Some Blog Success Related Musings
Posted on February 20, 2010 | Categories: Online | Tags: blog
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There are so many factors people use to statistically define what makes a blog successful: average number of comments per entry, amount of visitors per day, number of feed subscribers, Google PageRank rating… the list can get quite lengthy. And while those are all important factors when it comes to measuring a blog’s popularity and success, just how much weight should these factors be given?
I’ll admit that sometimes I get disheartened when I check my blog’s stats and see that my number of feed subscribers has fallen or that the amount of visitors for a particular day drastically decreased compared to my average amount. Most of the time I write it off as a slow day in the blogosphere or that no one was interested in my latest blog entry. However, there are also days when my stats spike dramatically, leading me to believe that that day was either super active in the blogosphere or I wrote an incredibly captivating entry. A lot of the reasoning behind high/low numbers depend on what visitors are attracted to in a blog, too.
This all leads me to this question: how does one judge whether or not a blog is a “success”? Is it a quality over quantity type of thing or do numbers weigh more heavily in the bigger picture? I don’t necessarily mean how does one judge one’s own blog and if it’s a success or not, but blogs in general. There’s going to be some sort of correlation between lots of traffic and quality entries to read of course, but that creates another question: do bloggers write interesting entries to attract visitors both new and old or are visitors attracted to a blog because of (sometimes already existing) good quality entries?
(Which came first, the chicken or the egg?)
Obviously, I pay way too much attention and over think things when it comes to blogs, but it’s tough to figure out these kinds of things when the criteria are so subjective.
Clem
I’m really happy with where my blog is right now for two reasons:
1) I like how I’m writing it. I feel like I’m really doing it for myself, and not just to get comments. In the past, that line ahs been much finer; now, I know that I’ll be able to read back my old posts without cringing.
2) I feel like I have enough visitors/readers. Of course, more is always nice, but my entries get pretty solid amounts of comments, and I have more subscribers then I’d ever imagined.
I feel like my blog is successful because of those reasons. Obviously it’s NOTHING compared to other blogs, but for me personally, it’s really good. It’s all relative.
Jen
I tend to go by subscriber numbers, number of visitors/day, and comments. I take all three into account because I also know that I subscribe to and visit maybe 700% of the number of blogs I actually comment on. And sometimes I actually do have things to say about those blog entries, but I’m just lazy or someone else has already said it. And I guess it’s my assumption to think it works both ways.
My stats tend to spike on days I actually blog, hrmm. :P I also think you need a balance between writing for your audience and for yourself — I think people who proclaim otherwise are kidding themselves. Interesting entries tend to be good quality entries too, in my experience.
Adam
I would judge successfulness of a blog by the number of subscribed readers and average number of comments. Unique hits don’t mean much if the visitors aren’t actually staying to read anything! By my own definition, I’m pretty much a failure at blogging successfully :P
For me, I choose quality over quantity, i.e., I’ll post once weekly about something that I think readers will enjoy, and I’ll enjoy writing about.
Dayna
I tend to go by the number of unique visitors per day and the number of comments on my blog entries. There tend to be a lot lesser comments in certain types of entries I write so I think that’s the kind that nobody really enjoys reading or they can’t relate to what I’ve written.
I think a blog is a success when there are people who actually read the entries and put some thought into their comments. It’s very subjective since some people may feel that their blog will only be successful once they have 300 subscribers (eg).
Charlie
I go by comments and leave a bit of leeway for people reading but not commenting. And some of the blogs I subscribe to I don’t read that much so that could easily apply to mine to.
Caity
I look at a couple things: subscribers, unique visitors per day (and how long they stayed) and also comments. You have to realize not everyone has something to say every day. I wouldn’t worry too much. Everyone fluctuates!
Cindy
Usually I go by unique visitors and comment number. Admittedly, I don’t really put much stock into my site statistics as I should, but I totally agree, it’s a tad depressing to see a dip in the number of readers/visitors.
Krissy
I don’t really have anything to add, as to be honest, I haven’t really given the topic much thought. XD That’s not to say I don’t follow my blog stats, because I’m a stat-aholic. But I guess I just blog more for the fun and personal enjoyment of it, so I don’t really think of my blog in that way. But I suppose I could consider my blog a success in that I’m consistent with it and I enjoy it. Maybe that’s not quite what the traditional definition of success is, but it works for me. :)