Why Numbers Are A Major Blog Killer

Alex — Sat, 30 May 2009 22:12:33 +0000

Numbers have a large impact on our blogs and how we as bloggers interact on it. These numbers I am referring to are any kind of numbers that you see on your blog every day; statistical information basically. How many comments per posts you get, how many comments you have on your blog, number of pageviews, etc. etc are all things we look at and analyze each day.

All of these numbers we have access to can be good for us, or bad.They are good in the terms of helping us see how our blogging strategies are, and how we can build off of them to improve our blog even more. But, having access to all of these numbers and over thinking them can prove to be a bad thing.

I believe that it is easy for looking at something like traffic numbers, or comment numbers to really let you reflect on how good of shape your blog is really in. If you take those two numbers too seriously and let them persuade you enough that they aren’t what you like, you can get yourself into a serious situation.

It’s common for any blogger, especially aged bloggers of about 3-6 months to read through all of those different statistics and judge their blog way too hard. We all like to think that since we have been blogging for a few months now, things should start going our way. It’s not true all the time, but we think it should be. I know I think like that too, but then when I take a look at some of those number statistics, well let’s just say I will be surprised every once in a while!

It’s Easy To Over-Obsess About Every Little Number

In blogging, we seek for perfection, right? Why be the second best when being the first is an option? When that concept is understood, it’s then that any minor mishap on your blog will cause you trouble. Those numbers proving to be the biggest problem of them all.

I’ve talked about obsession before on this blog, and I basically concluded that it’s not worth the troubles. I feel like obsessing over statistics on your blog is completely a bad idea.

Like any other obsession, it will take up your time

When improving a number like comment count or Unique Visitors, you need to spend time both internally and externally for your blog. Externally being promoting your blog on other sites, and internal improvements, the most important kind of improvement.

Spending too much time getting involved with these numbers can actually make them go even lower because of how time consuming and distracting it can be.

Comparing Your Numbers to Other People’s

One thing that can be more stressful to you more than anything else is comparing your blog to another person’s blog. Obviously you won’t have access to all of their information, so you are limited in seeing who is better at what, but a lot of the times you can compare these numbers with other bloggers:

Comments per post
Top commentator counts (if you use the plugin)
Poll votes (if you use the plugin)
RSS Subscribers
Number of received trackbacks
Pages of posts

If you have a rival or something in your niche, I bet that you check up on their blog a lot. When you check them out, I bet you compare some of the things I listed above too. Doing that is where you can either make or break your ego.

Dealing With the Fact Someone is Better Than You

Let’s face it, the chances are that there is someone better than us at what we write about. They get more comments in a post, more trackbacks sent about the post, get talked about more on Twitter, and so on and so forth. It’s a challenge for us to be the better blogger, but it’s something that is rarely done.

When you see someone better than you, it can be annoying. Especially if you have been blogging longer than them. When you see better numbers on another blog and compare them to your own, you should always consider what they have done to get better numbers than you.

How Do You React?

How seriously do you take your numbers on your blog. Have you gotten to the point in your blog where whatever numbers you get a day in any aspect of your blog are just a secondary thing to worry about? Or do you see numbers as a more powerful influence?