I've written before with practical steps for local blogging and on why local blogging is critical for Democratic success in 2008. Today I've got a progress report on local blogging efforts in West Virginia.
The most important part: a thousand thank you's. January's been a phenomenal month for West Virginia Blue. Whether you're an email subscriber, a regular commenter, a casual observer or (about to be!) a first time visitor, we extend our deepest gratitude. You're helping WV blogging grow and prosper.
Follow the jump for Jan. highlights, neat graphics and future plans.
January Highlights
- Renamed site West Virginia Blue (with new template and a logo).
- Included in multiple web directories: most significantly, LeftyBlogs.
- Selected as West Virginia representative for the BlogPAC 50-state blog network.
- Doubled the number of regular contributors (with more on the way).
- Upgraded to the "new Blogger" (causing yet another template update!).
The Site is Getting Noticed
Visitors come from near and far.
The city names are Internet Service Provider locations. With so many West Virginian's living near to and working outside of state lines, many residents also appear as "out of state" Internet visitors.
Our daily average traffic has grown from 70 visits per day in early January (the yellow line) to over 100 per day (the blue line).
Finally, our Technorati ranking has skyrocketed from 2.4 million on 12/31/06 to the 162,000's.
We're on a clear trend from total obscurity to, ummm... let's just call it, to a much higher ranking!
What's In Our future?
As we continue to grow, we're planning a move to a "community" platform (like Soapblox or Scoop) that supports user diaries. Most importantly, we'll continue to provide more of the same.
Thank you for your support. Keep on visiting for focused daily new and analysis of politics, progressive issues, and life here in West Virginia.
Diary image credit: psd</div>