Most common words on hard deadlines in 2009. Visualization by Wordle Click to embiggen.

With 2009 coming to an end, wanted to take this opportunity for a look back, and to say thanks to all of you who took time out of your busy days to visit here. Thank you. Whether you left a comment, sent me a story idea, mentioned a post when we met, or just dropped in from time to time, I really appreciate the opportunity to share this little corner of the Web with you. Thanks.

This was a busy year here at hard deadlines. There were 350 posts this year, totaling 138,278 words (up from 120K last year). There were a couple of key guest blog posts by Mark Katzman and Terri Cortvriend, for which, massive thanks. The year's output was the equivalent of 650 double-spaced pages of copy. And on top of that, I cranked out a 50K-word novel in November, putting word count for the year over 180K.

This was also the year that I began to regularly get press releases. Thanks to Rich Talipsky of the Portsmouth Economic Development Committee for always keeping me in the loop, and to Rep. Patrick Kennedy's office and the RI Department of Education.

The site had 42,341 visits, an 18% increase from 2008, and served 64,718 page views (+12% year-on-year). This year also saw a big jump in what web folks call "unique visitors." This metric tracks not just the raw number of visits, but how many unique computers are hitting the site (because you can't tell if more than one person is using a computer.) Average unique visitors each month jumped 28%, from 1,077 in 2008 to 1,382 in 2009.

And while I'm most proud of my coverage of the Portsmouth Wind Turbine, I did manage a few minor scoops this year: School Committee member Jamie Heaney's departure, the Portsmouth Water and Fire District election results, full coverage of Commissioner Gist's visit, and the Escape Bridge delay (the last of which was my first story picked up by big media, and my debut on local television).

And what did people find most interesting on the site this year? Well, here's the top 10 reads.

Want to review all the stories for 2009? You can see 'em here. (One caveat on both these lists: since many people read the site by visiting the home page rather than clicking through to a particular story, the numbers are only directionally accurate.)

Again, my heartfelt thanks to everyone for all the time you spent here this year, and my best wishes for a wonderful 2010. Happy New Year, everyone.

Source: Data compiled from SiteMeter and Google Analytics.