HfP had 1 million page views in January …. which is a bit spooky, actually

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If someone had told me three and a half years ago when I started HfP that I would eventually reach the giddy heights of 1 million page views per month, I’m not sure I would have believed them.

However, last month, we did it.

1,022,000 page views to be precise, of which 80% came from UK readers.

This represents 199,000 unique visitors – although a single person accessing the site from multiple devices counts as multiple unique visitors, so the actual number is lower than that.

Alexa now ranks HfP as the 1,500th biggest website in the UK.

HFP

This is a very abstract number, of course. When I write, it is just me and a laptop.

There are now almost 3,800 articles on the site, of which I have written 99.5%. My plan for 2016 is bring my contribution down to 97% (nothing like setting a big goal for yourself …..), primarily through letting Anika spread out from Shopper Points to pick up some of the hotel and lounge reviews and general travel pieces. Don’t worry, she knows what she’s talking about.

There may be a few other organisational changes as well, although I am not yet fully clear how it will go. The current situation is probably not sustainable – I get 700 emails per week, for example, which continues 24/7 whatever I am doing and wherever I am. I even got 29 HfP emails on Christmas Day last year.

I also need to spend more time out and about meeting the airline and hotel marketing and programme heads. That would drive bigger competitions, exclusive news stories and higher value advertising, but it is not possible with the current workload. Let’s see how it goes.

Thank you to everyone who reads Head for Points for your support – even if you read it via the daily emails and so didn’t contribute to the 1 million page views 🙂

Of course, as January is always busy due to the post-Christmas booking frenzy, February is only 29 days, March contains Easter which is always quiet and April is only 30 days, I may not be hitting 1 million page views again for some time.

Category

General

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Tilly71 says:

1 Feb1 February 09:32

Well done, I take a look at this site atleast three times a day and am always surprised you manage to keep to your three new articles a day. So much easier to read than FT.
Mike says:

1 Feb1 February 09:38

Don’t be heaping too much praise on him, he’ll sell up in about 3-5 years for £87 million just like Martin Lewis from moneysavingexpert. On a more serious note Rob, very well done, you’re definitely onto a winner. You never know, maybe a big windfall in a few years time.
- Rob says:
  
  1 Feb1 February 10:58
  
  I was actually asked on Friday over lunch what I thought it was worth, by someone who would have an oblique interest in buying it. But they won’t.
  
  The honest answer is that, if I sold, I am back to where I was in 2011 – no job (but able to pay the bills ok) and nothing to do all day. Been there, done that, novelty wears off after a bit I promise you!
  
  There are various lessons from MSE. One is that you can build a valuable business in the ‘saving money / making money’ space without dumbing down. There is actually no money in dumbing down because you reach an audience which no-one values. That is why Shopper Points is pitched a little below HFP, but only a little.
  - whiskerxx says:
    
    1 Feb1 February 16:39
    
    Novelty hasn’t worn off for me yet! 🙂
  - Tom C says:
    
    1 Feb1 February 19:07
    
    But the difference this time is that you could afford to buy your own private jet. And take me on it. That’s worth considering.
    - Rob says:
      
      1 Feb1 February 20:36
      
      I am planning a CoJetage trip in the near future if I can find an interesting route and an interesting deal! Thought that would make a good story.
      
      I think an outing to London Southend Airport would make a good story though. Guess which is more likely to happen in the next 6 months.
Alexey says:

1 Feb1 February 09:51

Congratulations and thanks for posting very useful news and recommendations. There are many travel blogs out there , even some specializing in the same type of posts , but majority just post something for the sake of posting , or increasing audience , or just promoting their agenda , here is however almost 100% of posts are genuine and useful. Please keep this this way even when you’ll become bigger ))
Ed says:

1 Feb1 February 09:53

HfP is probably my most viewed website, first thing I read the articles and then catch up on the comments throughout the day. Great site and a great reader community.
Edward Offenbach says:

1 Feb1 February 10:07

Well done Rob!!! Fantastic achievement and thank you for all your help and advice.
Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

1 Feb1 February 10:13

Congratulations from a long-time reader (and, indeed, one of the 0.5%!). I’m always surprised by how many people mention HfP to me on the couple occasions I’ve been name-checked in an article.
idrive says:

1 Feb1 February 10:17

Good Good Good!! Well done and congrats!
I actually check this on 4 devices, but may be one of the few! I believe 2 is a reasonable number for an average reader.
Good Luck and welcome Anika!
Roberto says:

1 Feb1 February 11:10

Well done Rob, as a fellow (ex) professional writer I know its difficult to put pen to paper sometimes and whilst 21 unique articles per week sounds easy peasy in reality there are times where its far from that.. I had to write 37 articles about Tuscany in 7 days once and the last 8 or 9 were a tad arduous to say the least.

Keep up the good work and I will keep an eye out for you in Alexa’s top 1000.