Young House Love

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The Facts & Figures Of Blogging

Fire up your laser pointers and bunsen burners. We’re back with our yearly numerical slash statistical goodness. Each year we like to break down what YHL looks like by the numbers. Some are crazy. Some are surprising. Some are serious. Some are, well, just for fun.

Number Post Blogiversary

Oh and this year we thought we’d include a few fun blog facts that might blow your mind (no guarantees though, your mind might remain intact).

Fun Bloggy Fact #1: Each month the cost for us to host our site (so it loads well/doesn’t crash, etc) is more than our mortgage payment.

Fun Bloggy Fact #2: We have written over 2,311 posts in the past five years, and if they each took an average of 2.5 hours to write (that’s the usual with uploading & editing pics) that means we’ve spent 5,777.5 hours writing posts, which translates to over 240 straight days of post-writing (without any sleep).

Fun Bloggy Fact #3: There have actually been Internet rumors about us, which always strike us as extremely hilarious for some reason. They’re usually of the “Sherry is pregnant” variety (I joke that I would have ten kids already based on their frequency) but perhaps the most random one was something we learned about when John’s mom called to say that her sister’s friend told her we were Mormons (which apparently is a popular rumor about us). Who knew?! There’s nothing wrong with being a Mormon, it’s just not our religion – so it’s pretty funny when your relatives hear something like that through the Internet grapevine! Also, in case you’re wondering, I’m not prego. Haha.

Fun Bloggy Fact #4: The total value of all the giveaways that we have hosted on our site in the past five years is over $55,000! And we’ve given away more value in prizes over the last two months (over $15,000!) than we did over the entire first two years of hosting them on our site.

Fun Bloggy Fact #5: Blogging is the longest job either of us have ever held (if you count the full five years that we’ve done it, not just the more recent ones when it was our full-time profession).

Fun Bloggy Fact #6: Tori Spelling once called us (herself! For real!) to chat about producing a TV show with us. True story. She was really nice (and there was a goat and a chicken in the background, which was hilarious) but you guys know that we’re waaaay too awkward to pursue a TV show gig. I can barely survive almost touching hands with Nate Berkus. We’re just happy to hide safely behind our laptops. As for when the call took place, it was actually right after Hurricane Irene, so we were camped out at John’s parents house where they had power, and I took this picture to forever memorialize the event.

Conference Call On Floor

Fun Bloggy Fact #7: Last month our site got 5.5 million page views (crazytown) and our total number of page views for all time is over 143 million (which is funny because we pretend we’re writing to ten people to avoid blog stage fright).

OK, now on to a slew of straight-up-stats. We’ve included some of last year’s numbers just for comparison’s sake, but you can also look back at our past by-the-numbers posts for our last four blogiversaries to see how things have changed: 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008.

1,043,621  – The number of total comments left by you fine folks. Nearly double our number last year (570,314) meaning there has been nearly as much commenting action in the last 12 months as our first four years.

76,825 – The number of comment responses we’ve posted ourselves, which is nearly double last year’s total (38,754).

Pamen – Default name Clara gives anything if you ask her “hey, what’s that bear’s/doll’s/person’s name?” (Aemon is her second most popular choice). No idea where either of those came from…

4 – Our longest span (in days) of not blogging over the last 1,827 days, also known as the last five years (through having a baby, an earthquake, a hurricane – we’re like the postal service, haha).

3 – Average number of times a week we find ourselves at Home Depot.

DayLife 17 Home Depot

143 – The number of published posts to date on Young House Life (clearly someone’s gotta pick up the slack over there, especially when compared to the 2,311 posts that we’ve written on YHL).

21 – Number of months we’ve lived in our new house.

27 – Clara’s weight. Up from 21 lbs last year. She’s tall and skinny like her daddy.

8  – My main man Burger’s weight. A smidge down from a whopping 8.5 lbs last year.

198 – Total number of weekly giveaways that we’ve held since starting them back in November of ’08 (after you guys requested them during our very first blogiversary).

35  – Our average number of posts per month.

4 – Number of soda-themed shirts that John owns (up one from last year’s total thanks to adding a Coke one to the Dr. Pepper, Sprite, and Pepsi collection).

303 – Number of Instagram photos posted to date.

Instagram Pic

1,800 – Average number of words written per post (we’re chatty, huh?).

14,400 – Average number of words written per week (admittedly, this is kind of insane).

629 – The total number of projects that we link to on our Projects page (we still have around 40 to add, but haven’t gotten to that part of our to-do list yet. Sorry!)

70 – Number of Clara photos that we’ve taken for her photo project (52 weekly pictures + 17 monthly pics + 1 for her birthday card).

933,962 – Number of Pinterest followers (this. is. insane.)

1 – Number of ears remaining on Clara’s Olivia doll for her dollhouse (don’t ask, it was a terrible tragedy and we try not to speak of it).

One Eared Olivia

So there you have it. The stats of the year. Do you guys count things like average trips to Home Depot or how many soda shirts you own? Are we the only weirdos who document this stuff?

Psst- You can also look back at our past by-the-numbers posts for our last three blogiversaries here: 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008.

Update – Some of the most frequent requests that we get are for info about professionally blogging (how we made our site, how we grew our following, how we make money, etc) so we shared all of the details about how we started a blog, grew our traffic, and turned it into a full time job. 

Comments

  3. Shona says

    Haha! I have encountered the Mormon rumors about you guys online before. I am not Mormon, but I live in Utah, and I did not get that vibe from you guys at all. It’s funny that people think that, though. I think it’s partly because you guys maintain a squeaky clean blog. You’re just so darned wholesome! :)

    Reply

  4. vel says

    Can’t believe you turned down Tori Spelling??!!! If she’s as good a producer as her father was, for sure, You guys will have a spin-off show like “Young House Lane” in the future too! LOL!

    Seriously though, your blog is just fun and great, so totally get it when you’ve shunned the spotlight more than once. :-)

    Reply

  5. Brittany says

    My husband owns 31 t-shirts. Some from college, grad school, random 5Ks/marathons.

    What is it with boys and their tees?

    Serious note: I’m a recent (started at the beginning of the kitchen redo) follower of YHL, but following your progress and looking over past posts I am totally inspired! We are (and probably will always be) renters, but your tips are always thoughtful and applicable for any situation! It’s so fun to click through everyday and see advice that is accessible for every budget or living arrangement. Major kudos.

    Reply

  7. Shannon says

    Amazing growth!

    I’m an internet marketing nerd and wondered if you really mean “hits” or something else like visits, page views, etc.? Hits isn’t a stat that gets used much anymore.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      They’re pageviews technically since that’s what Wirdoress stats counts automatically. We figured it’s also closest to the old school metric of “hits.”

      -John

    • Shannon says

      Actually, page views are way more impressive! 1 page could have dozens of “hits” which just counts each item it had to pull of the server – the page, each image, etc.

      I was impressed by your increase in “hits” but now I’m even more impressed knowing it’s page views. You guys have worked hard for that kind of traffic and deserve every bit of it.

  8. Alice says

    Being that I am an accountant, this numbery post is right up my alley.

    Do you guys prefer Home Depot to Lowes or is it more convenient because of location? I prefer Home Depot for home improvement stuff for some reason and Lowes for things more geared towards home decor.

    Reply

  9. LauraC says

    Josh just got his first “pop” tea shirt last week. It was Mt. Dew, in honor of his favorite drink, plus it was a nice shade of green, plus he could use a new shirt (duh, that’s why we bought it). And maybe I did think of John when we got it and mention it to Josh. ;)

    Reply

  10. Megan says

    Love your blog! I always look forward to reading!

    Just a quick question….Obviously Home Depot is your store of choice! I usually go to Lowe’s so I was wondering why the preference. :o)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We definitely have gone to Lowe’s too, HD is just closer and tends to have more of what we’re looking for (ex: they had more vinyl flooring options for granny’s makeover).

      xo,
      s

  12. Nicole says

    I was SO SURE this is where the number + weight thing was going, I was already smiling/half-laughing, waiting for what seemed to be the perfect opportunity for another hilarious joke from YHL:

    27 – Clara’s weight. Up from 21 lbs last year. She’s tall and skinny like her daddy.

    8 – My main man Burger’s weight. A smidge down from a whopping 8.5 lbs last year.

    198 – Sherry’s weight as of this morning.

    However, it was actually a serious number about your giveaways, which is also interesting :) And, since I’m sure you weigh about 100 lbs sopping wet, Sherry, that’s why I thought it would be so funny. Is joking about weight funny…?

    Love the blog!

    Reply

  13. Courtney says

    I’m sure you guys noticed this since you’re usually so in tune with the 243/143 (we love you/I love you) trends, but I noticed that two of your stats (fun fact #7 and the YHLife fact) involve the number 143! Seems perfect for you and YHL.

    Reply

  14. Christina @ Homemade Ocean says

    Yup….mind=blown!

    I always secretly wondered what your summary page looked like of how many posts and comments and pages and you know all that stuff.

    I have a question….we obviously all read blogs here. What blogs or websites do you guys go to everyday?

    Great post!!!

    Reply

  15. Ali Miller says

    Number one reason not to share your address with your readers: You would promptly receive 1,000,000 Olivia dolls in the mail.

    Reply

  18. Rachel says

    You guys are amazing! Such impressive numbers (and it’s a nice follow-up to see the pay-off you get from the crazy hours you put in).

    The Mormon rumor makes me smile. As a Mormon myself, I wondered whether you guys could maybe be when I first started reading (maybe because you don’t drink and don’t really ever mention coffee?), but quickly realized that wasn’t the case.

    Reply

  19. ashley says

    congratulations! i love looking at things through numbers!
    we did our wedding table numbers like that…
    0-fish we caught on our first fly fishing trip
    6.67-cost of ice cream on our first date
    2219-first house number we shared together
    etc.

    best of luck!

    Reply

  20. Kaylene says

    Ready for some mushiness?
    I noticed 143 popped up in your stats a couple times (143 mil views, 143 posts on YHLife) You know 143 stands for “I love you” which explains the 143 MILLION viewers! We just love you guys :)
    -Kaylene

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, we love that number too and couldn’t believe it popped up! We picked 243 for the number of projects in our book because it secretly means “we love you” :)

      xo,
      s

  22. Erin @ The Impatient Gardener says

    I don’t even know you but I have to say you are clearly the most organized person I know. I would pay you to organize my life (hell it was a major success and blog-post worthy when I organized my damn junk drawer) if you weren’t so busy writing 1,800-word posts!

    Reply

  23. Elizabeth says

    I love post like this. I have this crazy desire to make list of information, like the detailed account of Q 95.5’s “Top 8 at 8” count downs from when I was in middle school, so I can’t get enough of fun facts!

    Reply

  26. kyrstin says

    I am now pinterest follower 934,373!

    I never had thought to follow the original source of most my pins!

    Congrats on 5 years!

    Reply

  27. Alexa says

    We don’t necessarily count our Home Depot trips per week but we do call it Home Threepo, because we can never seem to get it all taken care of in the first (or second) run.

    Reply

  28. Kristine says

    I’ve always said that if I had three wishes, one for sure would be some sort of internal/magical stat checker that would have tracked everything for my whole life. Like I’d love to know how many apples I’ve eaten in my lifetime. Seems like you guys would enjoy that too and I dig that about you and your blog. :)

    Reply

  30. Lindsay says

    The exact same thing happened to my daughter’s Olivia doll! Her name is also Clara and she was also beyond upset that she could no longer use both ear bows when accessorizing!

    Reply

  32. Sheena says

    Wow. Love this breakdown! Facts #1 and 7 are just ridiculous! I, too, try to think that I’m writing for an audience of ten.. but that’s probably because I am! Haha. :) Congrats on all the success!

    Reply

  33. Becky says

    Congrats on 5 years! Here’s a fun fact I’m interested in knowing – do you know how many countries are represented in your readership?

    Reply

  34. Martha says

    I’ve always wondered about the giveaways – do you contact the winner or do they have to click on the Pssst… link you post later in the week? Have you ever had prizes go unclaimed? If so, what happens to them?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We email people too but sometimes it goes to their spam folder so they see the “pssst” thing and it helps them claim it. If we don’t hear from the person in three business days, we pick a second random winner, but that rarely happens.

      xo,
      s

  35. Lucy says

    With such staggering increases, and presumably more to come, have you guys ever considered hiring support staff? If so, can I apply?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw you’re cute! We love DIYing it all for now, but we’ll male a big announcement if we need to add someone to help around here. So far it’s kind of fun chaos :)

      xo,
      s

  37. Kim says

    This is awesome! 1,043,621 comments?! Crazytown! To be honest, I’m always so torn about commenting- I want you guys to know how much I adore your site and everything you do, but when I go to comment I can’t help but think “I shouldn’t add another comment for poor Sherry to approve! She’s probably doing a million things right now!”

    Reply

  38. Powerpuff says

    My boyfriend has a few soda shirts: Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, 7-Up. I got them as Christmas presents after seeing John’s…

    Is your book tour coming to San Francisco or San Jose? I live in between so either city would be great!

    Reply

  40. Michelle says

    You guys ARE adorably akward, and that’s why I would LOVE to watch a show starring you.

    I get why you wouldnt want to though, so stick with the gut. :)

    Reply

  41. Jennifer says

    What a fun way to look back at achievments and how far along this blog of yours has come! I still can’t get over the hosting cost being more than your mortgage!!

    Reply

  42. Sharon says

    You’re funny. People probably think you’re mormon because you seem so family driven, which is totally a mormon thing (not only that religion, but they are known for that).
    I have a boy Clara’s age, so it always makes me smile when you say random things that she does, cause my boy is essentially going through the same phase :)

    Reply

  45. Britney R. says

    As a Mormon reader of your blog, I found that funny. I imagine it comes from the fact that John doesn’t drink and one time you vaguely said that you’re Christian. As a Mormon, I could tell that you’re not from little things that someone else might not catch. :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, zero! We actually post 99.9% of the negative comments we get. We probably delete one a year that’s just really not constructive at all (ex: your baby is ugly). We’re blown away at the online love so many folks show us!

      xo,
      s

  47. Joules (from Pocketful of Joules) says

    I find these number insanely fascinating! And poor Olivia’s ear — stealing all the attention. lol

    I still do a funny little celebration every time my blog has a new “highest visitors number” so I can only imagine the crazy wild dancing that comes with 5.5 million hits!

    Love you guys!

    Reply

  49. Kelley says

    Did I miss the story behind the green Tabasco bottle? I love that stuff! Have you had it on popcorn? I can use almost a whole bottle on one batch! Thanks for the stats — always fascinating. You guys are such a treat for computer-bound workers like me! Thanks for the smiles!!

    Reply

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