Update (6/12/09): we've just updated the frontpage to use the overwhelming favorite: Top Blogs, Randomized. Thanks for all your input!
A week ago we
started an experiment using four different versions of the "Top Blogs" module to see which version drives the most traffic. Here are the results (note: these data represent a
random sampling, not the actual number of clicks or users*):
| Module Version | Total Clicks | Total Different Users |
|---|
| 1) Top Blogs - Top 10, in Order | 3,549 | 87 |
| 2) Top Blogs - Top 50-60, Randomized | 3,103 | 340 |
| 3) Most Rec'd - Top 50-60, Randomized | 3,018 | 230 |
| 4) Most Rec'd - Top 10, in Order | 2,721 | 100 |
These data suggest that Top Blogs works better than Most Rec'd in general. But if you look closely at the data for the first two modules, the results are pretty astounding...
- The first version generated the most overall clicks, but performed worst out of all four versions on spreading those clicks around to different users.
- The second version had the second-highest number of clicks (with about 12.5% fewer clicks than the first version) but was the runaway leader in spreading around those clicks (it sent clicks to almost four times more users than the first version).
So now we need your help!It looks like we'll probably want to go with one of the first two versions of the module, but which one do you think we should choose for the Xanga frontpage?
* In this experiment, we randomly assigned a subset of all Xanga visitors to one of the four versions of the module (a same number of visitors went into each group) and then tracked the data on those modules. As such, these results do not represent the actual total number of clicks or different users visited from Xanga's frontpage over the last week, but they should be a fair representation of the relative volume of clicks sent by each version of the module.
Comments (165)
i don't care - but bring back featured videos.
I'd stick with #1 and #2.
okay, i am just throwing this out there:
perhaps you could make a box like the featured box for the side, and have it switch between 1 and 2. that might be sort of difficult, but it would be pretty sweet.
@JadedJanissary - AND PHOTOS!
JadedJanissary sure loves his videos ^^
I am biased. 1-10.
the one that brings in the most new people will probably do the most to help xanga, however.
You should use #2... more users getting attention is better ... monopolies are bad
@beetunes - yeah, those were pretty great too.
@aznspartan94 - i love all videos equally.
Cool, I've definitely noticed more traffic coming from the front page. Neat to see the actual results.
I'd say if you had to choose only one... I suggest #2. More unique hits is great to have. It broadens the posting horizon for the community.
Though, I'd like to be able to switch between being in order and having random selection...
I'd personally go with #2, because it didn't generate that much LESS clicks than #1, but it generated a whole lot MORE clicks to different user sites. And that's what really helps spread traffic around.
#2, ftw.
Ehh... but probably going with #2.
And what ever happened to the recently updated section in the blogring? It seems like we just have random blogrings that don't do anything now. :\
#2
#2 I think.
I would like to see a Top blogs on say Lovelyish from the lovelyish members only. I'm starting to use my lovelyish page and I would like to be able to find friends/material on that site instead of just featured. ;)
#2
A wider variety of individual users is more important than the sheer number of clicks.
I guess.
LOL
#2
I liked the top blogs randomized!
What happened to 'rating' ?
Going with no.2 since- if I'm thinking correctly- more users means more comments (and from different perspectives).
#2
2
I had randomized Top Blogs and I didn't click on them very often. I found myself clicking on the Explore tab more often to see which blogs were in the top 10 or 15. So personally, I miss the Top 10 in order, but I can see that #2 is probably the better choice overall. *sigh* "It's not that I don't like change, I just don't like to be there when it happens."