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Your Stats Don't Matter, Your Blog Does

By Jennifer James, Founder
Mom Bloggers Club

I am a great believer in this notion: If you are incessantly preoccupied with your stats you will fall further and further behind.

My husband, who was a middle distance runner in college, told me his coach once said, “When in a race, if you look back you’ll take one second off your time.” In other words, he was telling them to not look back, don’t worry about their competitors, focus on their race, and keep running. I believe this holds true in how successful you are as a blogger. If you are completely engrossed with numbers from RSS feed subscribers to your followers on Twitter, it takes away from the time and energy you need to spend perfecting your blog, resonating with your readership and bonding with your personal community. Essentially you’re robbing yourself of authoring the best blog you can. Keep running.

My philosophy is simple: Forget the numbers and blog already! If you are overly absorbed in your numbers, you’ve already lost. It’s only when you let your passion shine through on your blog that you will truly become successful. Are you blogging because you love it and enjoy writing about that which you’re passionate? Or, do you experience an insatiable high when your stats rise and tumble into a dark pit of despair when your numbers plummet?

Remember, keep a keen eye on your priorities. If you don’t blog well because you’re fixated on your numbers, your stats will flatline or drop. Blog well and your stats will consistently rise. It’s the universal law of cause and effect. And we know how hard it is to circumvent universal laws!

Stick to the fundamentals. They will serve you well as you continue on your blogging journey.

Read more about what I have to say about social media and blogging in my NaBloPoMo posts all this month.

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Comment by Tanya on May 26, 2010 at 12:35am: So true!

Comment by Beth Grund on April 17, 2010 at 1:25pm: well said :)

Comment by Jen Monroe on April 7, 2010 at 8:59pm: Great advice! Thank you!

Comment by Sarah Jehnzen on March 29, 2010 at 10:16pm: Very timely advice! I've just joined this club, but I've been struggling with this a lot lately. Thanks so much for the reminder.

Comment by Marisa C on March 20, 2010 at 12:20pm: Good advice...

Comment by Dawana H on March 16, 2010 at 1:15am: Awesome advice! Thanks. :)

Comment by Erin Boudreau on March 1, 2010 at 6:14pm: What great advice! Sometimes I'm a big offender of this one too. It's better to write quality posts for a few people than mediocre ones for many. People will stop reading, if that's the case. Thanks!

Comment by Kimberly Thomas on February 22, 2010 at 10:54pm: This was so timely. I looked at my stats today and immediately became discouraged that I had only 4 visitors the previous day. I'm enjoying blogging even if no one is listening/reading.

Comment by Emmi L. on February 15, 2010 at 8:27pm: Love it! This is exactly what I needed to hear! It's why I started blogging but then I fell into the trap of getting those numbers up! Thanks for helping me climb back out of that hole and get back to doing what is important to me!

Comment by jing lejano on January 9, 2010 at 10:14am: I used to run middle distances and that was one of the first things I learned during training: don't look back, just keep running! :)

Comment by Ellen C on January 1, 2010 at 11:36pm: This is such fantastic advice especially to those who are fairly new to blogging. You need to blog about something you're passionate about. Once you do that, the followers will come. It's so easy to get caught up in "why did they get to review that" or "how did they get chosen to do that" when the only thing that really matters is what you're doing on your blog!

Ellen
http://confessionsofanover-workedmom.blogspot.com/

Comment by Shirley on December 23, 2009 at 9:19am: Awesome advice!!! I am a newer blogger, and have been a little discouraged that my numbers haven't been as high as they were last month...:( but yet I know my regulars are reading because they are commenting and entering my giveaways!!! Thanks for the reminders!

Comment by Lucy on November 25, 2009 at 10:18pm: I like this. Its a good post to go back to now and then to make sure to stay on track.

Comment by Mom of Three on November 13, 2009 at 1:17am: I totally agree. I don't mind newbies looking for followers though. I feel it's important to support new bloggers - encourage that blogging passion. My first follower came from MBC and she's still one of my fave bloggy friends!

I think if your passion is only for numbers, you're not really going to sustain the blogging initiative in the long run. After a while numbers only must become boring!

Comment by Tonya on November 11, 2009 at 1:12pm: I couldn't agree more.

I found I had to take the stats and follower counters off my blog. It helped me to focus on what I wanted to do and less on what really wasn't important.

Comment by Susan Fobes on November 10, 2009 at 10:56pm: I never really thought of it this way. Thanks for the advice!

Comment by Swati Bharteey on November 9, 2009 at 12:58pm: oh thank you for writing this! it brings great relief!

Comment by citychiconafarm on November 8, 2009 at 12:25pm: I've been blogging since Jan 2009, and I'm seeing a steady climb of readers, and yes I do check my stats way to often. I think you're advice is spot on, but I wonder if checking your stats could benefit you as long as you're not obsessing over them? For instance. Tiwtter, in my opinion, is a lot of work without much in return. My stats reflect that, therefore, Twitter isn't worth my time so I should move on. Right? However a few other social networking sites are giving me traffic, so I lowered my time on Twitter and focused my time on the other sites. The bottom line is you're absolutely right. Putting your heart and sole into your content is key, but use your stats as a tool without creating an obsession. Does that make sense?

Comment by Mozi Esme's Mommy on November 8, 2009 at 12:18pm: Love this post! I started blogging for the love of it - discovered stats months later and got caught up in the numbers briefly, and then moved on - I can't let my life's moods be dictated by something so fickle! Oh, I keep tabs on them from time to time and love it when the numbers go up, but if they go down, I move on.

It bothers me when newbie bloggers come on the scene asking how to bump up their numbers immediately so they can get more review/ad opportunities... I guess it doesn't hurt to have goals and ambitions, but it takes the fun out of blogging in my opinion.