Who Are You People?

As most of you know by the stats on this blog (unaltered by the way and I don't count myself), I've just rolled over to 67,000. I have a couple trackers on all of my websites and blogs, because I love stats! I'm a stat junkie. Mostly though, I love analyzing where people come from, what they do when they land on my site, how they found me, where they are going, and how long they stick around. Just about every website/blog these days have trackers. It helps with marketing and keeps you informed with your success in getting yourself out there.

This week I thought I'd check out the keywords. Keywords are the search terms people put in when looking for a website. It's where they want to land with relevant information about the subject. I must admit, this past week the search terms have been amusing. They were posted on my Facebook page, and a few commented it was probably due to Halloween. So what are those keywords this week coming from all over the world? Brace yourselves: Christine's hair and Christine's makeup.

Since this blog went up in January of 2008 and I began tracking stats in May of 2008 (gosh, can't believe it's almost three years), I have learned a phenomenal lesson: The interest in the Phantom of the Opera is universal. As of this post, people from 116 countries have landed here. Some visitors are from the most unlikely locations, such as: Swaziland, Mongolia, Cambodia, Iran, and Mauritius (I had to look that one up!). What are the top 10 locations worldwide?

• United States (All 52 states/regions have been here. California and New York seem to have the most phantom search-frenzy phans. Since I don't wish to look like a "moron" for not knowing how many states there are, Google analytic reports breaks this information down by state and other US regional information. Total tally is 52.)
• United Kingdom (336 cities)
• Canada (325 cities in all provinces)
• Malaysia
• Poland
• Philippines
• Australia
• Germany
• Spain
• Argentina

What post do visitors read the most when they land here on this site? Here are the top ten posts, which indicate to me what interests the Phantom community the most:

• Erik, His Humanity
• Christine
• Masquerade
• The Rose
• The Chandelier
• The Ring
• The Mask
• Box 5
• Red Death
• Music Box

Since May of this year, however, those stats have moved enormously to two posts that have the most hits: The Many Faces of Erik and Love Never Dies Review.

What are people searching for? Here are the top ten search terms since 2008 (excluding the obvious - The Phantom of the Opera words themselves):

• Little Lotte Poem
• Phantom of the Opera Symbolism
• Christine Daae's Hair (What is it with that woman's hair????)
• Chandelier
• Christine Daae's Makeup (I wonder if that's the stage or movie version they're looking for)
• Meg Giry
• Lot 666
• Masquerade
• Red Death
• Ring

Do people come and bounce off? Of course they do. Every site has a bounce rate. What is a bounce - it's when someone lands on your site, takes a quick second look, and leaves. Some bounce, some stay for a few minutes, some come back repeatedly, some stay for hours. One funny thing though about browser location is an awful lot of people surf the web from company locations. There have been multiple hits from universities, banks, various businesses, and even the armed forces. Google drives the most traffic.

All these interesting statistics tell me that The Phantom of the Opera has an unprecedented worldwide popularity. I sense though that the stage and movie versions are far more popular than the original work, just by the interesting keywords and posts that bring the most traffic. My gut feeling is that those versions tend to touch people in the current world in which we live and relate. It's that need for love and acceptance, despite our deformities whether they be physical or emotional, that will continue to drive people to type in keywords and end up at Lessons From the Phantom of the Opera.

Apparently, the Phantom of the Opera knows no boundaries. It does not discriminate against race, age or nationality. It crosses the boundaries of countries and language barriers. It touches everyone with its different formats. But because of its diversity, it presents an overwhelming challenge to keep the peace among us. I reiterate again, that we need to respect each other in our personal preferences from Leroux to the controversial Love Never Dies, because the story does not belong to one person, one fan, one group, one musician, one writer, or one critic. It belongs to us all, 116 countries worldwide, to enjoy and love from generation to generation - including amateurs and PhD's.

After this blog goes to second edition in eBook, I doubt very much I will dissect the story anymore. It's time to move on. The blog will continue to be here, but will soon be available to download for a small fee to your phones, computers, and Kindles, etc., so you don't have to spend hours digging through posts.

Will I continue to write? Of course, I will! No doubt it will turn more into news and my two-cent opinions that will cause the Phantom community to embrace me or hang me (that's the way of the lair, you know).

In any event, that is who you are! You're a worldwide community of people in love with the masked man with half a face and Christine's hair and makeup routine. In spite of the latter oddity of your fixation with Christine's appearance for some reason, I still love you all!

The Phantom's Student aka Vicki