Mobile Accounts for 12.5% of Visits... and Other Interesting Stats From this Blog

Every so often I like to dig into this blog's traffic and see what it reveals. This time I was sparked by a Quora conversation about how bloggers use Google Analytics. I looked at traffic from the last 30 days and since January 1st.

Three things jump out:

1. 12.5% of my readership is now via mobile devices. That is up from 8% since January 1st. Considering its a content blog, 12.5% is a large amount and it represents a +50% gain.

2. Chrome has emerged as the #2 browser after a significant gain (25% from 18%). Meanwhile, Firefox and Internet Explorer both lost share (37% to 34% and 20% to 17%).

3. For Mobile usage, the iPhone and iPad are the clear #1 and #2. Amazingly, the iPad now accounts for 26% of all mobile visits. It has clearly eaten into the iPhone (which fell from 63% to 58%). Android has been relatively stable - 8% of visits over the last 30 days and 7% since Jan 1.

Of course this is biased data (from a tech blog) from a relatively small sample size (10,000+ monthly uniques).

Facebook Like Browser Extension Brings Likes, Social Graph to Every Webpage

As we await the long-rumored and supposedly forthcoming Facebook bar, Facebook developer Matt Kelly used Greasemonkey to bring Facebook Likes to any web page. The browser extension does two things... and each very well: "Facebook Like adds the ability to Like any page on the web. Also, if you click the plus (+), it will show you Recent Activity and Recommendations for the website you're currently on."

It is simple. But, as we saw last week with the Microsoft Outlook / Facebook plugin, the addition of basic Facebook functionality and its social graph is a powerful addition to traditional formats. And as we have seen with Flipboard, Facebook's social graph is a powerful navigation mechanism for content. The Facebook Like extension builds upon each... and I suppose is a taste for what's to come.

A close up of the activity panel when expanded:

Blown Away By Google Chrome: Firefox, Safari and Me (!)

More to come... but I am blown away by Google's new web browser, Chrome.

It's lightning fast. Blows Firefox, IE7, and Safari out of the water. Not even close.

It's slick. The UI is clean and there are tons of tiny enhancements like website thumbnails, most visited pages, etc.

The transition is simple. I hate installing new browsers because there is typically a big switching cost (namely, time). Chrome inherits all of my Firefox preferences (including quick searches) and makes the transition to the new browser seamless.

I have a new starting browser. And I didn't expect to say that at all!

Battling for the Homepage: What is your Start Page?

I've had a few interesting email exchanges in the past week about start pages. One friend of mine recently converted to Netvibes - the other switched to iGoogle... and both made the switch from a single news service (ESPN.com and WashingtonPost.com respectively) to the multi-content aggregator. When asked what my start page is, I have a long-winded response:

- I don't really have a start page because my browser is always running and Firefox resumes all of your tabs when you restart

- I have 4 computers and have 4 different homepages depending on the primary use of that system / location

- I have a Netvibes page that runs 20 Widgetbox Blidgets from my favorite content / feeds... but I find myself going there only a few times a day

Instead, I rely on Firefox, email and rss. Those are my navigational pivots for the web.

I have customized my FF toolbar with hotlinks to my favorite pages, blogs, sites, etc. I use this throughout the day.

I set my FF navigation box to accept inputs that directly go to frequently visited destinations: g 'query' --> takes me to a google search for that query e 'query' --> goes to ebay a 'query' --> goes to amazon

Similar things are built for searches on stocks (f), yahoo (y), msn (m), berecruited (b), widgetbox (w), etc.

For content browsing, much of my navigation starts with email - it's how I find must-read articles and news (thanks to friends who fill my inbox). I use Digg for social news browsing (I have a Digg screensaver and commit to clicking and reading at least one article every time I return to my article). And I live by RSS - both as a publisher and a consumer.

Speaking of RSS feeds - if you're a high-volume feed user, you'll enjoy Josh Kopelman's latest post.