I began this blog in January of 2007, and it has been one of my primary projects over the past year. Before then I still wrote newspaper columns, did radio & TV, and did my weekly E-Newsletter, but I did not add content to the website daily as I do now. In judging the success of the project after the first year, I would have to say that we have been successful. A few points:
1) The traffic has been strong and continues to rise. Over the past three months we’ve received 1.2 million unique visits. From Thanksgiving until New Year’s Day–normally a slow time for any media because of the numerous holidays–www.GlennSacks.com and its sister site www.HisSide.com received 543,270 unique visits.
2) On the subject of traffic, here’s an interesting comparison. When I first started doing this work in May of 2001, I noticed that one of the major content websites on the web was www.FrontPageMag.com. It is run by the high-profile conservative David Horowitz and his Center for the Study of Popular Culture. In addition to Horowitz, who is a regular on major TV and radio shows, the site features many other well-known people, including Dick Morris, Ann Coulter, Debbie Schlussel, Dennis Prager, Michael Reagan, Michael Tremoglie, and others. Their traffic is similar to that of Bill O’Reilly’s website, www.BillOreilly.com.
The other day it thought it would be interesting to see how our traffic stood up to theirs. Horowitz prominently posts his impressive traffic on his website. I figured if my site got 5% of their traffic, I’d be doing well. According to www.FrontPageMag.com, in November and December they received 2,321,735 visits. In November and December, www.GlennSacks.com and www.HisSide.com received 781,633 unique visits–33.7% of theirs.
3) The blog gives you, the reader, a voice. Many of our blog posts get 10,000 views, and some get over 20,000. These include, of course, your comments. Also, because of our traffic and the website’s history, our entries do very well in Google searches. When you write comments on www.glennsacks.com, odds are that a pretty fair number of people will see them. Below are a few examples of prominent people or issues I’ve blogged about, and our ranking in search engines:
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott frequently bashes fathers and launches high-profile campaigns against so-called “deadbeat dads.” On the Google search “Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott,” we are the second distinct entry out of almost 50,000, second only to the Texas Attorney General’s own website.
Tyna Marie Robertson falsely accused celebrity dancer Michael Flatley of rape, and it was reported in newspapers and news outlets all over the world. On the Google search “Tyna Marie Robertson,” my blog entry on the case is third out of 21,900.
Matthew Winkler was shot in the back as he slept and left to die by his wife, Mary Winkler, who served only 67 days for the crime. On the Google search “Matthew Winkler,” we are the 8th distinct entry out of 24,800.
On the Google search “Single Mothers by Choice,” we are the 7th distinct entry out of 22,900, right behind the New York Times.
Irene Mathyssen is a prominent member of the Canadian parliament and a feminist. She falsely accused a male MP of looking at lurid pictures on the internet during a parliamentary session. On the Google search “Irene Mathyssen,” we rank 7th out of 24,400.
On the Google search for “Clara Harris,” the Murder by Mercedes killer, we’re the seventh distinct website out of 26,000–right between CNN and FOX.
Jessica Valenti is a prominent feminist writer and www.Feministing.com is a leading feminist blog. On the Google search for “Jessica Valenti” Feministing, we’re third out of 11,900–right after Feministing.com and www.Salon.com, a major web publication.
In the Google search for “California National Organization for Women,” we’re third, behind only their own website and NOW’s national site.
In the Google search for “Single Motherhood by Choice,” we’re second out of 4,200, behind only Amazon.com
“Manuel Jesus Cordova Soberanes” is an immigrant who saved a young boy found wandering in the desert. His case was reported by many major newspapers, but in a Google search for his name, we’re first.
If unusual cases come up, we’re often near the top of the Google searches. For example, for “Chris Calbi,” the New Jersey father who must pay alimony to the woman who killed his son, we’re 3rd.
Anyway, the blog has been very successful and, I hope, will continue to be. I thank all of you who read and comment.
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