Web Stats and Informal Diary

Current Web Stats

Here is a snapshot of the current web stats. It shows the number of unique visitors ie. multiple visits by the same person are counted as one. I will update the graphic every few days. The last bar on the chart is incomplete.

Last Month's Web Stats (September 2003)

Here are the web stats for last month. The chart shows the number of unique visitors ie. multiple visits by the same person count as one.

The total number of unique visitors for September was 902 with a daily average of 30. During this period, and including multiple visits by the same person, the site was accessed 1,160 times.

Previous Month's Web Stats

Here is a summary of the web stats for the previous few months...

You will see that almost 11,000 people have been warned about Nationwide's commission-led financial advice.

If you want to see how highly this web site is featuring within the search-engine results for the key search phrase "nationwide building society" then continue to look further down this page for the appropriate links. I have listed most of these links within the Publishing Phase section.

Diary - Odds & Ends

31-May-03
This Web Site was mentioned in "The Guardian" today (31May). The Guardian has done two articles on Nationwide's alleged mis-selling so far - for details see the links on the front page. The site is receiving a few extra visitors as a result.

19-May-03
I've upgraded my account to one of the NETFIRMS plus accounts. That means that there are no more banner ads and the Message Board should be reliable. You may need to clear your browser cache in order to see the most recent changes, alternatively try a CNTRL/Refresh on the current page.
The CONTACT form is still having its problems.

12-Apr-03
It's Happened Again...
I've discovered that any messages sent using the CONTACT form were being accidentally deleted before I saw them. I've fixed this again. If you've used the CONTACT form recently, it may be a good idea to re-send your message. Sorry for the inconvenience, this one's my fault.

04-Mar-03
Well, the web stats are definitely down. Reviewing the stats for the last few months the stable position seems to be around 750 unique visitors per month. January's result of about 1,000 seems to be an exception. I wonder if the milder weather means people are spending less time at their computers.

10-Feb-03
I've re-submitted the site to YAHOO. It would improve things if they were to list my site.

09-Jan-03
I was checking my web stats and noticed that someone had visited the site from a search engine I hadn't encountered before - "Scrub the Web". The notable thing about this search engine is that it lists my web site at the top of the page, ahead of the official nationwide web site. What can I say? Why not check it out - Scrub the Web Listing. There are other search engine results listed further down this diary page in the Publishing Phase section.

03-Jan-03
In some circumstances the CONTACT form (see the navigation menu) had been sending submissions to my email account that were automatically deleted before I saw them. I've fiddled with the contact form code and hope that I've fixed this problem. My apologies to those who have previously submitted comments that were automatically deleted.

Competition - December 2002

02-Jan-03
At the begining of December (2002) a message was posted on the Message Board asking for information on how popular this web site was. This posting resulted in an informal competition to guess the number of visitors this site would receive during the month of December. It was decided to focus on the number of "unique" visitors ie. repeated visits by the same person would only count as 1 visit.

The web stats indicated that there were 746 unique visitors during December. I have included a day-to-day graphic below.

As it turned out, the holiday period resulted in a reduction in the number of visitors. Even so, this month still represents an increase over the previous totals. For more information on these previous figures, check this message on the Message Board.

So who won the competition? Well, the closest guess was 750 submitted by "Cathy W" on the 14th of December. Well done "Cathy W", I wish I had your insight.

Publishing Phase

11-Oct-02
Here are some more examples of "WORLDWIDE" searches for the search phrase "nationwide building society" that return the site details on the first page...
Yahoo.com Listing   MSM.com Listing   Google.co.uk Listing   Netscape.com Listing   AltaVista Listing   Overture US Listing   Looksmart Listing

NB.  If the Alta Vista result is absent please make sure that the "search" is set to "worldwide" rather than "uk" and then click on "Find".

One of the basic distinctions a Web Directory or Search Engine makes is to do with the location of the web site host. I've taken advantage of the free web hosting deal offered by Netfirms but what I failed to anticipate and have started to notice is that the site is featuring quite highly on the "wordwide" searches but it tends to be burried more deeply within the UK search results.

10-Oct-02
Because the various search engines and directories supply results to each other I've noticed the site being displayed by more and more search engines eg. Searching with the keywords "nationwide building society" in AOL displays the site on the first page.
AOL Listing

28-Aug-02
Noticed that "Google" has recently indexed the site. This is very important as Google supplies search results to some of the other directories/search engines.
Google Listing

10-Aug-02
The site is now listed in the DMOZ (www.dmoz.org) "Open Directory". The site lies in the "Regional / Europe / United_Kingdom / Recreation_and_Sports / Home_and_Garden / Consumer_Information" section.
Open Directory Listing

07-Aug-02
Decided to sample other people's opinions of financial advisors by posting on one of the Motley Fool discussion boards (Investors Roundtable / Investment Strategies). You should select the "Threaded" option (near the top of the page) to follow the discussion.
The Motley Fool Discussion

04-Aug-02
The site is listed on "Alta Vista" but it's buried deep.
Alta Vista Listing

01-Aug-02
The recent crash will have altered my valuations as listed in the web site. I hesitate to find out the current value of my "investments" so I will leave the figures unaltered at their June values.

Developmental Phase

01-Aug-02
Change the background colour to a light blue and add coloured scrollbars.

25-Jun-02
Submit to web-directories - Yahoo & Open Directory. Also submit to the Search Engines - Google, Hotbot, Fast & Alta Vista even though there are no sites linking to mine. I may have to allow up to 4 weeks before I know whether the site has been indexed.
Create a 'favicon.ico' using IconEdit32. Settle on a design based on the letters "iN". I don't know if I need to put an explicit LINK REL statement in each web page. I can't see the favicon myself - Internet Explorer may have cached the default icon.
Tried coloured scrollbars but decided to stick with the default.

19-Jun-02
Read up on Search Engine/Directory submission - this may take a few days. Download "IconEdit32" for favicon creation.

17-Jun-02
Finish the "contact" form. Make the message "textarea" field mandatory. Trap multiple submission using javascript. Include warning re: the amount of time submission can take. Create a custom "thank you" page with refresh to HOME page. The form looks good with its white fields on the grey background.
Think about a "site referral" form as it may suit some visitors.

16-Jun-02
Add some free web-based email links. Found a comprehensive email directory, felt swamped by all of its information but added it anyway. Started on the "contact" form.

15-Jun-02
Testing the message board. Cannot get the "email notification" working when someone replies to a message. I may just leave this problem for later.

14-Jun-02
This is my first website and I hope it proves popular. Found the "Mis-selling" link in an unopened email from Motley Fool. Financial Mis-selling is indeed "Alive and Well". If someone mugged you and took less than a hundred pounds you would call the police. If they smile a lot and can themselves financial advisors they can "take" you for thousands and then refuse to accept responsibility. People need to be warned of the financial risk they run by seeing these financial advisors.
I still have to find out about submitting my web site to the various Search Engines for indexing. I want to make a favicon so that when visitors bookmark the site they get a nice graphic. Favicon.com no longer offer a free online creation service.

13-Jun-02
Getting the Message Board going was tricky as I misread an important instruction. I've done a few test messages but I still have to test it fully. Don't like the fact that an entered email address is made available to all. Include a warning on the Message Board page.

10-Jun-02
Start to add the Message Board. Chose the free Message Board from "www.cgi-factory.com" chosen for the workshop session in PCPlus #187 March2002. The instructions could be better - more comprehensive. This Message Board project is not for complete beginners like me. Use Internet Explorer's 'ftp' facility to upload all the files, create directories and "chmod" as required.

09-Jun-02
Found a free web-host with CGI access for a possible Messsage Board.

06-Jun-02
Go through my bookmarks to sort out all the relevant financial links. Motley Fool is the most readable - its my favourite source of information. Found some Financial Times links. They are a bit old and I hope they don't expire.

01-Jun-02
Start to create the static pages on the PC using Notepad. Make use of some of the web authoring advice sites that I've been bookmarking. Try to chose a Non-White background to reduce the contrast. Light grey works but is rather dull.