---
layout: post
title: "Ten Years Old"
date: 2017-11-19 00:00:00
categories: Business
toc: false
meta: "csswizardry.com turns ten today!"
---

Ten years ago today, a seventeen-year old Harry decided to register the domain
[csswizardry.com](). It was such a small and
inconsequential decision at the time: I only bought the domain because
[NuBlue](https://www.nublue.co.uk/), a British hosting firm, was running
a promotional offer in which a .com domain and a year’s hosting was about £39 (I
actually had to use my mother’s credit card, because I wasn’t old enough to have
one of my own). As I clicked that checkout button, little did I know that that
simple purchase would be the defining part of the next decade of my life.

I chose the name CSS Wizardry because I knew I wanted to start a blog showcasing
CSS tricks and techniques, and I’d also just finished reading
[Andy’s](http://andybudd.com/) [<cite>CSS
Mastery</cite>](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1430223979?ie=UTF8&tag=blogography-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1430223979)
which is a book that inspired me greatly. I actually loathe the name CSS
Wizardry now, but it’s stuck too well for me to change it: I guess it’s here to
stay. Incidentally, a lot of people think the name choice was making a play on
the whole Harry/wizard thing—it wasn’t.

Fast forward a decade, and that whimsical purchase has probably been the most
influential decision I ever made. What started off as an overly-confident
teenager’s foray into front-end development ultimately led to my first job,
a speaking career, and a full-time consultancy firm. I struggle to believe it,
sometimes.

Over the last ten years I’ve been fortunate enough to work for [a number of
companies](https://uk.linkedin.com/in/csswizardry), both large and small, as
a salaried front-end developer; I’ve spoken and workshopped at [over 85 public
events](/speaking/#section:past-events) (and countless
other private ones); I was able to start my own consultancy business through
which I’ve worked with some [truly amazing
clients](/#section:clients); I’ve been able to travel the
world visiting over 35 different countries; I’ve met countless new people and
made many wonderful new friends; I’ve experienced more amazing things than
I feel I deserve. It’s been a phenomenal journey and I’m grateful for it every
single day. Truly, I’m the luckiest person alive.

As impersonal as it may seem through a blog post, I want to offer sincere thanks
every single person that’s joined me on this journey; no matter how much or how
little, you’ve all played a part. From colleagues, to managers, to bosses, to
clients, to conferences, and everyone in between: thank you.

But it’s been hard work. A lot of continued hard work. Writing [over 200
articles](/archive/), releasing [open-source
projects](https://github.com/csswizardry), developing and sharing new
methodologies and techniques, is all just a small part of what’s made this all
possible. Looking back on ten whole years begins to put a lot of it into
perspective.

Bill Gates once famously said that…

> [m]ost people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what
> they can do in ten years.

The CSS Wizardry journey, it turns out, has been a long one. People often ask me
how I got to where I am, and how they can emulate it themselves. They’re often
disheartened to hear that it’s taken me a decade, and to them I typically repeat
a phrase I learned some time ago:

> The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

Having this website changed and shaped my career. If you don’t have a blog,
I urge you, start working on one this weekend. Your own blog, with your own
content, at your own domain. It might just change your life.

## Facts and Figures

As CSS Wizardry is, first and foremost, a personal blog, it’s not as highly
trafficked as, say, a site like CSS Tricks might be. That said, here are some
interesting facts and figures[^1] from the last decade:

* There have been **8,033,982** visitors from **238 countries** who have been
  responsible for **14,237,772** pageviews.
* The most highly trafficked single article has been [<cite>Creating a pure CSS
  dropdown
  menu</cite>](/2011/02/creating-a-pure-css-dropdown-menu/),
  taking 10.17% of the total pageviews.
* The most highly trafficked single day was **25 April 2013** with **34,374**
  visitors. **74.25%** of them were reading about
  [<cite>Shame.css</cite>](/2013/04/shame-css/)
* The most highly trafficked year was **2013**, which was when I was writing
  with a much higher frequency.
* With **26.36%** of total visitors, **the US is the top location**, followed by
  the UK (10.74%), and India (6.66%).
* I had one lonely visitor from **North Korea**.
* The ten **fastest** countries[^2] were:

  | Country     | Mean Page Load (sec.) |
  |-------------|----------------------:|
  | Belize      |                  0.72 |
  | Montenegro  |                  1.43 |
  | Norway      |                  1.45 |
  | Finland     |                  1.49 |
  | Algeria     |                  1.55 |
  | Malta       |                  1.64 |
  | Luxembourg  |                  1.71 |
  | Switzerland |                  1.76 |
  | Slovenia    |                  1.81 |
  | Hungary     |                  1.86 |

* The ten **slowest** countries were:

  | Country   | Mean Page Load (sec.) |
  |-----------|----------------------:|
  | Lesotho   |                122.24 |
  | Cuba      |                104.29 |
  | Ecuador   |                 59.96 |
  | Rwanda    |                 55.08 |
  | Nigeria   |                 44.05 |
  | Nepal     |                 37.81 |
  | Ethiopia  |                 29.71 |
  | China     |                 19.41 |
  | Cyprus    |                 15.08 |
  | St. Lucia |                 14.71 |

[^1]: All data is from Google Analytics.
[^2]: Performance data began getting captured on 13 Nov, 2011.