2017 Statistics

I thought that I would post a few random observations using data from Warpstone Flux derived via Google Analytics.

Audience.
Most of my hits to my blog come from the UK and USA. Australia is a distant third, and then Germany and Canada. There's then another gulf to sixth place (France / Sweden / Spain). This is about in line with my expectations from previous years and at least points to a steady stream of viewers who are always coming back here and is consistent with previous years.

Age group modal value is the 25 to 34 year old age bracket. This is again consistent over the years. What is perhaps a little surprising is how I've (apparently) grown my gender balance. It used to be highly male dominated. Yet google analytics now reports that the male percentage of hits is just under 55%. Maybe this is related to who actually *owns* the device that is browsing my web site more than anything. Yet I remain hopeful that my writing is inclusive enough that there are now many more women involved in the game and reading this site.

Technology.
Most hits are from Chrome. There is then a gulf to Safari in second place and then Firefox in third. IE and Edge fall way behind these top three. Windows is by far the most popular OS, followed by iOS, Mac and Android in a distant 4th place. Desktop access is an order of magnitude more popular than tablets or mobiles to access this site. I find this aspect curious given how much technology in recent years has gone in to optimizing sites for mobile access.

Arrival.
Most hits arrive here organically or via google (by an order of magnitude). This is followed by direct hits (i.e. people who regularly come here or have bookmarked it, or similar). Lagging behind is the internal links I have embedded in each post (link within technology). Behind this is Bell of Lost Souls and Natfka. (Thanks guys!).

Most popular pages.
By far the most popular page is the homepage. However, in terms of individual pages, the top ten for this site for 2017 are:

10. Thousand Sons Legion Rules Review. I'm slightly disappointed that this post from 2017 is not higher up in the top ten. But clearly this is a popular legion by all accounts.

9. On Primaris Space Marines. A post from 40k in the top ten! Excellent!

8. How to automatically explode tanks in the Horus Heresy. You might not be able to do this without the consent of your opponent. Heck, it might not be possible depending on how you read the rules. But here is the method / combo regardless.

7. Night Lords Legion Rules Review. I don't particularly like the Night Lords (or playing against them). Yet here they persist in the top ten!

6. Dark Angels Legion Rules Review. They may not yet have rules for the Lion, but the legion rules being in the top ten suggests a very strong interest out there for the First.

5. Imperial Fists Legion Rules Review. A little bit of an eye-opener to me, the fists are clearly still popular in 2017!

4. Space Wolves Legion Rules Review. This is the top post that was actually created in 2017!

3. Alpha Legion Rules Review. Clearly my interest in the XX legion is shared by many and folks are keen to still read about my views of this legion in 30k. Thanks for the support! Hydra Dominatus, my loyal brothers.

2. Horus Heresy Army List Building: Basics. There's obviously a deep hunger out there for 30k information and thoughts how to make armies. So this post in number 2 slot seems like a no brainer.

1. Horus Heresy Review Summary. No surprises here for me, and probably anyone else. The resources I've made available here seems terrifically popular. Even if the older ones are now dated. This is by far the most popular page of the entire year by a very good margin!

The most popular non-rules related posts are about army building (at number 2) and painting Alpha Legion marines (a bit of a way off the top ten).

Happy New Year for 2018 Folks :)