It has been a little over two weeks since I began this blog, and I thought now might be a good time to reflect a bit on which posts people have liked the most, and what type of posts I should concentrate on going forward.

I have to admit, the first question is really,

“How can you tell what people like?”

Interestingly, I have already found two measures.

The first measure would be based on which posts have drawn the most comments and/or trackback links.

Based on this measure, the favorite posts to date have been:

1. Pluto is a Planet (2)
2. Scott Kleper & SpotDJ (2)
3. Behavioral Finance, Anchoring & eBay Auction Starting Prices (1)
4. Google, Apple & EBM (Everyone But Microsoft) (1)
5. Apple Updates: Mac Mini & 24″ iMacs (1)

The second measure I’ve been examining has been page views, with insight added based on which Google search terms people have used to find my posts in the last 7 days.

1. Dream Machine: Tivo Series 3 Available In September (27)
2. Scott Kleper & SpotDJ (11)
3. Behavioral Finance, Anchoring & eBay (9)
4. eBay Express TV Campaign Launches (8)
   
5. Pluto is a Planet (7)

This is fascinating to me. I can already see the dynamic that many bloggers have discussed, which is that over time, page views keep accumulating to old posts, even as you add new posts daily.

As a special tidbit, here are the top search terms that people have accessed before reaching my blog yesterday:

1. tivo series 3
2. jason steinhorn ebay guide
3. ebay express tv ads
4. series 3 tivo
5. ebay express television ads
6. best buy Tivo Series 3
7. psychohistory asimov

As a Product Manager for one of the largest websites in the world, I am very used to looking at various forms of site measurement. But there is something very different and very personal about seeing this information about my own blog.

I’m not sure what it is, but it’s almost like seeing my own thoughts from the outside – the way that the rest of the world finds interest in what I’ve written.

Anyway, after just two weeks, here are my initial thoughts on the information provided above:

1. Timely information is valuable. The Pluto post was hot the week that it was in the news. Tivo Series 3 is getting close, and is really spiking in traffic. Apple news is hot.  And what could be hotter than eBay Express?
2. When your readers are your friends, mentioning your friends gets you hits and trackbacks. It’s cheating, but it’s nice to see that it works as predicted.
3. What people comment on is not the same as what they read. Clearly, there is passion out there for topics, like Pluto, Apple, Google & eBay. However, no comments on the Tivo Series 3 posts, but lots of hits.  Alternatively, I’ve had quite a few people email me personally about the article on starting prices.  It’s really motivational to get that kind of feedback.

I continue to be excited about this blogging experiment.  I’ll continue to share more insights as I have them about this experience.