When I started blogging two or three years ago it was with the idea of getting more traffic to read articles on my main website www.thepropheticyears.com. The blogging has certainly brought readers to the blog part of my website but I do not think it has increased traffic to the rest of my website much at all. I probably could have increased traffic much more by just writing and posting new articles on my main website and not blogging at all.
Between the blog and the website I probably get about 1000 unique visitors a day or 1500 visits a day, and each visit downloads about 3 written articles from my website. That sounds good until you look closer at the statistics.
No human could possible read my articles in less than 30 seconds but consistently eighty percent of all visits to my website are for less than thirty seconds. The vast majority of these visits could only come from mindless robots.
Anyway, I would estimate that only 15 percent of the visits on my website are there long enough for a human to read any article and I bet no more than half of those read anything with any comprehension. That means maybe 300 articles a day are actually being read.
An analysis of the blog portion of my website is a bit more difficult. The blog gets about 600 visits a day and the blog software would limit the robot activity so perhaps as many as 100 people a day actually stay on an article long enough to read it. I have over 1000 posts on this blog so that rounds down to zero readers per day per post! 😯
I have noticed that the comments almost stopped after I made people actually sign up and login to post a comment for the first time. You might think that mindless robots would not be able to sign up but over half the people that did sign up never commented on anything so they probably are mindless spam robots just wanting to appear as real live humans.
What becomes very apparent to me in this postmodern culture is that the vast percentage that typically make comments on blogs will not take the time to sign up on a blog so they can post comments on blogs.
Another indicator of postmodern people reading my posts is that when I provide links to an article that gives further indepth information few people click on them. I get maybe 20 to 50 clicks a day on over 2000 links provided on this blog and that does not even mean that these people actually read the article .
I have been told by others that have forums that they want to re-post my whole article because nobody follows links. I obviously now believe them. What postmodern mindless human robot would actually take the time to follow a link to get the full story? That is why I have not been quoting many excerpts anymore and providing a link to the full article. For example, in the post before my last one I have seven links to other articles on the global warming post topic and I could count on my toes the number of people that clicked on any one of them. That has been true of other articles with links in them as well.
So I have to wonder if spending over forty hours each week to read material and write new posts for mostly mindless robots is even worth my time and effort? I guess I will have to continue to think about that. After all, pastors today have much the same problem. 
I also know that each article I post on this blog takes about 10 times the bandwidth it would if I were not using blogging software and I also doubt if my website homepage is getting proper ranking credit for my hundreds of blog articles. Not only that, if the posts are not hit on regularly Google seems to drop them out of their index after a certain period of time even when they are provided a complete site map. They were not dropping my articles out of the index when I just posted new articles on my website.
Finally, I might as well once again allow anyone to make comments without signing up and logging in, otherwise as you can see, there will not be more than one or two comments. Sorry that the ten or twenty people that actually did sign up and that actually did comment had to go through that ritual for nothing.
Even so, I will again be monitoring all comments and the first comment from a new visitor will have to be approved by me before it is posted and anything that I do not want on my blog from now on simply will either be not posted or it will be deleted. Those who wish to comment should read the comment policy on the sidebar and thus prove that they can actually follow a link.
Delusional American Illusion caught my attention… and I love your website….. it’s one of my “favorites” that I now visit almost everyday, just to see what your thinking today….. Thank You for sharing your thoughts and wisdom… I’m glad I found you.
Don,
I can hear your frustration growing as you analyze the data regarding your blog and website. You wonder if it is all worthwhile. I’ve been maintaining a website of my verse by verse studies of the bible for several years now. I’ve since added a blog with a prophecy focus in hopes that one would help the other. They are not high traffic websites, and I know practically nothing about how to improve that traffic or even access the kind of visitor data you are talking about. I determined early on that these web ventures were God’s to use as He so chooses. Every time I get discouraged the Lord sends me a comment or an email from someone who has been blessed by the content. I continue to be personally blessed by the time spent in study and consider it a great privilege to know that He is able to use me to encourage anyone else in the study of His word. That is what I would like to encourage you to do. Dedicate your work to the Lord to use as He sees fit and take joy in the opportunity you have to touch so many lives in His name. I spent quite a bit of time on you main website early on, but haven’t been back in a while to check for updates. I will do so this weekend. You have much to offer. Don’t let the enemy discourage you.
Thanks Heidi.
Hi Sharon,
Thanks for the encouragement I do get many encouraging comments as well. I have no doubt that the Lord is using me in the Internet ministry so I am not discourged but my real question is do I need to blog? Since few follow links to articles I find and often write about it might be more productive to just put new articles I write on my website.
The only advantage I see to blogging is that people can easily find the newer and the more popular articles. The other advantage is that people can make comments. The disadvantage is that it is such a bandwidth hog and I do not think articles on blogs get the same weight over time or even the same initial rankings because of all the added blog data to each post. The articles are also harder to find over time since articles are posted in sequence.
There is not much new on my main website because most everything new is now put on the blog. So there really is little reason to go back there if you already read it.
I guess some of what I said applies to all websites. 80 percent of the traffic to most any site are mindless robots. So when you hear that some site has X number of visits realize that less than ten percent of those visitors actually read the articles. Take Yahoo for example their indexing robot hits my articles about 20,000 times a month and uses over one gigabyte of bandwidth a month. Google is almost as bad and there are hundreds of others robots roaming the internet. No wonder big Internet news sites are going nuts and going broke. They get millions of visitors a day and need dedicated servers and a staff to handle it all but the percentage that buys anything from their sponsors is very small because most of their visitors are smart mindless robots that do not buy junk.
Don, I tend to think in terms of numbers and figures, because the last jobs I worked at I was the controller of companies accounts. But what I have learned from God during the past 8 years I have been disabled is that God can manipulate the numbers and calculations to His benefit. What I am trying say here is you are looking at what appears to be hard data and you are disappointed at what you are seeing. Like Sharon said turn it over to God.
My wife does not work, she takes care of her mother who is 83 years old and has diabetes and renal disease. My wife also has a little more to do when I am ill. We live on a fixed income and according to the world it is 50% below the average poverty level. God is very gracious towards us. Our grocery bill, just food we eat, has been declining for the past several months even though the news says everything is getting more costly. We pay all our bills every month. We do not have credit cards and no loans outstanding. The most costly items are the medication that I need daily, but with Juarez so close I get most of those over there and they work well.
How are you going to know the effect that this website may have on one person that God may use in an enormous manner? And is what God does with another person any of our business, but God’s? Did the Sunday School teacher that taught D.L. Moody have any idea as to what Moody was going to do later in his life?
Like I said to Sharon the only question is my blogging. These articles could be on my website without blogging software.
I just looked at a source file of one of my posts, 95 percent of the data has nothing to do with what I wrote. Much of it is the sidebar being displayed along within each post. It makes me wonder how the mindless robots even find key worded data and index the individual articles properly. I will have to take a good look at that.
Maybe I will also look into a more minimal blogging template.
Don,
Please don’t be discouraged by the lack of hits, etc. on your site. It’s not a good measure of what effect it has. For example, I check it daily for all sorts of things. Yours is one of the best, and I use it as the starting point to get to other good websites from your links. Also, I teach several classes on prophecy and I use your site as not only a reference, but as an online resource that I give out to my classes for their own research. Numbers in these classes range from 50 to 60 people, so the information you provide is having a larger effect than you see reflected by internet “intelligence”.
Hang in there, stay the course, and keep up the good work until the Lord sees fit to rapture us out of here.
p.s. If the web stays on and technology doesn’t go down after the rapture, your site would be extemely valuable to those left behind who will have to go through the tribulation.
Thanks for the encouragement Paul and thanks for the work that you are doing to educate others.
I also make this the first site I visit when I turn on my computer in the morning and drink my first coffee. The articles you put up make a day very interesting here is one example. The article on “Nephilim, Aliens and Satan’s angels have a common connection in end time prophetic events”. In connection with this article last weekend I watched on the History Channel about “Adolf Hitler and the Occult”, then following that was a program about Dr. Joseph Mengales(sp?), and what he did in Germany during the WWII and then moving to Brazil and what transpired in a small farming community in which the doctor was involved with. There is not enough space to write about what was done by Hitler and Dr. Mengales(sp?), but it was horrifying and fascinating at the same time. If it were not for the involvement of the United States into WWII, not only would we be speaking Japanese and German, but what would have been the outcome of Mengales experimentations in human beings come too? These men were not just evil, they were satanically inspired. God put the stops on Joseph Mengales and those experiments.
As a Bible believing Christian, I found your website several years ago and bookmarked it. But it didn’t seem to update often enough, nor have dates on your articles. I agree with more than 90% of your theology and observations, and was glad to find your blog several months ago. God Bless, Take heart and keep up the good work Bro’. We are not all mindless robots out there.
Yeah, When I first started my website ten years ago I did not date the articles. I did not even keyword the articles or have meta titles on them. It took two or three years and some begging just to get Google to index the website. Then the traffic increased exponentially. I learned through the years how it was supposed to be done then I took a year to write my Commentary on the Book of Revelation that doubled the traffic again as soon as it appeared in the index and it has been in the top ten under “Revelation Commentary” ever since Google indexed it.
Over the years I did go back and update all the articles and SEO all of them and I wrote scores of new long articles but not often enough to keep old readers visiting the site. I still get comments from friends who say they love my website and yet don’t even know that I have a blog. That is why I recently put a feed of my last ten blog posts on my website. They better not say that now because I will know that they have not even looked at my website for quite some time.
About three years ago I started blogging and that also was a learning curve. I had three blogs at one time hosted by Blogger and then went down to two and now I have one blog that I host myself.
Most of my early posts were just clips of other peoples articles and a few comments of my own. Now I write most of the content on my posts and just add links to articles of others to give more information. I also try to make what I say interesting enough that people will read it and everything in the post is key worded so it can be found by a search on a couple of words on the title . For example, on this article if you Google “mindless robots” or “postmodern mindless” this article should appear in the top ten.
Actually the comments on the blogs often take more time than writing the articles. So I am learning not to respond to everything and not deal with people who just want to argue, slam Christians, or are pushing a totally contrary theology.
I do not agree 100 percent with anyone’s theology myself and I do not expect everyone to agree with every point of mine. I do not even agree with myself sometimes. Views of people should change over time as you learn or you can be sure that someone is a mindless robot not learning anything.
Postmodernism is a great challenge for the communication of biblical truths. I think the way you write your blogs has to get their attention. If they are not reading through it is because they are lazy. You may try putting the conclusions first (although the title of the blogs you pst conclude enough many times) or play with their imagination and curiosity all throught the post. Maybe some links into your website from some posts may help people read some articles. Keep on. We love you, brother.
Thanks Eduardo
Thinking about all this, I checked out this passage:
Eze 2:3-7 And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. (4) For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD. (5) And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. (6) And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. (7) And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.
One of the things I see in this passage is that the prophet had to speak whether they heard him or not. This is hard for the prophet; he is not to have any satisfaction from his hard work. The other thing I see is that this Jews had two characteristics: 1) they were “impudent”. The Spanish translation RV60 says that had a hard face; the Jewish Publication Society Bible translates: “brazen-faced”. Like when you are talking to your son and he just stares at you. And 2) this Jews were “stiffhearted”. Stone-hearted. These two characteristics may well describe the postmodernist mind. Yes, with the coming of the Internet, we have many people of that mindset here in Honduras also.
Lately (maybe the last 10 yrs), the response I’ve been getting from the people I evangelize with the gospel of grace has been different that in the first years. Now, less people take the decision to accept Jesus Christ as their savior. The great majority just hears. I think there is a great saturation of messages coming from everywhere, so people are less interested in the cross of Christ.
They are interested in whatever tickles their ears. (2 Tim 4:3)
Hi Don,
Thanks for all of your hard work. It is greatly appreciated. I am sure there are many others such as myself that
check your blog every few days for your perspective and insights.
As a husband, father, business owner, farmer, repair man, etc. , there is very little time to gather information to
prepare for what is ahead for our nation and our families. A quick synopsis of how I have used your resources:
1. Googled (or other) for Commentary on The Revelation. Found your site.
2. Reviewed World Current Events to see if you were a kook.
3. Printed and read your commentary. (Finally decided you weren’t a kook)
4. Started reading your blog. Read older articles/posts as time permits or search if studying particular subject.
5. Check back every few days to see what is new. Many times, your synopsis/comments on an article is sufficient
as I have already read the article, other times it is sufficient because there are other things more pressing for my
sparse moments of reading time and I trust you because I have read enough of your posts to establish a certain
level of trust.
I don’t know a whole lot about the technical side of what you do, but I thought I would let you know how a random,
busy individual utilizes your site so that you can assess how to make it more efficient for yourself, yet still continue
to help others. Keep up the good work as you feel led and don’t let NUMBERS get you discouraged. Hope you
are enjoying your new home.
Thanks for all that information and encouragement Marvin.
I am not worried much about the numbers. If out of 4500 downloaded articles each day only three hundred people actually take the time to read one that is still 2100 articles read each week. That is as many people that are reached in most mega churches (of course a good portion of the people in the pews in those mega churches are not paying attention, comprehending what is said, or sleeping there also. (Often with good reason.)
I just wish more people would follow the links I put up but I understand that there is a huge amount of information available on the Internet and that people have limited time. I guess when I do link to an article I need to put more emphases on why people need to read the article. It really is my failure to communicate to some extent.
This post really was somewhat tongue-in-cheek and key worded to reach mindless robots. However, I do wonder if after all is said and done taking up blogging was better than just posting new articles on my website. I see pros and cons, but I really cannot change directions now anyway. Unless one of those people who are so sure Jesus is coming in two or three years would send me one of those million dollar checks they know they will not be needing so I can hire a staff. 💡 Believe it or not I have not even received one yet 🙁 Some date setters need to put up or shut up
It is amazing and quite bazaar what people will come up with in regards to “Bible Prophecy” I was not going to post this, but what the heck. It was sent to me in an unsolicited email today. I am putting it here as a sample of one of the great mindless postmodern Bible prophecy “experts”. I really can’t make this stuff up.
Hello Don,
I’m sorry that you feel disappointed that many people don’t read your words as you would hope. I’m 31 years old. I live alone. I find it difficult to approach a group of girls I don’t know. That is disappointing to me. But I put on a smile and realize God has a perfect plan for my life. He has a plan for your life too.
If it’s any consolation, I’m very impressed that you know so much about the Bible. I haven’t read the entire Bible. But I chose to have faith that the Christian God is the right God.
The best is yet to come.
Have a great day!
Kind Regards,
David Henley
David, it is not like I did not know that robots are the bulk of mine or anyone’s website traffic years ago, this is not a new revelation.
God’s plan for my life is what I think He told me to do and I think I am doing that. God has a purpose for your life but your the one that must make the proper choices to fulfill His purpose. If people do not God will just do His will on earth through someone more willing. I suggest you read the entire Bible and keep reading it or you will never grow in God.
Why would you want to approach a group of girls you don’t know? Best to do what God is telling you to do and the rest will follow. He knows your needs.
I have already done alot of home work on a lot of topics and end time prophacy so most of the time when I read an artical there is no need to go any further as Im already familer with what the artical is talking about, but I do check your site from time to time as it dose supplement my growing jigsaw picture of whats going on in the world these days.
Just another example why you get drive by shooters.
You are doing a good job, this site and the info on it is very relivent for today. Also found it while googling for prophetic info.
Hi Don,
Don’t lose heart, Keep posting stuff so I can be more prepared dude. Besides I have emailed you a couple times regarding some questions so that’s awesome.
Thanks for posting the above unsolicited email. It all makes sense now! The pieces just fall right into place if I read it standing on my head while the wind is blowing from the east while I am wearing a purple shirt on Tuesday. Forgive me for making fun, I just couldn’t resist.
Yeah Marvin, that might get you in the right ball park but you still have to use the average verse multiplier and measure the distance from Ronald Reagan’s jelly bean jar to the holy place in Jimmy Carter’s head divided by the number of times Rodney King is mentioned in the law.
Hi Don, I sure do understand how it sometimes feels like your a voice crying in the wilderness, but I hope God grants you perserverance in your endeavor. I try to read all your posts and articles but don’t always feel motivated to comment usually because you have reasoned so well.
Having said that, and after reading the previous email posted, I believe I am more stupid for having read that rubbish.
I Ken, thank for the affirmation.
You actually read the rubbish sent to me in that email that I posted above?
What was it saying in 25 words of less? Never mind, I do not want to know.
I really posted it to show just how nutty people can get on various interpretations of Bible prophecy. I did not post the links in the article but there were scores of them so anyone taking the time to create this article must have did it on the manic side of bipolar. Of course it could also have been developed at some mental institution that had a postmodern group think workshop on Bible prophecy.
Don, My son and I enjoy reading all of the articles on your website. Although I consider myself a Pentecostal Christian, I am apalled at the postmodern influence in my own denomination (Church of God Cleveland, TN). People no longer think, read, or even question anything said from any pulpit or TV. I find myself unnerved by the spiritual apathy and Biblical illiteracy of my own generation, and even that of the previous one.
I don’t agree with everything on your site; but you make me think, and that’s always a good thing. You don’t know you have faith unless it is challenged. People today do not know how to think critically. They are taught what to think, but not how to think.
Not all of us Pentecostals are unthinking people. Some of us enjoy a lively debate, which gets us into trouble; just like it does in other purpose-drivel churches.
I have rejected the Word/Faith babble, the Third Wave fiasco, the Emergent monster, and most of the evangetainment/evangomercial culture, because I actually believe in Absolute Truth.
Keep up the good work.
Romans 5:3-4 (New King James Version)
3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Thanks John Eric Adams,
The most serious problems I have with Pentecostalism are the things that you have already identified and rejected.
Don,
The comment you were not going to post and posted…that is crazy! No wonder you are tired.
Actually it was never sent as a comment it was sent to me as a email. Yeah, it it totally nuts. I just wanted to show you the minds that seek to enlighten me and others prophecy sites they email to. At least this one was not calling himself one of the two prophets in Revelation. I get those loons regularly.
Don,
I have enjoyed reading your blog and your website. The main problem with people today especially in churches is that they do not have discernment. People will accept something as “truth” if it sound good to them or whatever. If they don’t like a statement they will go ahead and say the statement is not true even though a statement could actually be true.
The stuff you discuss here does not sound good so most people will think you are into “conspiracies” etc. Some will probably think that you need to quit being “negative” and start looking at things from a “positive” perspective.
Most people are into a ideology of “positivism” and I believe that is one of the reasons why false teachers are being successful.
Keep up with the good work and do not get discouraged.
Thanks Justin. I think teaching people to be mindless optimists when the enemy is already in the camp is all part of the communist pimps and queens brain washing program .
Don;
I usually enjoy your blog. It is read as time allows. Lately, I have been busy working for worth less and less dollars to buy grains (wheat, corn, and edible beans & such), means to store said grains properly, wood, coal, and supplies just in case things do go south. It would be difficult to look our grown children and grandchildren in the face and say “gee, I never really thought something like this would ever really happen”
SOOOO, time to read and reply is not as abundant as it once was. Keep at it, there are those who listen>
Be Well
Dave
Don,
I promise you I am a real reader here in PA and would miss your blog terribly if it went away. I wish I had more time to read and post, but often just “stop by” to see what you are commenting on. Sometimes I am several articles behind and being human get easily overwhelmed by too much information. I admit it was in fact your prophetic years site that landed me here, and I still have the full commentary on my laptop. I have shared your site and blog with many of my free-thinking human friends and family and not one mindless robot that I am aware of 🙂
As long as you have the time, the will, and the freedom…
I remain a loyal reader
Betty
Dave, I guess it don’t hurt to be prepared. There may be so many other shoes dropping before long that you could equip the militia.
Thanks Betty, “free-thinking humans” now that is a real old fashioned concept. How did you all escape getting captured by the Borg 😉
haha…I think its because we live in a brick house. Maybe its the slate roof…course the old fashioned lead and asbestos could act like kryptonite for the borg;-)
Who knows? As long as we’re safe, I’m not complaining. Well at least until the EPA shows up….Between all the toxic substances, the CO2, and the well pump…
Hi Don, wanted to tell you how much I appreciate and can be encouraged by the information on your website. I am a middle-aged female in a very conservative part of the country where women practice being stepford wives more than anything else, so I truly do share in your frustration of anyone really reading or going any deeper than the surface of things. Honestly, I have come to find in my attempts to follow your blogging/articles as well as following other events/information that it can become very overwhelming and depressing. Don’t get me wrong, being alive in such a time is absolutely amazing and we are privledged to be experiencing God’s phrophetic Word come true right before our eyes, but, it does seem like less and less of us are interested in such things.
Just being part of a real church, where the Bible is studied word by word, seems to be a dwindling endeavor. It is websites, blogs, and articles from people like yourself that help me to remain satisfied in knowing I am not alone in my thought process. I share your information with everyone who is interested in going deeper and I am hopeful that as events unravel that people will go back to seeking some answers.
Please be encouraged, while the number of people willing to speak the truth and go deeper might be winding down, the need for it is ever increasing. Thank you for your efforts. You are being used of God and you and your information is a blessing, even though in large doses, it is hard to swallow.
I hope that more women who claim Christianity open their eyes to what is going on in the world around them as the continue in their roles as mothers, etc. It seems to me (at least in the area in which I live) that as women raise their families, they get so wrapped up in that responsibility, that they fail to be aware of what is going on outside of their proverbial bubbles, especially when the information is as difficult as it is. Yet they continue to reproduce, which is fine, but I truly hope they are preparing their children for what is to come.
Thanks Don, keep up the great work!
Thanks for the encouragement Lisa.
Most Christians in America today are not very deep and are all wrapped up in the affairs of the world, but I think God is about to change all that and those with eyes to see might finally understand, but it is going to be a painful experience for most living today and not just their children.
All hell will break loose right here in America in the next decade and I am not at all talking about events of the tribulation. I can think of at least four serious events that shook our nation that will turn out to be of lessor consequence then the chastisement coming – The Civil War, World War I followed by the Spanish flu, the great depression, and World War II. I think Christians will have to live through the next chastisement as well and it could be fatal to our nation if Christians remain lukewarm and apathetic.
I agree with you on your view of what is coming down the pike. My father lived through the great depression and was in WWII and he had a very different view of things in the world and raised me accordingly. We (my husband and I) are trying to prepare for major changes in the way in which we exist (and I don’t necessarily mean by stocking up on food and supplies), so much as getting ready to live in a country/world that is so very different that what we experience now.
Things like getting ready to lose everything we have. We’ve already sold our house and given away a great deal of what we own and we continue that practice today. We openly discuss living as homeless people, or in bankruptcy, or dying from lack of proper medical care, things of that nature. In the meantime we know that God is in control and will always be and that no matter how it all goes down here, eventually, we will be where we belong and will suffer no more.
I pray not only for those who don’t know Christ, that they would come to know Him, but really for those who think they know Him and don’t ever consider what He will allow us to go through. We have no idea, we sit in our comfortable homes, with our large tv’s, typing on our laptops (as I do right now), with multiple cars outside, plenty of food in the fridge and we just don’t see that God rains on the just and the unjust. Until then we will continue to read the information on your website and share it with others. Thank you.