My traffic and AdSense earnings took a big -- and uncharacteristic -- nosedive yesterday in the wake of Anna Nicole Smith's death. I'm wondering if a big news event like that takes away traffic from you in the same way. Of course, there may be no causal relationship at all between my traffic slowdown and a news event like that, but I'm just wondering if when big events like that hit the public consciousness, if anyone else has experienced something similar. My traffic's already recovering today, so I think there may be something to it. Your thoughts?
Yes, they do. A few days ago I reported on my personal blog the inquest into the death of a British Soldier by Friendly Fire. The cockpit video of the US A-10 Thunderbolt involved in the incident was subsequently leaked to the UK media, which I also reported. My traffic and clicks trebled that day.
Well I think, generally, if you have a site related to the topic (Anna Nichole fansite) it's going to spike. That's pretty obvious. I haven't thought about effects from non-related sites though. What's the topic/target of your site? My sites weren't effected, just the weekly/daily fluctuations that they normally go through - no higher or lower than normal.
My page on thawing frozen water pipes did really well last week when the midwest and the east were so cold
I haven't heard about news events affecting a decrease in traffic, but I know from experience that having a site in a niche that draws some sort of media attention means a spike in traffic. It's definitely interesting though what you have experienced and whether or not it's news related. Maybe traffic is interested in an event such as Anna Nicole Smith which takes them away from visiting regular sites - especially when your traffic is now recovering..