Last evening, I discovered yet another web stats medium. They call it Klout; it’s a social media statistics website, telling me how many people I’m “influencing”, etc. I don’t know if I need it, but heck, I signed up for it anyway. Another website to feed my statistics neurosis? Sure why not?
Three years ago, when my blog started to gain more traffic, it was an amazing feeling. After all, I must have been doing something right to have people coming in, right? I began to learn a lot more about this thing they called web stats. I signed up for services like Statcounter, Sitemeter and Woopra just to monitor the stats of my website. Google Analytics just didn’t seem enough.
Then I started following close to a hundred blogs about blogging, SEO, blog monetisation, etc. I would be reading about SEO on a daily basis. I was checking my blog traffic, keywords, locations, etc every single day. Simply put, I was a girl obsessed with blog stats.
Six months in, I was exhausted. My head was bursting with SEO information, on how to make my blog a better one, about keywords and so on. Every morning the computer greeted me with graphs of my web stats. I couldn’t blog properly without thinking “how could I make this more SEO-friendly?” Things started to slide, and it was doing my head in. In the end, I unsubscribed to all the blogging websites. Trained myself to not look at my traffic every day. It was difficult at first, but I managed.
Things became better after that. I concentrated on building my content, learned more about photography, researching about the ingredients used in beauty products and so on. I began to enjoy what I was doing once more. I wanted to talk about blushes and lipsticks, not worry about whether said lipsticks would get me first on a Google search or not.
Fast forward three years. Over a month ago, I was having (still having, in fact) some trouble with my webhost about high CPU usage. In the process of eliminating possible causes to the high CPU usage, my traffic tanked. Some of the IP addresses I banned temporarily belonged to Google, thus Google stopped indexing my website. I became obsessed with the stats once again.
A couple of weeks later, I decided enough was enough. Look, there’s only so much I can do about traffic. I stopped looking at the graphs. Stopped thinking why people weren’t coming in. Started building content once more. And you know what? Things improved, just when I stopped obsessing.
The time I spent on concentrating so much on my blog traffic could have gone into blogging. It should have been used to research a blog post, to build quality content, to communicate with those in the beauty blogging community. Instead, it was just me, in front of the monitor, worrying. That’s time wasted that I’m never getting back.
Nikki from Stylingyou.com.au wrote a good article about how content is still king. You can worry till the cows come home about Blogger vs WordPress, about your traffic, about SEO but if you’re not coming up with good content to capture your readers, they will still leave.
So, do I need that thingy I was mentioning about earlier, Klout? Maybe. But I’m not going to check it everyday to see if my numbers have improved. High chances are I’m going to forget about it until someone else mentions it again in the future 😛
What about you? Have you been consumed by your blog statistics? Are you still obsessing about it? Is it doing your head in like it did mine?
Hi Tine, thanks for the link back. I too can get wrapped up in stats and I am on Klout 😉 but the biggest thing I’ve learned is that the stats can come if you consistently work on the content.
Nikki @ Styling You recently posted..Are you a Spanx or a Bonds girl?
Nikki: Hi Nikki, thanks for dropping by! Yep, I agree. Consistent, good content will bring traffic.
PS: I’ll go stalk you on Klout now 😛
Ever since the Nuffnang blogpolis, I have been a tad obsessive with Google Analytics. When I FINALLY got data coming in, I realised that it was pants! Hello? I do NOT want to know I only get like 60 visitors a day…in fact, it’s probably made me feel a bit disappointed and put me off blogging. I am spending so much time blogging and nobody is reading it….or maybe I don’t have enough SEO power or whatever?? It’s kinda sad…but at the same time, I don’t blog for numbers…so back to my pre-Analytics days, I will blog because I love to do it. Hopefully, one day, my stats will skyrocket, but as for now, I should be happy if even 50 people read my blog 😀 Nobody said it was easy 😉
Ling recently posted..Missha Super Aqua Oxygen Micro Essence Peeling
Ling: Hahaha, me too! Seriously, that blogopolis conference scared the bejeezus out of me of the many things I have to do for the blog.
Don’t worry about it Ling, you write good content (damn ass funny ones too), so in time, readers will come. At the end of the day, we blog because we love doing it 🙂
BTW, just realised I only have 9 days of data on Google Analytics and it’s already driven me mad lol.
Ling recently posted..Missha Super Aqua Oxygen Micro Essence Peeling
Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt 🙂 I check in once or twice a day to see what’s happening (its a good way to keep in touch in case something drastic happens like the site going down and not noticing) but otherwise, write good content and they will come 😉
Paris B recently posted..So in love with Diorblush Pink in Love Glowing Colour Powder Blush
I’m quite new to the blogging world–not technically new ’cause I’ve been working in the same industry for years now but quite new in doing it for fun. I’m trained with SEO and all those technical traffic-building whatnot as my hubby’s probably one of the best internet marketers in SG. But I try not to go overzealous and party pants crazy in applying those traffic-building resources and knowledge to my blog because I know it’ll take the fun away. I started to blog because I was looking for a hobby and not an extension of work.
There was a time when I did try applying all those high traffic tactics to my blog and although I saw drastic improvements in “figures”, the experience felt empty. It’s nothing close to having an actual connection with your readers, regardless of how big or small the community is. 🙂
Vivi: Thanks for dropping by!
My sentiments exactly. It did feel empty, trying to cram all that SEO keywords and stuff onto the blog (title, post, tags, etc). I was exhausted. Things improved when I stopped being so neurotic about stats, and started to communicate more with my readers and the community. Blogging should be fun. When it turns into a job which you kinda dread going to, it loses its meaning.
Hey tine just a random question. Since its winter now in aussie, what face moisturizer do u use for ur combination skin?
Julie: Hi Julie, thanks for dropping by. No worries about the random question (I love random questions :P). I’m currently using Naruko’s Narcissus Total Defence Repair Cream (it’s a Taiwanese brand, and I will be reviewing the moisturiser very soon), and I’m loving it. I understand that it’s not available in Australia, only online, so before that, I was using Clinique’s Moisture Surge Extra Thirsty Relief.
Personally, I believe it’s not just the moisturiser that counts. Serums add an extra oomph of hydration to the skin as well, especially during winter. Recommendation for that boost of hydration – Dermalogica Skin Hydrating Booster or Kiehls Midnight Recovery Concentrate. It may seem expensive at first, but you only need very little per time and each bottle, especially the one from Kiehls, will last you well over 6 months.
I used to be really obsessed about stats and SEO too when I first started blogging too, but now I don’t really worry about it too much. I check Google Analytics once a day, but I’d rather spend time writing good content. If that’s good, people will keep coming back.
gio recently posted..Product Review: Kiko Brush Cleanser
Gio: Exactly. If we build it (and build it good), they will come! 🙂
I came across this article searching google for “how can i stop obsessively checking my website stats”. I know I’m wasting my time and should write instead, but the compulsion to check daily is a problem I’m struggling with. I’m even going so far to try to analyze each hit, keyword, etc.
“The time I spent on concentrating so much on my blog traffic could have gone into blogging. It should have been used to research a blog post, to build quality content, to communicate with those in the beauty blogging community. Instead, it was just me, in front of the monitor, worrying. That’s time wasted that I’m never getting back.”
–> that’s what I should REALLY remind myself.
Haha I hear you Allana . It’s a compulsion that hits me every now and then too. To be honest, I haven’t been regularly checking my stats for many months until last month when I was suddenly hit with the need to check mine. Now I have the Google Analytics page open almost daily 🙁
Thanks for the reminder that I should jolly well listen to myself in the first place and stop obsessing. Time is wasting away just on Google Analytics!