The above analysis from compete.com shows the approximate number of visits made from the USA to some of the top absinthe sites found by searching Google.
It shows absinthebuyersguide.com and eabsinthe.com having 52% and 36% fewer visits in June 2008 compared with June 2007; with absinth.com and originalabsinthe.com up 66% and 17% respectively.
The biggest changes are the big drop in visits to absinthe.bz (down more than 60% on last year; advertising featured in my previous blog story) and the appearance of drinklucid.com in the top three (nearly 9,000 visits in June 2008, and catching up fast on the two leaders). At the same time, while FeeVerte.net has been stable over the last year, the other main forum, the Wormwood Society, is catching it up fast and is now receiving almost four times as many US visits as last year.
Knowing that the graphs are difficult to read, here is a summary of visits made from the USA to each of these sites: June 2007 > June 2008. And remember that these are approximate numbers only.
Absinth.com 6,634 > 11,027 (+ 66%)
OriginalAbsinthe.com 8,345 > 9,743 (+ 17%)
DrinkLucid.com 2,844 > 8,886 (+ 212%)
FeeVerte.net 6,524 > 6,547 (+ 0%)
AbsintheBuyersGuide.com 12,419 > 5,929 (- 52%)
Wormwood Society 1,485 > 5,909 (+ 298%)
Absinthe.bz 15,668 > 5,758 (- 63%)
eAbsinthe.com 4,832 > 3,105 (- 36%)
So what do these trends reveal?
1. While Google position is important, drinklucid.com fares well with a relatively low position: consumers are increasingly likely to be searching for specific absinthe brand names nowadays.
2. Interest in real absinthe seems to be increasing rapidly, with Lucid and the Wormwood Society the fastest growing sites. It is fascinating to witness the changes in consumption mirrored by - or maybe even led by - a change in sites visited.
3. In the next few months, it seems possible that drinklucid.com will become the most highly visited absinthe site in the USA.
4. Of course there is still one absinthe page that probably gets even more visits but I cannot reveal its figures. No, it's not this blog and it's not false modesty or confidentiality that is hiding my reader numbers! It's the Wikipedia page on absinthe: visit numbers unknown.
Any comments on all these numbers from my IT-minded readers? Any other interesting (and free!) site statistics?!
It's good to see the Czech sites aren't topping the charts like they once were. But do we have any numbers on hits? Knowing the number of visits is important. Let's say, for example, someone is looking for Czechsinthe and upon hitting the drinklucid.com page doesn't see their nuclear mouthwash. If they hit the back button after being on the page for only 10 or so seconds they're going to get only a fraction of the hits of someone that spends 5 minutes actually reading the page. If we had the numbers on hits we could get a better idea of how many people seriously looked into authentic absinthe and how many were still scouring for mouthwash...
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you're well aware of all this, of course, but I thought I would explain it for those that may not be familiar with internet rankings.
Another note: Lucid has been the biggest player in my experience as well. The number one question I've gotten the past year (aside from "dus this stuff make u halucin8?") is "where can I get a bottle of this stuff (Lucid)?". Also, in terms of popularity Lucid has been BYFAR the #1 most read review since last September, rivaled only briefly by Mansinthe. While I'm not especially fond of Lucid, if the US absinthe market can establish even ONE brand that is widely recognizable-and really how inthe hell could you miss that bottle-then its base should be able to expand more easily...
Ben
Thanks, Ben.
ReplyDeleteSorry, but with free statistics, I don't get much more than I reported.
I'd love to have more data - and to be able to publish it - but I cannot afford to buy it!
"but I cannot afford to buy it!"
ReplyDeleteYou and me both, Alan...
Still, it was a great analysis and should open the eyes of anyone who takes the time to give it a read.
Those lines on the graphs look even more interesting after you have had a couple of drinks. Trying to look at them upside down on my PC as I write this ....
ReplyDelete