Tag: Google Plus

Is there a Correlation between Social Media Followers and Website Pageviews?

Is there a correlation between the number of social media followers a person or brand has and the amount of visitors and pageviews that it generates on their websites? The short answer – NO! Well at least for me.

Scott Jenkins and I were passing emails back and forth last week (I always think of Scott as Hodge from his former comic strip). He was looking to potentially increase his presence on Google Plus and noticed my follower count there and wondered if that has increased my overall pageviews as my numbers have increased. Honestly not so much because as Google Plus has increased, I have lost the pageviews I used to get from StumbleUpon and Digg (which are both dying a slow death).

Average Daily Visitors

People tend to assume that because I have a bunch of engagement on my site that it means I must have a ton of visitors. Well I am about to reveal my numbers for the first time publicly. When I was posting three times per week two years ago my average visitors was about 400 per day. Now that I only post once a week, it is in the 200’s. Here is how my numbers break down of where people are coming from to get to my site during May:

As you can see Social Media only accounts for about 16% of my total traffic with Search and Direct make up the majority. Looking just at Social Media you can see the effects of referrals from this year compared to last year.

Google and Reddit have increased while Stumbleupon, Facebook and Twitter have decreased.

While Google Plus was the majority of visitors for May, it has more to do with that being my Charity Challenge month and a larger influx of support with links to my site than typically.

So why waste time on Social Media?

Simple answer is that different ones may give you things other than direct traffic. The majority of the people who have converted to regular readers and commenters on my site, found me via Twitter (or me being social on other blogs).

Reddit gives you a thick skin (haha).

Google Plus has given me more commission work than I ever had directly on my blog or via other social media/search efforts. And here is the secondary benefit. An additional outlet for people to see my work and another outsource for engagement. I have several people who will engage with my posts on twitter or facebook but it is the exception versus the norm.

To be honest, I was of the belief that a social media platform should only serve to drive traffic to my site. And for those that display ads it is a potential worry if people are engaging with you outside your site, you won’t make money. But as I said I am doing better than display ad dollars (the majority of which is going to charity btw) and gaining another level of engagers who might in the future want to buy a t-shirt or book.

And the data pans out. Since July 2011 when I joined Google Plus, Beartoons.com had 495,971 pageviews. In the same time my posts on G+ have had 8,652,696 views.

Posting Schedule

This is what I do as a cartoonist. If you can give up control it might work for others. It varies a bit by social media but my posting schedule for Google Plus:

Day 1 – Post a link and teaser to my site (at times I might reshare this later in the day for those who are in different time-zones)

Day 2 or 3 – Post the actual cartoon on Google Plus. I have tips on what I find is the best way to do it but that is for another post. This step is for those that prefer to engage without leaving G+. But I make sure to put the link to my site in that post as well.

Important: I am getting bad at remembering at times on twitter or FB, but it is important to check your status at least daily so you can engage with those who comment. I see a bunch of cartoonists who post a link, have people comment and then you don’t hear back from them for days if at all.

So how does this play out to your own experiences?? Anyone want to confess what numbers they are getting on their own site and what they think helps/hurts?

June 17, 2014
Bearman Cartoons Charity Challenge 2014
Yes it is that time of year once again. The Bearman Cartoons Charity Challenge, where you do stuff and I donate money to worthy charities. I have been extremely fortunate that both my wife and I are gainfully employed so I am continuing the challenge at the same level for another year. This is the Sixth Year I have done this so far donating $4456 ($336 in 2009, $630 in 2010, $690 in 2011, $1150 in 2012, and $1650 in 2013) and it will run until the end of May. I do this challenge each year to raise awareness of my blog while giving money to charities who need it. Historically, this has been the majority of my advertising budget for the year so if you enjoy Bearman Cartoons, please help by spreading the word on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, etc and/or thumbing up on StumbleUpon or Reddit. Again this year I will divide evenly the amount of money donated between three charities up to $1500. The fact that we hit the goal last year made me want to do more this year: The first being the Cincinnati FreeStore Foodbank. This charity does great things not only to feed those in need but also to help families get back on their feet in other ways. The second charity is the Brandon C Gromada Head and Neck Cancer Foundation. This charity is named after my friend Brandon Gromada who was stricken with this terrible disease and passed away in 2012. His family set up this foundation to direct funds to research for better treatments. This is a rare type of cancer that research funds are needed to combat it. And the third is of course one of my favorite charities, Crayons to Computers. It is a free store for teachers allowing them to stock up on school and art supplies for their students/classrooms. But that is not all. Once again, I am going to match dollar for dollar anything you donate to Crayons to Computers up to a max $500. When donating just make it in Honor of Bearman Cartoons and they will know how to notify me. So that is $2000 of my own money I am will to put up to get the word out about these causes. I will donate the indicated amount for each thing that you do in the month of May:
- $10 – For any cartoonists who uses ME in a cartoon in their strip. Use “BEARMAN” somewhere in the toon. Maybe it’s a character’s name, a name on a bar sign in the background, integrating my green haired gravatar into a background character or even loosely as “Check out that Bear, man!” Be sure to link back to this post so I know to include you in my tally. I know some of you work with a buffer so if you plan to post after May just contact me and let me know and I will add it to the list.
- $5 – Blog about my challenge to your readers and link back to this entry in your post – http://beartoons.com/2014/04/29/bearman-cartoons-charity-challenge-2014/
- $1 – Circle/Follow me on Google Plus – http://googleplus.beartoons.com. Currently I have 70,495 followers.
If by some luck I hit the max payout and your are a cartoonist willing to utilize me/my name in your strip but haven’t posted yet, just let me know and I will still count those as part of the match money to Crayons 2 Computers. Thanks for your continued support.
April 29, 2014
When Blueheads meet Eggheads Cartoon

On twitter when you don’t have a profile picture attached to your account the default image is an egg thus those without a picture are known as “eggheads” On Google Plus those without a profile pic are called “Blueheads” since that is the image of what shows up. So today’s cartoon is based on what I would imagine they talk about when they get together. Lament the fact that no one is following them back.

Based on my crack research, I have determined that people are 87% less likely to follow you back on either social media outlet if you don’t have a profile picture whether it be a real picture or a cartoon one. OK I have no idea where the 87% comes from except that I am 87% less likely to circle someone back without a profile picture.

It takes a short amount of time and it becomes a way of identifying you easily as I stream through my feeds.

Sorry to anyone I typically visit their blog. Been busy several weeks and hard to jump from blog to blog on tablet to comment but I have been lurking and if you post your links on G+ (for those who use it) I am more likely to see and easily respond there. Hell it took me 5 days to respond to comments on my own site.

March 17, 2014
Anti Social Media Cartoon

Ever get that WTF face when checking out Facebook or Google Plus like in today’s cartoon? I do. It is annoying as hell on Facebook because those are my “friends” I am commenting on their posts so it isn’t like I can dump them without hurt feelings. Though usually on FB it is isolated and not consistent among the same friend.

But it seems to be worse on Google Plus as you don’t have to be friends with someone to follow their posts (as they don’t necessarily have to follow you back). There are plenty of people that I follow on Google Plus who don’t follow me back but I have two rules that I look for to continue following them.

1. Be present. Broadcasters who post but never respond to comments on their post are not worth my time. And I don’t think you have to respond to every comment, but a chosen few shows that you actually read the comment. And speaking of reading the comments….

2. I try to always plus every comment on my posts as a way to say thank you for leaving the comment and acknowledge you took the time to write. That is unless it is a douche/troll comment and then I ignore it. That being said there seem to be some people who will post and plus every comment but a few. To me that says you only want to engage with certain people. Just recently uncircled someone who has on three occasions ignored my relevant non douchey comment while plussing every other comment consistently. I get the hint!!

What other moments on the web cause you to have the WTF face??

February 5, 2014
Is there a Social Media Posting Frequency Sweet Spot?

For those of you who use Social Media (be it Google Plus, Twitter, Facebook) is there a sweet spot for the number of posts a person should make in a day/week? How much is so little you think they abandoned or at least aren’t interested? How much is too much that you tend to ignore their posts and probably miss good things from them but can’t weed through all the noise? How does resharing/retweeting posts factor?

I have my own thoughts but want to hear from you.

August 30, 2013
Share This Post Or Else
There is an interesting trend that I have been seeing lately on social media. People trying to draw attention to good causes like Cancer/Bullying but while doing so, actually bullying others to share the post.

Typically the post will finish with words like “Share this if you don’t support Bullying” or “99% of you won’t share this to fight Cancer”. In both cases it causes those who don’t share to feel bad about their decision. So if I don’t share it, then I a support Bullying or I don’t want to fight Cancer?? So the other day I decided to create a quick graphic that poked fun at these type of posts. As you can see from above, there really is no content to share, but I included a reason why you should share nothing.

99.9% of you will not reshare this. I wonder how you look yourself in the mirror you soulless Jerk?

Originally, when I posted it I was going to include an explanation. But then I didn’t just to see the response. Well if you want to gain attention on social media, create controversy.

Initially the people in my circles got the joke and reshared it and commented. While not doing much on Facebook, it started getting traction on Google Plus. It seems the further out the information goes either the less people got the joke or more mad they were at me for posting it.

Results: 830 plussed it, 684 shared it, and 415 commented on it. By far the most attention any of my posts have ever received. On average here is the breakdown of the comments.
- 30% – Got the Implication of the Post or thought it was Funny
- 30% – Didn’t get it or were not sure why I posted it
- 25% – Were pissed at me
- 10% – Added comments like “hi” or other stupid stuff that didn’t have anything to do with the post.
- 5% – My Comments
Two of my favorite comments were: “If you went away for any reason, like passing away, I’ll not cry for you” and “This is Google Plus not Facebook. Go Fuck Yourself”

Several people made the Facebook comment and yet when I went to their profile, many of them posted the same crap that you find on Facebook. Which made it more humorous.

So please, in the future, encourage, ask, plead, etc people to share your posts but don’t make them feel bad if they don’t.
March 25, 2013
Google Reader should integrate with Google Plus
So it was announced yesterday that Google will end operations of Google Reader in July of this year. For those, like me, who utilize Google Reader to keep up with your favorite blogs this seems like an unwelcome move by Google. Sure there are plenty of articles floating around on alternatives to Reader but I have another option for Google that may help it save face. Integrate the functionality of Google Reader into Google Plus.

Both stream user content, one from those you follow directly on Google plus and one from the blogs you like to follow. So why not meld the two under the same umbrella? Posts from blogs may look a bit different as commenting would be disabled directly on Google Plus (unless a blog owner chose to integrate the functionality)

Benefits to Readers
- One stop location for those using Google Plus to also be kept up to date on their favorite blog posts.
- Ease of sharing posts via Google Plus
- No lose of a Google based reader of favorite blogs.
Benefits to Blog Owners
- Potential increased eyeballs on your work as sharing to G+ becomes easier.
- Potential minimizing sharing your work without attribution. Since a reader would just be sharing the link to your work they may be less inclined to save it to their desktop and then reshare it on social media without attribution. Especially useful to artists and photographers.
CAVEAT: Currently Google Plus (especially on mobile) is horrible about placemarking where you are in your stream. So many times when you click on a link that takes you to a blog and then come back to Google Plus, you must start all over at the top of your screen. Having the ability to bookmark or check off read items is necessary to make this option worthwhile.

Other options Google can take?
March 14, 2013
Social Media Pariah

I have said before that as an artist, it can be frustrating to spend several hours on a piece of work that gets ignored or little attention on social media but I can toss up a picture of my cat and it get tons of attention. So today’s cartoon is another homage to that.

I asked my google plus followers “what trending topic that consistently pops up do you just not get?” Of course I got many but the ones that popped up most were “Cats, Justin Bieber, and Dr. Who.” I get cats and honestly that is the only social media aspect that my wife is remotely interested in and I am guilty of giving into her demands to post our cats on occasion Luckily for me the people I follow are not Justin Bieber obsessed however I constantly see his name as a trending topic. Dr. Who is the one I don’t get the fan love about. I watched it as a kid when we didn’t have cable and it was the only thing on the 5 channels we got. I even tried it again as an adult. Just can’t get into it.

What about you? Any trending topics you find consistently on social media that you don’t get? Oh and first person to name the character on the wanted poster wins…..NOTHING.

January 27, 2013
Guest Cartoon: Stef Marcinkowski
Stef Marcinkowski of the web graphic novel Sarah Zero, surprised me with this parody send up of Metallica’s album cover from “Master of Puppets”. The original can be found on Wikipedia

Check out Stef’s blogpost that describes his process. FIFTEEN HOURS, yes I said 15 hours to complete this monstrous task. And with an infant crawling around the house too. That is a true Bearmaniac!!

Guest Cartoon Request

Taking some time off the first couple weeks of December so if you are a webcomic artist looking to promote your work this is a great opportunity. I am doing a repeat of my very first guest cartoon request. Since I don’t have regular characters, I want to see you use your characters with a twist. Here is what I am looking for:
- Show us what one of your characters will look like at age 100 OR looked like at age one.
- Single Panel (max 500 pixel width)
- Give me a paragraph that describes your webcomic and who the character is that you have drawn
- Send to me bearmancartoons at yahoo.com
- Submit by November 20.
Need inspiration? Well you can check out the submissions from when I put out the call back in 2009 from George Ford, Dan Long, Byron Wilkins, Warren Frantz, Robert Matejcek aka Spilled Ink, and Nate Fakes
October 14, 2012
Social Media Copywrong

Today’s cartoon was inspired by some conversations I have been seeing more and more from cartoonists and graphic designers bemoaning the practice of companies who crowdsource graphic work. The process of crowdsourcing is where a company invites anyone and everyone to submit graphic/cartoon work but only choose one or a limited number of people to win. And even then there may or not be a monetary prize. Personally I don’t have a problem with the contests except when (and it is becoming all too frequent) when the contest rules state that any submissions become the property of the sponsoring company. BS!!!

However, some of my same friends who will be irate over crowdsourcing don’t seem to have any issues with illegally downloading music, tv shows, or movies. It becomes a larger group when you include some others that I follow on social media. Some complain when someone posts something they found/made without attribution to the original poster. I am in full agreement with that complaint provided that you aren’t yourself in the practice of stealing content from someone else.

Know your meme is a great site to find out the history behind certain memes that suddenly become popular on social media.

Those of you who are artists/designers, what are your thoughts on crowdsourcing design work?

October 7, 2012