Unveiling the Numbers: A Deep Dive into Our Blogging Journey
Get ready to spark your curiosity and engage your inner statistician! It’s that time of year again when we pull back the curtain and present the Young House Love journey through a fascinating array of numbers and insights. Each year, we meticulously compile these statistics to offer a unique snapshot of what our world looks like numerically. Some figures are truly astonishing, others might genuinely surprise you, a few carry serious weight, and, of course, some are just here to bring a smile to your face.
This year, we’ve decided to sweeten the deal by including a collection of “Fun Bloggy Facts” that might just boggle your mind – though we offer no guarantees, your mind might remain perfectly intact! These facts offer a glimpse into the quirky, surprising, and often hilarious realities of running a popular blog.
Fun Bloggy Facts: The Quirky Realities Behind the Screen
Behind every perfectly styled photo and carefully crafted DIY tutorial lies a world of fascinating details and dedicated effort. These fun facts reveal some of the unexpected aspects of our blogging life.
Fun Bloggy Fact #1: Unbelievable Hosting Costs
You might think running a blog is a low-cost endeavor, but for a site with our traffic and content volume, reliable hosting is paramount. We invest heavily to ensure our site loads quickly, remains secure, and doesn’t crash under peak demand. It’s a testament to the scale of our operation and our commitment to providing a seamless experience for our readers that each month, the cost for us to host our site is actually more than our mortgage payment. This incredible expense underscores the infrastructure required to support millions of page views and thousands of articles, ensuring you can always access our content without a hitch. It’s a significant investment, but one we believe is essential for maintaining the quality and accessibility you’ve come to expect from Young House Love.
Fun Bloggy Fact #2: A Monumental Time Investment in Content Creation
Consistency and quality are cornerstones of our content strategy. Over the past five years, we have meticulously crafted and published more than 2,311 posts. When you factor in the entire process – from brainstorming ideas and planning projects to executing them, taking high-quality photographs, writing the detailed narratives, and finally editing everything for publication – each post demands a significant time commitment. We estimate an average of 2.5 hours per post, which means we’ve dedicated an astonishing 5,777.5 hours to writing and preparing content. To put that into perspective, that’s over 240 straight days of non-stop post-writing, without even a minute for sleep! It’s a marathon of creativity and dedication, reflecting our passion for sharing inspiring home projects and stories with our vibrant community.
Fun Bloggy Fact #3: Navigating the Curious World of Internet Rumors
One of the more peculiar aspects of having a public platform is the emergence of internet rumors. We often find them extremely hilarious, perhaps because they’re so disconnected from our reality. The most frequent rumor, much to our amusement, has been the “Sherry is pregnant” variety. At this rate, I joke that I would have ten kids already based on their sheer frequency! However, one of the most random rumors reached us through an unexpected channel: John’s mom called to tell us her sister’s friend heard we were Mormons. While there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a Mormon, it’s not our religion, which made the “Internet grapevine” delivery of this particular piece of misinformation quite comical. It’s a fascinating reminder of how information, or misinformation, can spread online. And no, for those wondering, I’m not prego. Haha.
Fun Bloggy Fact #4: An Incredible Commitment to Community Giveaways
Giving back to our incredible community has always been a core value for us. We’re thrilled to announce that the total value of all the giveaways we’ve hosted on our site over the past five years exceeds an incredible $55,000! This commitment to our readers has only grown stronger with time. In fact, we’ve given away more value in prizes in just the last two months alone (over $15,000!) than we did throughout the entire first two years of hosting giveaways on our site. These giveaways are our way of saying thank you for your loyalty, engagement, and support, and we love seeing the excitement they bring to your lives.
Fun Bloggy Fact #5: Blogging as Our Longest Professional Endeavor
It’s quite a milestone to realize that blogging has become the longest job either of us has ever held. If you count the full five years since we started, not just the more recent period when it transitioned into our full-time profession, it truly stands out. This journey from a passion project to a sustained career has been incredibly rewarding, marked by continuous learning, adapting, and growing with our audience. It speaks volumes about the dedication required and the deep satisfaction we derive from this unique path.
Fun Bloggy Fact #6: That Time Tori Spelling Called Us!
Prepare for a true story that still makes us chuckle: Tori Spelling once called us herself, for real! She was interested in chatting about potentially producing a TV show with us. It was an incredibly surreal experience. She was genuinely nice, and to add to the absurdity, we could distinctly hear a goat and a chicken in the background during our conversation, which was absolutely hilarious. However, as many of you know, we are inherently awkward and generally prefer to operate safely behind our laptops. The thought of a TV show gig was just a bit too much for our comfort zones. I mean, I could barely survive almost touching hands with Nate Berkus! The call actually took place right after Hurricane Irene, when we were camped out at John’s parents’ house, enjoying their precious power. I even snapped a picture to forever memorialize this bizarre and wonderful event.
Fun Bloggy Fact #7: The Astonishing Scale of Our Readership
Sometimes, the numbers truly blow us away. Just last month, our site garnered an astonishing 5.5 million page views – it’s truly crazytown! When we look at the grand total, our site has accumulated over 143 million page views throughout its entire history. This figure is particularly funny to us because, to combat any potential “blog stage fright,” we often pretend we’re just writing to a small group of ten people. It helps keep our content authentic and relatable, even as the reality of our immense readership continues to grow exponentially. We are continually humbled by the sheer number of people who choose to visit our corner of the internet for inspiration and information.
Straight-Up Stats: A Data-Driven Look at Young House Love
Now that we’ve shared some of the more anecdotal and whimsical insights, let’s dive into the hard data. These “straight-up stats” provide a quantitative overview of our blog’s growth, our community’s engagement, and some personal metrics that define our unique journey. For context, we’ve included some of last year’s numbers, but you can also explore our historical “by-the-numbers” posts from previous blogiversaries to see the full evolution: 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008.
1,043,621 – The remarkable total number of comments left by you, our fantastic readers. This figure is nearly double last year’s total of 570,314, indicating that the last 12 months have seen almost as much commenting action as our first four years combined! Your engagement and thoughtful contributions are the lifeblood of our community.
76,825 – The number of comment responses we’ve personally posted. This is also nearly double last year’s total of 38,754, demonstrating our commitment to interacting with our readers and fostering meaningful conversations.
Pamen – Clara’s adorable default name for anything if you ask her, “Hey, what’s that bear’s/doll’s/person’s name?” (Aemon is her second most popular choice.) We still have no idea where either of these charming names originated!
4 – Our longest span, in days, of not blogging over the last 1,827 days (equivalent to five full years). Through having a baby, an earthquake, and a hurricane, we’ve maintained an incredible consistency – truly like the postal service, come rain or shine!
3 – The average number of times a week we find ourselves navigating the aisles of Home Depot, a true testament to our ongoing love for DIY projects and home renovation.
143 – The total number of published posts to date on Young House Life, our more personal blog. This contrasts with the massive 2,311 posts on our main YHL site, clearly showing where the bulk of our content creation happens!
21 – The number of months we’ve happily lived in our current home, which has provided endless content and inspiration for the blog.
27 – Clara’s current weight in pounds, up from 21 lbs last year. She’s growing tall and skinny, just like her daddy!
8 – My main man Burger’s weight in pounds, a slight decrease from his whopping 8.5 lbs last year. Our little furry companion is doing great.
198 – The impressive total number of weekly giveaways we’ve hosted since initiating them in November of ’08, following direct requests from our readers during our very first blogiversary celebration. We love giving back!
35 – Our consistent average number of posts published per month, showcasing our steady stream of fresh content.
4 – The number of soda-themed shirts that John proudly owns, an increase of one from last year’s total thanks to the addition of a Coke shirt to his Dr. Pepper, Sprite, and Pepsi collection. A true aficionado!
303 – The total number of Instagram photos posted to date, documenting our projects, daily life, and behind-the-scenes moments visually.
1,800 – The average number of words written per post. Yes, we are quite chatty, and we love delving into the details for you!
14,400 – The astonishing average number of words we write per week. Admittedly, this figure truly highlights the intense writing commitment involved in running Young House Love.
629 – The total number of projects that we proudly link to on our comprehensive Projects page. We still have around 40 more to add, but finding the time to tackle that part of our to-do list is always a challenge – apologies for the delay!
70 – The number of Clara photos we’ve captured for her delightful photo project, including 52 weekly pictures, 17 monthly pictures, and one special photo for her birthday card. A growing collection of precious memories!
933,962 – The incredible number of Pinterest followers we’ve amassed. This figure, to us, is truly insane and highlights the power of visual inspiration and community on that platform!
1 – The number of ears remaining on Clara’s beloved Olivia doll for her dollhouse. Don’t ask for details; it was a terrible tragedy, and we try not to speak of it, but it’s a poignant reminder of childhood adventures!
Reflections on a Year in Blogging
So there you have it – another year in the books, presented through our annual compilation of fun facts and compelling statistics. These numbers are more than just data points; they represent our dedication, your incredible engagement, and the countless stories we’ve shared along the way. We find immense joy in documenting these aspects of our journey, and it always makes us wonder: do you guys track similar quirky details in your own lives, like your average trips to Home Depot or how many soda shirts you own? Are we the only delightful weirdos who meticulously document this stuff?
Psst – For those who love a good historical dive, you can also look back at our past “by-the-numbers” posts for our previous blogiversaries here: 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008. Discover how much has changed and how much has remained wonderfully constant!
Update for Aspiring Bloggers: We frequently receive requests for insights into the professional aspects of blogging – how we built our site, how we cultivated such a large following, and how we managed to turn it into a sustainable income source. We’ve compiled all the essential details about how we successfully started a blog, strategically grew our traffic, and ultimately transformed it into a fulfilling full-time job. If you’re considering embarking on your own blogging adventure, this resource is packed with practical advice and our firsthand experiences to help guide your path to success.