I think sometimes we all get too caught up in numbers.
How many page views do I have? How many unique visitors? How many followers? How much time do they spend on my site? What ranking am I on Top Mommy Blogs? How much money did I make from my affiliate programs?
You get the idea.
I am concerned about my blog stats just as much as the next person. I check them every single morning and it is my goal to see my numbers go up everyday. I even try to carve out and hour each and every single day to visit other Mommy blogs and comment. I try to find blogs I have never visited before--and usually I end up loving what I find.
At the end of the day though---what is really important in our blogging? All of those numbers? Or the recognition that someone read what you had to say and either agreed/disagreed with it?
I would honestly take comments over pageviews/followers anyday. Just having followers doesn't meant they read your blog. I am guilty of this--I follow a blog, meaning to come back and then forget all about it.
Here's what I want out of my blogging:
1. Comments. I want people to tell me how smart and beautiful and magnificent I am---or I want them to tell me I am a dumbass. Either way it's recognition that they read what I had to say and formed an opinion on it.
2. The ability to remember things as they happen. I didn't buy a baby book. I wanted to, but I forgot, and quite honestly I probably wouldn't have remembered to fill it out. With blogging, I can keep her pictures and memories all in one place---an even share them with the world!
3. An outlet for my "feelings". When I am sad or had a bad day and I write about it, it makes me feel better. Sometimes I even write posts that I don't post just because it makes me feel 100x better to vent my feelings on the keyboard.
Would I love for you all to shop at Giggle, Amazon and Photoworks through me? I'd be lying if I said no. Would I love it if I got an email asking for a company to pay me to place an ad on my site? OMG. I would probably fall over dead in my chair.
Right now I am happy with listing Etsy shops for free and making people happy. In fact, make sure you check out the Etsy shops I have listed at the top of my blog---they have some GREAT stuff and the sellers are wonderful people.
Thank you for reading this post and for reading my blog. Every single person who visits my site matters, but I love you even more if you leave a comment (Just kidding, kind of)
Sunday, April 11, 2010
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19 comments:
Great post, as a new blogger, I find myself checking the "numbers" and I see how it could become an obsession. It's truly not what its all about, yet we allow ourselves to get so caught up in it all. Thanks for reminding us whats important.
Amber :)
I love blogging for many of the same reasons. You were my first non-family friend follower and I love you for it =) I dont even know how to check the stats and am pretty sure that no one would ever find me and ask me to advertise. But I love reading about Molly and you and try to always comment. Keep it up you have many ppl who enjoy reading everyday!
I read lots of blogs but don't usually comment because I follow in my Google Reader and its easier to just click on to the next blog.. sorry!
I need to make more of an effort to read the original items and not the feed so that I can leave some love on the posts I enjoy (such as this one!)
:)
I like blogging but have been on hiatus since the move. I don't have time or any more creative bug to get me going right now! I follow some blogs your is one and a lot of the blogs I "say" I follow is because of giveaways
(guilty, guilty, guilty). I appreciate honest blogs and of course pictures because I love seeing in the day to day life of people! I hope to get back on the blogging horse soon but my horse is freakin dead right now! Keep it up!
::sidenote::
People that I can't stand I will still read their blogs as much as the people I love. Not sure what sycosis that is?"
I frequently tell people how silly it is to be so competitive over a blog rank website. But, I am still competetive nonetheless (I blame the type A personality).
I also LOVE the comments and get sad when I have like 100+ views and no comments. Oh well, I will still blog anyway -- cheap therapy ;)
Oh darling, I'm right there with you. Every morning over tea I'm checking those numbers. But I really do feel much better when there are comments. That means someone cared enough to comment. The only caveat is the sites we belong to that encourage us to comment. I find some people just say they're visiting from XYZ group and "nice blog" or "happy Friday" or whatever. Sometimes I feel those folks don't even read what I wrote and their comments are superfluous. I only comment if I have read it (and I have to be honest, I don't always have the time to) and have something constructive to say. Love yours though. :-) -- Jen, heligirl.com
It really is hard not to get competitive isnt it. I am trying to lean away from constantly checking my checks because it was driving me crazy. i too love comments and once those started rolling in for me i knew it was all going in the right direction
Devan @ Accustomed Chaos
http://accustomedchaos.blogspot.com
Very cute blog. As a new blogger am I wandering around, mostly because of UBP and seeing whats out there. I want a better blog now!!Yours is very nicely done. Good job!!
You are smart, beautiful and magnificant (I'm sure). See? I was reading, lol!
Thanks for the comment on my blog!
I feel the same way. I dont check the stats because I don;t want to know if people aren't reading. I cant help but check the GFC but I figure most of those people never come back. The comments make me happy - esp. when I notice a person comments a few different times - then I know they are coming back and care.
Christine
Well, I would like to thank YOU for stopping by my blog and following! You made my day :) It is definitely hard not to get caught up in the numbers- your number of commenters/followers is kind of your "status" in blogging. But I try not to take it personally if people don't comment/stop following.
Alissa, I think you are not alone in this struggle. I have few followers, but I love to write and take photos, plain and simple. I agree though, I would rather have the comments and people participating than hords of followers. I write because I love to for my daughter and like you I use it to remember everything! I think sometimes we forget what is important, but also I think that it depends why we use our blog, and I believe that is different for each of us, the thing that is the same is that we LOVE our children. I love to read your blog, Molly is adorable, so do not worry about your rank, most importantly remember you are awesome and you have readers that love to read :)!
I read your blog and others and never comment. I never thought about it...but now that I read this I will make an effort to comment more. Molly is adorable!
I am a new blogger and have no idea what I am doing. I don't even know how to check numbers. haha. I am doing it to keep track of our year and really enjoy it so far. Your blog is always a interesting one to read. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for writing on this important subject.
I follow many blogs and comment infrequently. It only takes a moment, but when I do post I don't receive a response, or I never remember to check back and see other responses.
Ask and you shall receive. I will be commenting more. I am new to your blog and love it so far... :)
Could have written this myself! You are very relevant and I follow you all the time!
if you wanna check out my blog (you love new ones right??) and COMMENT (hehe) feel free...
initotwinit.blogspot.com
Hear! Hear!
I blog because I love meeting other moms and because I enjoy working on my blog, changing the colors, the design, the header. I found the template by chance and changed the colors by myself, then I made the header and added it and I did all that after I read tons of tutorials, because I had NO CLUE what CSS or HTML codes are. I love comments of course:) and I love when people visit my blog and compliment the design (since I worked so hard on it), but other than that I'm not too worried how many visits per day I get. I basically want to learn something new, a new skill, and I also want to meet other moms and make new friends:)
I check the numbers too. Mainly because I feel like I'm talking to myself most of the time. I blog to express what I'm thinking at the time, so even if no one is reading, it's therapeutic for me. (However, it would be nice to know that you aren't talking to yourself! LOL)
You have a very cute blog! Your baby is even cuter! :)
Really like the idea of d-listed ... I'm an obsessive number checker who's currently in rehab. Thanks for helping blogging become more about companionship and comradery instead of a contest to get to the top. I try to visit bloggers on varying levels on top baby blogs, but it's really overwhelming since there are hundreds. I'm still keeping my top baby blog button, but I love the idea of "taste testing" 5 new blogs each day and building relationships along the way!
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