was surprised it did so well as I did not think that was a good search term.) All of yours should be higher and you should get such traffic for most of your articles. Unfortunately, I have noticed with Google that there is no rhyme or reason for page ranking, and copying what works for one article in no way guarantees the other articles are going to do as well.
   Believe me, I have tried!

   replyreport
   1. 84

      Kenna McHughposted 2 months agoin reply to this

      DrMark, I agree. Google is as fickle as ever. But my wacky hair/crazy hair day article continues to do well, especially in the last four to five days. When it moved to Discover, it took Google some time to find it, but now it's doing well. Trying to replicate that hasn't been successful.

      replyreport
5. 83

   Rupert Taylorposted 2 months ago

   I'm beginning to think Apollonius the Budgie might be behind this.

   replyreport
   1. 85

      Miebakagh57posted 2 months agoin reply to this

      When will Apollonius the Budgie, start to speak? I'm that curious...lol!

      replyreport
6. 82

   Peggy Wposted 2 months ago

   Yes, the cause MUST be your budgie article! Haha!

   replyreport