Today is the two-year anniversary of Base and Superstructure! How time flies! I started this blog in June 2018 mostly as a hobby and creative outlet. Well over 100 posts later, I’m sticking with it. On the first anniversary, I wrote a reflective FAQ. For the second anniversary, I’ll write a new FAQ using new data.
Enjoy!
“How many people read Base and Superstructure?”
This is a small blog, with traffic going up and down with news cycles and current events. For the first 6 months, it ranged from 200 to 500 readers per month. That’s pretty low. Much lower than most popular blogs.
Things are much better than that now, but it ebbs and flows. Last spring, we were up toward 2,000 readers per month. I expected a decline over the summer, and it happened. Traffic dipped to about 1,000 per month. Things picked back up in the fall and winter as the presidential race warmed up, but then COVID-19 knocked us back down to about 1,000 readers per month.
1,000 readers is less than I’d like. Ideally, I’d like to see the blog consistently hit about 10,000 readers per month. That’s what a steady reader base looks like to me.
“What are the most popular posts?”
This is actually pretty stable over time, though we’ve seen a few recent shifts in the rankings. Here are the top 5 posts over the last year:
1. 5 Successful Anti-Capitalist Films
2. The Demographics of a Bernie Sanders Victory
3. DSA Caucuses: What’s the Deal?
4. Andrew Yang on Universal Basic Income
5. Political Quiz: Leftist, Liberal, or Bernie?
I can draw out some common themes. The most popular posts are useful discussions – which films to watch, how to interact with political organizations – or analysis of the 2020 primaries. The other common theme, to which I’ll turn next, is that most popular posts perform well in Google searches.
“How’s your SEO/Google search data?”
Glad someone asked! Base and Superstructure does very well with SEO and Google search rankings. The theme here is admittedly a bit niche, but it does well in its niche.
The blog places in the top 3 for several keywords tied to the most popular posts above. A few other posts rank highly in connected search terms. Here are some of those others:
Student Learning Outcomes: What’s the Deal?
The Naked Sun: On Social Distancing
Class Reductionism: What is it, and is it Bad?
“How is the blog doing financially?”
The short answer: it neither makes much money nor costs much money to run. My costs run about $100-120 per year, plus the time I put into it. I still use ads and affiliate marketing to earn money. That brings in a bit of money, but it brings in less than the costs.
One change from last year is that I’ve recently debuted a services page. Readers can find it here, or at the top of this page. Any readers looking for a freelance writer? Or know anyone looking for one? I’m available for hire or contract work. Let me know if you’re interested, and we’ll work on details and pricing.
Another more recent change: the blog now has a Patreon page! Readers can get to it by clicking here or by clicking the link on the menu bar at the top of this page. I’m happy to accept new patrons!
“What are some upcoming topics?”
In my update last fall, I previewed upcoming topics. Here are a few things on my mind lately: organizing in the quarantine era, old friends and activist groups, the presidential election, and foreign policy. Expect to see some posts on these issues soon!
