Views to ratings ratio is terrible.

[ZfrkS62]

So, I'm returning to the site after an almost 20 year hiatus (ok, I lost interest, and real life happened, blah blah blah).

The 3 stories I had published racked up a combined 50.6k views. And 109 ratings

Wish there was a way to encourage readers to rate what they are reading.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I understand the frustration, although I would be more than happy if they refrained from rating my stories as long as they commented on my stories instead
It is what it is, I guess. I often wonder if readers know how much their feedback means to us. Looking back at myself when I was just a reader, I must say I had absolutely no idea how important giving feedback was to an author. I sure hope the average reader is more aware than me in that regard

 

[Djmac1031]

I've learned to stop using Views as any kind of marker.

As far as I know, a View doesn't automatically mean a Read.

All it tells me is someone clicked it.

Maybe they read a paragraph or two, decided they didn't like it, and moved on.

Ratings at least tells me they finished the damn thing.

 

[SimonDoom]

I've found that over time 90:1 is a normal view:vote ratio for my stories. But it can vary widely.

You just published this story today. You published it in Letters and Transcripts, which is a lightly-trafficked category. I don't see any data on your story page to indicate much. I think you have to wait a bit for more views to come in before you can have any expectations.

 

[alohadave]

So, I'm returning to the site after an almost 20 year hiatus (ok, I lost interest, and real life happened, blah blah blah).

The 3 stories I had published racked up a combined 50.6k views. And 109 ratings

Wish there was a way to encourage readers to rate what they are reading.

The average is 1.5% ratings to views. Event entries are a bit higher IME. The 1.5% is pretty consistent across stories from what people here have reported.

There are always outliers though.

 

[ZfrkS62]

Ratings at least tells me they finished the damn thing.

Fuck

 

[Rob_Royale]

You published it in Letters and Transcripts, which is a lightly-trafficked category.

i.e., total ghost town.

 

[Djmac1031]

Fuck

Hey 109 actual reads isn't terrible.

I've had stories up for ages with far less.

 

[Duleigh]

So, I'm returning to the site after an almost 20 year hiatus (ok, I lost interest, and real life happened, blah blah blah).

The 3 stories I had published racked up a combined 50.6k views. And 109 ratings

Wish there was a way to encourage readers to rate what they are reading.

I feel your pain, I threw up 6 stories between 2006 and 2008 and people avoided them in DROVES,

One story sat aging for 15 years, 14K views, 38 votes, 4 comments.

Another thing I noticed is that with a multiple part story you'll get many views on part 1, many less on part 2, but more on part 3, they skip from one to three and ignore two?

I don't care, just as long as they like it.

 

[NotWise]

I feel your pain, I threw up 6 stories between 2006 and 2008 and people avoided them in DROVES,

One story sat aging for 15 years, 14K views, 38 votes, 4 comments.

Another thing I noticed is that with a multiple part story you'll get many views on part 1, many less on part 2, but more on part 3, they skip from one to three and ignore two?

I don't care, just as long as they like it.

Drifting the topic a little, but I think some readers who haven't followed a story will jump on the last chapter expecting to find a sex-loaded climax.

 

[Duleigh]

Drifting the topic a little, but I think some readers who haven't followed a story will jump on the last chapter expecting to find a sex-loaded climax.

I guess they'll be disappointed in mine. I have a thing for wrapping up a story with a really pissed dragon spewing flaming retribution on the side of good.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

Hi there, welcome back to Literotica.

It’s actually not too hard to get some attention back on your old work and get things balanced out. Publishing anything new and similar to what you wrote last will do that for you. A surefire way for some fresh eyes is to take a shot at a contest or publish for an Event, those tend to get way more views than regular publications but it might run the risk of some rating bombs. I think at this point it just comes with the territory.

 

[Trionyx]

Ratings at least tells me they finished the damn thing.

Uh, nope. I’m sure many, particularly those who down vote, never finish the story.

 

[SimonDoom]

Uh, nope. I’m sure many, particularly those who down vote, never finish the story.

I think this happens sometimes, especially in the Loving Wives category (which this isn't, in this case), but I think it's relatively safe to say overall that total actual reads typically outnumber total votes. After all, not all people who finish reading a story vote on it.

 

[ronde]

Uh, nope. I’m sure many, particularly those who down vote, never finish the story.

That's very true. I've had comments that said the same thing.

"So (fill in your favorite derogatory adjective here) I couldn't finish it.

I'm pretty sure I got a 1 vote out of that. I've always wondered why, if a reader doesn't enjoy a story, they don't just back click out and go on to something else.

On the original subject, my experience is the view count is more a function of time on the site and how prolific the author is than anything else. My stories with the highest view counts are also the oldest, and the stories with the fewest view counts are the newest. I would venture that most authors will agree and the reason is it make sense. It takes some time before the serious group of readers stumbles on a particular author among the hundreds of stories published every day. If that reader likes the author's work, he or she may search for other things that author has written in the past, and that might be months or years in the past.

Votes and comments aren't much different on Literotica from any other site you go to. Mine are running about 2 votes/100 reads and comments about 1/2000 reads. For probably a multitude of reasons, most readers don't vote and even fewer leave a comment, even anonymously. Both votes and comments tend to stop increasing after a month or so on the site.

 

[Bramblethorn]

So, I'm returning to the site after an almost 20 year hiatus (ok, I lost interest, and real life happened, blah blah blah).

The 3 stories I had published racked up a combined 50.6k views. And 109 ratings

Wish there was a way to encourage readers to rate what they are reading.

You could put a note at the bottom of the story saying something like "Hi, if you enjoyed this story I'd love it if you'd take the time to rate it." Some authors do; anecdotally I hear it helps a bit.

 

[ZfrkS62]

You could put a note at the bottom of the story saying something like "Hi, if you enjoyed this story I'd love it if you'd take the time to rate it." Some authors do; anecdotally I hear it helps a bit.

the three stories in question were posted in 04/05, so not worth the trouble. I didn't post the newest one for feedback or votes. Probably should have even tagged it non-erotic. It's more of a finish line for a game I'm playing with someone, but if/when I post anything else, I'll consider that.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

The average is 1.5% ratings to views. Event entries are a bit higher IME. The 1.5% is pretty consistent across stories from what people here have reported.

There are always outliers though.

Such as this one:

Name Category Date Published Rate View count Votes count
1990 Novels and Novellas 1/1/2023 4.83 641 393

 

[Altissimus]

Another thing I noticed is that with a multiple part story you'll get many views on part 1, many less on part 2, but more on part 3, they skip from one to three and ignore two?

I have a series like this, and it annoys the hell out of me. Who picks up a book, reads the first 32 pages, and skips to page 171? I want to lock subsequent chapters behind a quick multiple-choice test to prove they paid attention to the preceding ones. I'm sure that would go down well.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Another thing I noticed is that with a multiple part story you'll get many views on part 1, many less on part 2, but more on part 3, they skip from one to three and ignore two?

How do you know it's people skipping part 2, rather than people re-reading part 3?

 

[Fatdog25]

I have a series like this, and it annoys the hell out of me. Who picks up a book, reads the first 32 pages, and skips to page 171? I want to lock subsequent chapters behind a quick multiple-choice test to prove they paid attention to the preceding ones. I'm sure that would go down well.

I think I have a possible explanation for this. Apologies in advance if I've done this to you.

Sometimes, I'll come across a chapter of a series that looks interesting (title, hook, whatever catches my eye). I'll open it up, see the author recommends reading from the beginning, so that's what I'll do. Start at the very beginning.

Maybe halfway through Chapter 2, I'll realize, "Hey, this is the story where the guy gets a can of whipped cream stuck in his ass, he goes to the ER only to find out his mother got called in to cover for another nurse, and Chapter 3 ended just as she walks into the treatment room." So, I'll just jump straight to Chapter 4.

I have no idea how many other people this happens to, but it happens to me a lot, especially if there's a long delay between chapter releases.

 

[Altissimus]

I think I have a possible explanation for this. Apologies in advance if I've done this to you.

Sometimes, I'll come across a chapter of a series that looks interesting (title, hook, whatever catches my eye). I'll open it up, see the author recommends reading from the beginning, so that's what I'll do. Start at the very beginning.

Maybe halfway through Chapter 2, I'll realize, "Hey, this is the story where the guy gets a can of whipped cream stuck in his ass, he goes to the ER only to find out his mother got called in to cover for another nurse, and Chapter 3 ended just as she walks into the treatment room." So, I'll just jump straight to Chapter 4.

I have no idea how many other people this happens to, but it happens to me a lot, especially if there's a long delay between chapter releases.

But that suggests you'd read the previous chapters at some point, even if it was a while ago. So they should've recorded your page impressions in the view count.

I have a series where the total views is lower in the middle than at either end. Middle chapters skipped entirely - particularly bizarre as they are the higher-scoring ones of the series!

 

[HeyAll]

I tend to think that a lot of people don't bother voting and don't see the point. Especially later, when the score gets settled in, like if you're reading a story that's a week old, why bother to vote ?

So if you have 109 votes, the amount of people who actually have read it is much higher.

It's just like Youtube, most people don't bother to vote because there doesn't seem to a reason to, for the average person.

Also, i've noticed that if you leave a note asking for people to vote, then the ratio will increase.

 

[Fatdog25]

But that suggests you'd read the previous chapters at some point, even if it was a while ago. So they should've recorded your page impressions in the view count.

I have a series where the total views is lower in the middle than at either end. Middle chapters skipped entirely - particularly bizarre as they are the higher-scoring ones of the series!

It would have recorded my previous views as well as my new ones, no?

From my example:

Ch. 1 = 2 views
Ch. 2 = 2 views
Ch. 3 = 1 view (skipped it the second time, as I recall having read it previously and remember the important details)
Ch. 4 = 2 views

I think this would only account for some of the discrepancy though. Other possible explanations include certain readers skipping ahead to the ending/just rereading their favorite parts or a glitch in code to continue to the next chapter in the series (where it doesn't increment the count for some reason).

Reading this thread reminded me that I do that sometimes when reading series, so I thought I would just throw that out there.

 

[Duleigh]

Here's something that looks like a trend. A reader will favorite a story but not vote on it. I hope they are book marking it for future reading but there's options for that too.