11,621 Page Loads; 6,275 Unique Visitors; 904 Returning Visitors in 1 day! That's a new HIGH for me :)

When I started my toy blog and blogging way back on July 18, 2007, I had no idea I'll be where I am today. It was just a FUN way for me to post pictures of my toy collection so that I could look back and recollect all the toys I've bought over the years and the memories they brought back for me. As time passed, I discovered that there were many more like-minded people out there in the World Wide Web who had similar interests and we could connect, share views and exchange thoughts.

So on 26 March 2008, I put in the Stat Counter to find out how many hits my toy blog was getting on a daily basis just out of curiosity. By September 9, 2008, I had 100,000 Unique Visitors (I'd posted about it HERE) :) and by December 17, 2008 there were 205,006 Unique Visitors with a total of 321,059 Page Loads (see my post HERE). There are obviously many more Super Bloggers who are clocking much higher numbers on a daily basis and I don't mean to brag but this is just a personal journey and the numbers are a positive indication. I only wanted to put my toy collection on a toy blog as a way of cataloging my toys as well as to share them with fellow toy collectors or anyone who also has a similar interest. But yesterday's numbers were a new HIGH for me (even if it's a one-off).

11,621 Page Loads on May 3

I'd discovered earlier on (before I started my toy blog) when I was searching the internet that NOT everything was out there and there were toys I was looking to see but couldn't find. So I decided to try and put everything I owned on Toy Haven so that others may be able to view the pictures as well. Well, that has certainly been a most rewarding journey, not in terms of monetary value (although that would have been nice as it can then pay for everything and I could probably do this full-time) BUT there are other things that money cannot buy - friendships, passion and support! Blogging about toys has been a wonderful experience as it puts into words and pictures my passion for toy collecting and puts me in touch with fellow TOY bloggers all around the world and exposed to the other toys that we don't get here in Singapore.

Stats over the years

The reason for the sudden surge in numbers yesterday? It had to do with Osama's death :) There were countless searches for "SEAL Team Six", the team responsible for eliminating Osama Bin Laden. The increase in numbers was because of the First Time Visits as the Returning Visits generally stayed the same. So you see, it's just a one-day phenomenon but one I didn't expect.