Big Buddha mountain view in Phuket Thailand. I believe this is the prettiest view on the island. We rode a motorbike to the top a few times. The turquoise waters of the Andaman Sea never disappoint.
Waiting.
Watching.
Waiting to see stats increase. Watching to see metrics expand.
How are you doing with your blog? Publish. Wait. Watch. Pump the blogging brakes. Stop creating. Stop connecting. Look at your numbers. Pay close attention. Stare at the numbers. Sit tight for like, say, 10 minutes. Look. Stare.
Compare the numbers to numbers from yesterday. Compare these views to the views from your prior post.
What trends do you see? Wait. Watch. Deliberate. Analyze.
I have one question for you?
What about your 750 other blog posts? How can you distribute those posts aggressively if you stare at numbers related to a single blog post? Doesn’t it make more sense to give more time to promoting most blog posts?
If one post generates some traffic you are clearly on the right track. Good. Stop waiting. Stop watching. Write and publish the next blog post. Promote 20 blog posts today across multiple channels. Stop looking at numbers. Start becoming highly successful by trusting your work not doubting numbers.
Do You Need to Check Statistics?
Yep.
Checking statistics reveals if some strategy drives organic traffic or not.
But what does “check statistics” mean?
5 minutes?
45 seconds?
45 minutes?
Does it mean waiting? Watching? Kicking back after publishing a post to wait around for numbers to do what numbers do?
Look at your stat checking habitual patterns. Do your habits hurt readers or help readers? Does the time you spend looking at numbers positively or negatively influence how frequently you serve one targeted reader?
Find balance. Strike a happy medium. Do the stat-checking work without being consumed by numbers.
No stat checker is 100% accurate.
Why would you base your direction on a faulty tool?
Faulty Tools
I used a plug-in for a few months recently.
The thing told me Blogging From Paradise traffic numbers.
Bots, people and pigeons, I am fairly certain the views did not accurately represent all visitors as being humans.
But have you found a stat checker that does?
Never tell me that Google Console or whatever is highly accurate because it is not. I can prove it.
I scanned my metrics for 1 day through Google’s seemingly trusted stat checker. The thing with a reputation beyond reproach told me that I attracted a few visits for the day. Single digits. But more human beings visited my blog on that identical day to drop genuine comments. God knows how many other people visited my blog. Yet Google claimed that I generated single digit traffic views for the day.
Google = single digits.
Reality = double digit humans (certainly a helluva lot more because my responsive email list was far bigger at that time).
I feel grateful to have learned this lesson early. Stat checking services are not accurate for many reasons, some clearly nefarious. Do you honestly believe Google thrives because it over-reports traffic metrics for bloggers?
Google like every heavily scaled entity in the business world builds its model on scarcity. Loss. Not enough. People and bloggers who unconsciously believe they are not enough scramble to bust their tail to drive enough traffic, based on Google’s under reporting of course.
My recent plug-in experience revealed how Blogging From Paradise generated 40,000 to 50,000 visits per month.
Cool.
I trashed the plug-in after verifying metrics (I assumed my blog to be within this range) because I spied a sickness developing over one month.
I consciously gazed at my metrics each morning. I then unconsciously made the big mistake of changing my strategy for the day based on the day to day numbers. Even if the change seemed tiny I still screwed up. Blogging is jogging an ultra marathon not wildly sprinting 100 meter dashes day after day. But if I gauged progress or lack of growth on day to day stats I clearly tried to sprint a bit too much within 24 hour time frames.
Wise bloggers, listen up.
Nothing substantial occurs within 24 hours or even 7 days because pro blogging careers manifest after 5,000 to 10,000 to 15,000 hours of:
- patient
- calm
- mindful
- confident
work.
How can you be patient if you check stats every 24 hours? I see nothing wrong with doing this but why would you look to stats for one day when stats observed year over year are a far more reliable pro blogging benchmark?
Does the “stats checked over a year” line trigger discomfort?
Excellent; you are looking closely at your fears projected onto the world as discomfort.
Take this first step to develop a pro blogger mindset.
Now Comes the Difficult Part
Doubt, not curiosity, fascination or interest fuels frequent stat checking.
Doubt is fear. Fear is destructive. Fear cuts the legs out from any long term blogging strategy due to short term strategy changes.
How can you be consistent by being inconsistent?
How can you be confident by doubting your prior day’s work?
Admittedly, going within your mind to spot fears feels unpleasant. The ego projects instant defenses like:
- “I’m just curious how this strategy is working.”
- “God I do not get enough traffic; maybe I generated enough traffic yesterday?”
- “Does this strategy really work? Hmmmm…..let me check metrics frequently to make sure it works.”
In rare cases some bloggers deeply enjoy checking metrics because doing so feels fun to them. No psychological attachment.
In most cases bloggers doubt themselves. Doubt manifests as checking metrics frequently.
But back to the Double W’s.
Waiting and Watching Is Not the Way
Waiting and watching is not how to be a successful blogger.
Creating content consistently is the pro blogging way.
Stop waiting. Stop watching.
Create.
Write and publish the next blog post.
Distribute the next blog post.
Do some outreach. Help bloggers. Ask for nothing in return.
Write and publish the next blog post.
Do it again.
Write and publish the next blog post.
Become prolific.
Succeed by being of service.
Lose any obsession with self-service.
Conclusion
Check stats like flying by a mile marker at 70 MPH.
Note. Adjust accordingly. Or proceed on the same path.
After that little sliver of time get back to writing and publishing the next blog post.
Do not wait….create!
Related posts:
Do You Plummet Down the Blogging Stats Rabbit Hole Daily?
11 Reasons Why Bloggers Check Statistics
Blogging Obstacles Exist Solely in Your Mind
1 Mind Expanding Way to Frame Blogging Work
1 Pro Blogger Analogy for Laying a Strong Business Foundation
1 Concept that Few Bloggers Understand
Blogging Fuel Flows from within the Mind
Do You Analyze or Indulge in Blogging Metrics?
