The other day, my blog had a total of one view.
Now, this view–it wasn’t even from a recent post. It was from a really old post, back from when my blog was a baby. For some reason–probably because it shows up in web searches regarding the ever-popular topic of Myers-Briggs personality types–this post continues to get a lot of traffic, despite its age.
Anyways, that’s besides the point.
The point is, my blog got one view the other day and, more importantly, my reaction to this was:
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Every now and again, I like to revisit my reasons for blogging. While I did this a lot more at the beginning of my journey as a blogger–writing numerous posts in the first few months of this blog’s existence on that topic–it’s still something that crops up in the back of my mind now and then.
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So, about this blogging business–lately, my stats have been terrible. Let me say that again. In the past few months, my blog stats have slowly petered down to almost non-existent. While I was never garnering a huge amount of views on my blog, my stats have really been terrible of late. T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E. The number of likes and comments I’ve been receiving have been dismal. My followers are growing steadily, but I also know that the majority of those followers don’t even read my blog.
While I would have found all this exceptionally aggravating in the past, though, I’m finding now that I really don’t care. Part of me does wish my stats would pick up. It’s always nice to see the numbers get a little higher on any particular day, I won’t deny that. But…I no longer frequently make visits to new blogs. A couple weeks ago, I followed my first new blog in months. I rarely make time now to read the blogs I follow. Reaching out to the community is a huge part of making oneself known here, and I just haven’t been doing that. Furthermore, many of the bloggers I used to keep in touch with all the time aren’t posting as much on WordPress anymore. A handful of my favorite bloggers have started to use Instagram more often than WordPress and I find myself communicating with them FAR more frequently there than I do here.
When I think about it, I came searching for connections on WordPress, something I didn’t even realize at the time. The thing is, I’ve made those connections. I’ve met so many people through WordPress. I’ve developed these relationships with people whom I’ve never met and I feel like I’ve known them forever. I’m really grateful for them; I love these people. I know I could easily meet up with any of them in person if the opportunity presented itself. It’s the beauty of blogging–and why I keep engaging with those people both on WordPress and Instagram.
It’s not that I’m not interested in meeting new people, I just don’t feel the need to invest the time that I used to in building relationships with more people on WordPress–because I’ve already done that and I feel like I have my little blogger niche that I happily fit into and am a part of.
And so when I see my stats falling and my likes dwindling and less blog comments, part of me does wish they would spike–but a bigger part of me has so many other things I want to accomplish, outside of the blogosphere. Building relationships and making connections with people in the blogosphere takes so much time. Gaining a broader audience outside of WordPress takes even more time. I don’t want to create a Twitter page or a Facebook page for my blog. I don’t care enough. I already spend enough time on social media as it is.
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It really becomes clearer to me every day–I blog for myself. I always have and I always will. My content is for me. My posting schedule is for me (because staying committed to something is important to me). The relationships I’ve built and continue to maintain in this space are for me.
Whether my blog get two daily views or 200–that doesn’t matter.
What matters is that I’m doing something for myself. I’m writing for myself, which keeps me sane. I’m staying committed to my blog because it makes me feel accomplished. I’m keeping up those relationships I’ve made because they matter to me.
This is why I blog.
This is why I’m here and why I intend to stay.
It's a Britta Bottle! 
I’m on the same exact boat as you! Since I moved back from California, I’ve been so busy that I’ve barely had enough time to even sit and think about what I want to blog about. My stats have been pretty non-existent and I’ve found myself being weeks, or even months behind on reading the blogs I love. I’ve just been so busy. But I too, don’t really care anymore about my stats. I just care about keeping in touch with all of the friends I’ve made through WordPress. That’s what really matters to me.
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Yes, when I first started blogging I was so consumed with stats and getting more followers, etc., etc.–but then I realized that the reason I started blogging in the first place was for me and concentrating on stats and followers seemed contrived and impersonal. I’d much rather write for myself and focus on the relationships I already have here, when I have the time.
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One thing about the number of views WordPress reports for any given post: they’re not accurate. I’m not sure how they count them (number of ads viewed, maybe?) but they’re definitely lower than the actual number of views. I’ll come to WordPress and see a like or a comment on a new post, then go to the Dashboard and see that it’s not listed under the “most recently viewed posts” section. So it’s not that your followers necessarily aren’t reading your blog (I can only speak for myself in saying that I, at least, am reading it), just that WordPress isn’t necessarily recording all their views.
But blogging for yourself is definitely the right way to go about it, absolutely. 😀
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Hm. That’s interesting. I have wondered about that before–there are times when I get a certain amount of likes that don’t add up with page views and I can’t help but wonder what’s going on…are people reading from the reader and not actually viewing my site? Are people liking when they’re not even reading? Or are the page views just not showing up accurately? It’s all rather confusing.
Yes, blogging for myself is the right way to go about it. I’m happy to have readers, but it’s not my main goal in continuing to blog.
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I’m not sure how they calculate the views, but their ad revenue seems one possible explanation, since that way people with AdBlock on could be messing up the results. But I don’t know if that’s it at all; it could be a browser thing or the reader messing with results, or…yeah, I have no idea. I don’t understand how half this stuff works.
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Haha, I don’t understand most of it, either. WordPress is (for the most part) easy and I like to write, so I’m not really looking to understand it all.
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I haven’t checked my stats in ages, but mine MUST be way down too. I know my likes and comments are way down. That’s because I blog less frequently, read blogs less frequently, and I interact with others less often than I used to. I tend to feel worse about giving people the impression I’ve stopped caring about their blogs (not the case, I’m just more silent now) than I do about my own following. We all have other stuff going on. Blogging is one of those things that keeps being moved up and down the priority list depending on what other things are going on. It’s all good. There will be ups and downs. 🙂
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Exactly. I can’t help but wonder how some people seem to always be on WordPress…because I do have readers that never miss a post of mine and always seem to be commenting on my blog and other’s. I’m busy with other things–plus I get bored and restless when I spend too much time on WordPress. I like to catch up on other people’s blogs…but not all the time. Not only do I have a lot of other things to do, but I want to be doing other things, too.
You’re right. Blogging does always move up and down the priority list and there’s nothing wrong with that.
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I really relate to a lot of what you’ve said here, Britta. I don’t think I’ve found my niche the same way you have, but I go through ups and downs a lot. There are times when I’m really progressive about posting content that is really solid and engaging in the WordPress community… and then there are times when I just don’t. It’s not that I don’t enjoy all of this–but engaging takes a lot of energy, which I sometimes don’t have. When it comes down to it, like with you, my blogging is something I do for myself and that is enough.
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Wise words, Amelia. Blogging for myself IS enough. I enjoy my readers and the commentary we have on my blog and their blogs, but it isn’t my main reason for blogging and I don’t want it to be. I also find myself getting restless and bored when I spend a lot of time on WordPress. I love catching up with other people’s blogs–but there’s only so much time in any given day that I’m willing to do that. I have so many other things I want to do and accomplish, too, outside of the blogosphere.
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Me too Britta. I feel much the same way. I’ve never really paid much attention to stats but I’m always thrilled when someone comments on a post. And that’s because of the connection, as you said. I’ve also been hanging out a lot on IG, it’s an easy platform. And good fun. But I’ve missed the community here while I’ve been away lately. I’m glad you’re here.
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I love IG because scrolling through pictures takes far less time than scrolling through blog posts–especially when I have limited time. It is possible to develop relationships with people through IG, but when I think about it, the best relationships I have on IG are the ones I’ve kept up from WordPress. Yes, it’s nice to interact with people on IG, but I’ve yet to develop the kind of relationships there that I have through WordPress. The community here IS wonderful. It’s good to have you back, Desley. I’m glad you’re here, too.
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Thanks so much Britta. Yes I agree with you about the two platforms.
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I follow many blogs, and may bloggers follow me. However, some days I just have to delete almost every notification as I simply don’t have the time to read them all. Your blog is one a try to look at every week so I’m glad you plan to keep going.
I suggest you don’t look at your daily stats. I only look once a month.
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I used to get all the notifications for the blogs I follow via e-mail, but I would get so sucked into reading all of them that it would end up taking up half of my day–so one day I went through and turned off e-mail notifications for every single blog I follow. One of the best decisions I’ve made. Now I just scroll through my reader and read the posts that interest me. I’m glad to hear you are a frequent reader of my blog. Thanks for sticking with me. 🙂
Ah, well, guilty as charged. I tend to check my stats everyday. Not necessarily because I’m pining for more views…I check them really more so out of curiosity.
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Totally with you on this sister. Do it for yourself. They will come.
This post made me think of another post that you might find interesting http://www.sailloot.com/sail-loot-podcast-007-to-hell-with-keywords-be-yourself-first/
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Yes! And, even if they don’t come, I’m okay with that. It’s great to know other people are reading my work, but it’s really not a priority as long as I’m happy with what I’m writing.
Thanks for sharing, Lisa. I think blogging too often gets bogged down by the politics of success–but readers can see through facades (at least, I find I can tell when bloggers are being genuine or just looking for views) so being yourself is really the way to go!
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Hi Britta, I have just started out with blogging and your wise words about not getting caught up on the stats have really got me thinking. Yes, I did get excited when I saw that 100 people had viewed my 1st post, but did they actually read it to the end? And should I care? Maybe yes, maybe no. But I started blogging for me. Not to see masses of traffic, comments and likes on a daily basis.
Thank you for posts and I look forward to reading through your site more closely. I really hope you haven’t given up on blogging!
Amy x
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Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment, Amy! You absolutely brightened my morning with it when I read it earlier today. 🙂
I wish you the best of luck as you begin your blogging journey. It’s an exciting one. My blogging experience and the people I’ve met here in the blogosphere have had a huge impact on my life in the past few years; I wouldn’t be who I am today without everything this virtual space has brought me.
I’m certainly not giving up on blogging. Just taking a bit of a break to focus on some other things in life. I think you’ll find that, if you continue on with blogging into the future, that sometimes blogging breaks are necessary.
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