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Website Statistics
and why they’re important!
Updated 3/1/2009

We check this website’s statistics several times a week. It gives us a really good idea of who is reading it, what browsers they are using, and where people come from. It helps us to know how much we can add to the website to make it more attractive and easier to navigate. The more graphically intensive a website, the longer it will take to load on an old computer, computer connection or browser. (I sometimes find it a bit hard to believe that we seem to have some regular viewers from way outside of our part of New Jersey. Sometimes, really way out.)

Our website traffic is small by most internet standards, but we’re growing. We can have anywhere from 20 to 250 hits a day. Much depends on the time of year (e.g. summer vacation, Spring or Winter break), and what activities we are promoting at the moment (e.g. Salamander Migration, Great Backyard Bird Count, a special lecture, etc.).

When it comes to what browser people are using to reach our website, look at the graph directly below. While 4 or 5 years ago, nearly 95% of all traffic would be using Internet Explorer, that isn’t the case anymore. That now runs between 45 and 60%, depending on the day, a significant drop from just 2 years ago, and its dropping rapidly. People are changing, primarily to Firefox and Safari, with a few using other browsers. What does this tell us?. The first point is that Internet Explorer is rapidly decreasing in popularity…and it shows here. We’ve done a lot of research into this trend and the reasons are numerous. High on the list is that IE is slowest…and in some cases, MUCH slower. Also, it renders pages poorly when compared with newer and far more internet standard compliant browsers. Recent testing of a new version of IE has been disappointing to say the least.

So, what should you consider using? It seems that the best browsers for both Windows or Macintosh are (in order of speed and compliance with international internet standards) Safari, and then Firefox. Either would be an excellent replacement for IE. A major question that comes up, however, is “my computer has Internet Explorer and I can’t change.” You CAN! It’s as simple as that. If you’re concerned about keeping all your bookmarks then run 2 browsers on your computer. You can do that. It’s just another application. It won’t get rid of any of the bookmarks you had with IE and you can still have access to it if you want. However, with a new browser, you will see an immediate difference in how quickly pages load and how much better they look. Does this mean you MUST switch. No! if you’re happy with how IE is operating on your computer, then keep it. If you want to improve your browsing experience, especially with our graphic intensive pages, then either switch to Safari or Firefox on your computer, or merely add it as another option for browsing the internet.

What about WHERE people come from? This is interesting! We’re fully aware that people will sometimes get to njnaturenotes.com by accident. But, repeated visits from ‘unusual’ places usually means that the visit is intentional.

Look at the small chart directly below. Seven known countries (aside from the United States) are noted.

The interesting point here is that none of these are new countries for this website. They’ve all been to njnaturenotes before. To date (3/1/2009), we have logged 117 countries from around the world on our website (including the U.S.). Sometimes they come for the information and sometimes for the photos. And we’re fully aware that they sometimes reach us by accident. Whatever the reason, it’s flattering, and it’s nice to know that we’re helping others with an interest in nature and the environment.

We can always break down viewers by city or region. Here’s what that looks like for just one given day. As a result of some of these visits, we will receive the occasional email asking for specific information. Apparently, our information has a broader appeal and importance than we first believed. Likewise, that’s how we first found out that the Northern Green Frogs at our pond were indeed being preyed upon by our very cute, local Eastern Chipmunk. This information came from websites in Alabama, Connecticut and Minnesota. We’re always glad to help when possible.

Finally, what countries have visited this website? Well, in addition to ALL 50 STATES, we can list the following countries in the order in which they found us.

27-Scotland (4/7)

28-Turkey (4/8)

29-Finland (4/9)

30-India (4/10)

31-Belgium (4/11)

32-Thailand (4/12)

33-Hong Kong (4/12)

34-Slovenia (4/14)

35-New Zealand (4/14)

36-Hungary (4/16)

37-Croatia (4/17)

38-Malta (4/20)

39-Iceland (4/20)

40-Japan (4/22)

41-Denmark (4/25)

42-Switzerland (4/25)

43-Mexico (4/25)

44-Ecuador (4/27)

45-Portugal (4/29)

46-Greece (5/5)

47-Argentina (5/5)

48-South Africa (5/6)

49-Indonesia (5/9)

50-Chile (5/10)

51-Northern Ireland (5/11)

52-Kuwait (5/13)

53-Singapore (5/14)

54-Norway (5/16)

55-Luxembourg (5/29)

56-Peru (5/30)

57-Iran (6/4)

58-Vietnam (6/5)

59-Rep. of Korea (South Korea)(6/10)

60-Latvia (6/21)

61-Slovenia (6/25)

62-Venezuela (7/21)

63-Bulgaria (7/25)

64-Egypt (8/3)

65-Mauritius (8/17)

66-Mozambique (9/4)

67-Costa Rica (9/14)

68-Syria (9/16)

69-Paraguay (9/20)

70-Anguilla (9/27)

71-Colombia (10/25)

72-Pakistan (10/27)

73-Ukraine (11/2)

74-Jordan (11/28)

75-Brunei (12/4)

76-Lebanon (12/6)

77-Honduras (12/10)

2007

78-Bahrain (1/8)

79-Bahamas (1/13)

80-Jamaica (1/19)

81-Nigeria (1/19)

Continued from column on left.

82-Antigua & Barbuda (1/29)

83-El Salvador (2/2)

84-Serbia And Montenegro (2/17)

85-Cote D'ivoire (Ivory Coast) (2/27)

86-Saudi Arabia (6/3)

87-Maldives (6/4)

88-U.S. Virgin Islands (6/11)

89-Qatar (6/17)

90-Nicaragua (7/4)

91-Panama (7/17)

92-Guatemala (8/20)

93-Bosnia & Herzegovina (9/10)

94-Sri Lanka (10/11)

95-Trinidad and Tobago (11/13)

96-Kazakhstan (11/26)

97-Guyana (12/7)

98-Estonia (12/12)

2008

99-Macedonia (1/8)

100-Georgia (1/25)

101-Mongolia (2/11)

102-Barbados (2/25)

103-Grenada (3/23)

104-Albania (4/13)

105-Morocco (4/13)

106-Bangladesh (5/9)

107-Mali (8/16)

108-Slovakia (8/21)

109-Netherlands Antilles (10/16)

110-Botswana (10/16)

111-Kenya (10/16)

112-Guadeloupe (10/29)

113-Oman (11/2)

114-Azerbaijan (11/7)

115-Papua New Guinea (11/11)

116-Moldov (11/19)

2009

117-St. Lucia (1/14)

118-Guam (4/11)

119-Isle of Man (6/20)

120-Libya (8/27)

121-Tanzania (8/27)

122-Armenia (9/3)

123-Benin (9/4)

The list is still growing, but at a much slower rate. It’s interesting to see who finds our website, so we’ll keep posting new entries.

Enjoy the page.

Rich Wolfert

RUTGERS GARDENS FARM MARKET

Enjoy fresh produce from local farms without having to drive all over the map. From their website: The Rutgers Gardens Farmers Market was developed to provide the local community, (students, faculty, local residents, the university, delis, and restaurants) the opportunity to experience and purchase fresh, locally grown and/or made food products. More information here.

Additional Resources

Want to know who is calling you when the caller ID indicates ‘Unknown’, or ‘Out of Area’, or ‘Unlisted’? ” Try this website (whocalled)which may shed light on the mysterious caller