Come discuss with us! (This post is part of the In All Honesty series, in which I come clean of all bookish and bloggish things I not sorry to admit!)
So…. blog stats. I’m sure that, especially when we were starting out as baby blogs and until now, we’ve all worried about or thought thoroughly about blog stats at one point in our blogging lives. I think we’ve all asked the question: “What am I doing wrong?” at least once… If not, you have found an admirer in the form of me.
We’ve all probably compared our stats to blogs that have started at the same time or even later than us. Why do they get more views/comments/followers? Do people even care about what I post?
If we’re being honest, stats do matter to us as bloggers. Maybe we say we don’t, but a lot of us have giveaways or celebrations when we hit certain follower/view milestones, right? It’s nothing to be ashamed of! Just as long as you’re not blogging for the sake of followers… Blog because you’re passionate about it. Caring about stats can come second and no one will judge you for it, really. Just know that it isn’t your main priority.
You know what? I’ve been insecure about me and my blog plenty of times! But…
I needed a way to take this negative thinking out of my head. And then I started thinking about all the blogs with much higher stats. So now what I think about is, I should use this admiration for the “bigger” blogs to improve myself and my blog.
You can’t always be the best, right? And if you are–you won’t set a standard for yourself, and you might stop trying. Think about all the other blogs with huge stats to be your goal, and someday you’ll get there. For now, just be passionate about what you do. Get yourself out there and spread your love for books. Put the stats at the back of your mind for now, and someday you’ll just realize that your blog is a HUGE SUCCESS, no matter how many people read it, leave comments or follow it.
Did I even make any sense? This post sounded way more coherent in my head. ._.
About Aimee
Aimee loves books. And chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate. Reading books while eating chocolates! Yes, that would be absolutely lovely.
I Adork You 
Awww I love this post Aimee! I’m really anxious when it comes to my blog stats, to be honest. Sometimes I get distraught when my blog has few page visits for this day or that. But then I see all those big blogs out there, and I’m reminded that they went through the same journey as me. That you don’t start off with a million followers. :)
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Thank you, Miguel! :D I get really anxious too, especially if I don’t reach the same stats as the previous month/week. All blogs started out small and just continued doing what they love. :)
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Definitely! Everyone of us has our own accomplishments, stats are important to us bloggers, and its normal to get insecure, but we shouldn’t be. Be proud of what you accomplished so far. We should definitely make big blogs as our inspiration to be better :D
Thanks for the pep talk Aimee (You’ll know :D) and awesome post.
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Yep! We’ve all reached our own small goals one way or the other. :D
You’re welcome, Jules! And thank you. <33
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I don’t care about blog stats, honestly :) That’s why I never do a giveaway to celebrate that I have X followers. Sure, I look at those numbers and it makes me happy when I see them grow, but honestly that’s not what blogging is about for me. It’s the comments I receive and the pleasure I get from posting and writing :D
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This post is so wonderful. Thanks for the reminder that stats aren’t everything :) Also, I’ve nominated you and Dyan for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award! The details are here: http://bookscleverness.wordpress.com/2014/06/22/blog-things-the-very-inspiring-blogger-award/
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Great advice. When my blog was first started, most of the posts had zero comments, zero likes…but I kept going. And eventually I found an audience, and my posts got better, and now I have some amazing bloggy friends <3 love this post, it's a lovely reminder.
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Great post today! I’m a newer blogger yet, and it is hard to not obsess about my blog’s stats. But, really-as long as I’m being genuine, the followers and numbers will come :)
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This is a such a great post! I was pretty insecure when I had first started out my blog. Sometimes, insecurity still gets to me til this day. You do make a great point when you said to make our personal love for books be the basis as to why we should blog rather than blogging for followers :D
Awesome post!!!
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Ahhh Aimee. I stopped caring about blog stats a long time ago. I created my blog because it’s my platform for self expression. I don’t really care if your blog brings all the boys in the yard. You know what I care the most about? Bloggers like you who visits me regularly. Because I know that a small part of the world cares about my opinions. :)
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I don’t care that much with my blog’s stats. And to be quite honest, I really don’t want to be a popular blogger. I like where my blog is right now and it makes me immensely happy. Just to fangirl and share my passion is enough for me regardless of my stats.
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It did make sense Aimee :)
And I agree! Of course we care about stats, we want our blog to get out there but you’re also right, blogging for the sake of followers is not the right reason to blog.
I care about my stats and followers because I do want to keep improving the blog because I want my passion for books and reading (and my occasional non-bookish randomness) to reach as many people as possible. And that’s why I care about my stats. We all want to improve on something we constantly do, and gaining more followers and visitors in a way sort of validate if you’re improving or not. IMO, at least. :) Awesome discussion Aimee!
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When I first started, I didn’t think about stats at all. I didn’t know there were stats to be worried about. Lol. But then I saw that more people were viewing my blog. I was pretty much happy with a thousand views a month. Haha. But in all honesty, I was also very afraid to grow bigger. Mostly because I feel I can’t keep up with all the comments and all the requests. I’m not very good at the social thing. But I admire all the bloggers who can do that. And the friendly ones are really encouraging. :)
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I try to avoid looking at stats because they confuse me anyway. I don’t know what is considered good or bad. So I focus on comments. If we get good interactive comments on our posts, then I’m happy because that shows people read them. Even if it is only two heh.
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I was more worried about stats when I first started out. Now, I use stats to look up things like the countries where my traffics are coming from. It’s fun to see more and more places on the world map lit up. :D
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For me, stats are something I really couldn’t care less about. With so many bots and those dodgy websites that people seemingly come from, I don’t bother looking at all anymore at the numbers. I’m stoked if more than five people comment on a post. I think a great indication is the quality of comments, rather than number left. One thoughtful comment is worth more than hundreds of cut and paste link leavers :)
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I definitely monitored my stats a lot more when I was starting out. Now every week my pageviews are emailed to me and I glance at them, but try not to obsess. If I put a lot of time into commenting and/or take part in a giveaway hop, the numbers go up and if not, they slide down a bit.
I like looking for ways I can improve, but I agree that when you start comparing yourself to others, that’s where you can get envious and/or depressed. “Why did she get that ARC? She hardly has any followers…” or “We started blogging at the same time, how can her stats be so much higher than mine?” That’s the kind of thing that works against my motivation, so I try to avoid it.
You guys are great though — just keep doing your thing :)
Jen @ YA Romantics
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I think we’ve all thought about blog stats in the beginning, but I don’t really care anymore. I like sharing my love of books with other people who love them as well, and hearing their thoughts back. I think what’s most important is that you enjoy your time blogging. I enjoy your reviews and posts, so keep up the great work, Aimee! :)
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Oh, Aimee! This was a post I really needed to read. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I put in a lot of effort to be the best, but most of the time, it doesn’t work out. And that’s what happened with my blog as well. I’ve been blogging for about two years now, and I’m willing to bet that I’m still unknown by the majority of the blogosphere… which sucks, because I know tons of other bloggers who started off later than I did and who have a MUCH bigger followings than I do. And honestly, it’s discouraging. Not looking at the stats is hard. Not always comparing yourself to others is difficult. Not feeling jealous is the toughest challenge. Blogging is a lot of giving so much to the community, but receiving so little in return, in that sense. We have to type up loads of comments each day to ensure that our posts get views and comments in return; no one wants to comment on a blog whose blogger won’t return the favor, after all. It’s also hard to make our blogs stand out, because there are so many out there doing the same things we’re doing, so what makes us different? Not only that, but it’s shameful when a post of yours gets only one or two comments, or if you get rejected for an ARC you so desperate wanted… because your stats weren’t high enough.
I definitely see Deadly Darlings as one of the more popular blogs out there — the amount of comments you get are so much more than other blogs (mine included, though no hard feelings ;D)! But you guys deserve this huge following because I know you’re really hardworking around the blogosphere. I mean, I see you publishing so many comments everywhere and it just blows my mind how you’re able to do that, what with life and all. I wish I could do that, but school’s being such a bitch I barely even have time to leave comments on blogs because I type such long and rambly ones no one probably reads entirely, anyway. xD
It’s definitely one of my goals to have a bigger following and get to know more awesome bloggers in the process, so this was incredibly encouraging. Thanks for this post, Aimee! <3 (And sorry for the long-ass comment. See what I mean?!)
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It’s really funny but no matter what you do and how much followers you have we’ve all been at this point. When you check out the stats and they are the same. But for me with time I meet all you amazing people and I stopped caring that much. Of course I see when the number grows but I’m way happier when I see a comment :)) I totally agree yes it is important, but we should all blog for the love of it. Great post, girl :))
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Aimee – I think this is such an important post. I know it doesn’t seem that way, but stats definitely don’t determine the worth of your blog, and it’s awesome that you were able to convey that message so well. :D Thanks for sharing! <3
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As a co-blogger I feel a bit detached from certain stats, like page views and such. I mean of course I appreciate them, but to me comments are of way more importance.
i was honestly feeling rather sad a couple weeks ago, when I noticed that Celine and Mel’s posts tended to get a lot more comments than mine. Yes, this was quite a jealous way to think however I now just realize it’s in human nature to compare and contrast. Even though these comments are just words on a page, they can cause you to feel in real life c: Whenever I read a comment I always end up smiling by the end of it. It’s because of this happy feeling that comments bring, that when you don’t get any/as much as usual you tend to feel disappointed. Also, you may feel like your work isn’t good enough- as it didn’t get people to comment. And the thing is that there’s no real way to tell if people like your work other than when they comment.
So thank you for this post Aimee <33 I appreciated reading it and I'm sure others who have felt insecure also found this post encouraging.
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I wouldn’t get so down about my stats if I just knew how to boost it. I wouldn’t really care but it does get me down because it does seem like I’m doing something wrong half of the time. I really want not to care but that doesn’t happen at all. And then I get jealous of blogs, which happened when I met you guys and the whole bunch because it really felt like I was missing something. Like you guys were already so far in popularity, and I was still stuck in the same place that I have been for some time now.
I think a post about how to be friendly and nice and approachable is something I would need. :P That’s certainly one thing I fail on because I don’t really reach out to any new people at all.
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Lol, trust me Aimee, you made plenty of sense. I totally get what you’re saying and I guess were all on the same page here. All of us feel that way. I don’t really know about the BIGGER BLOGS, but I’m just content in knowing that my followers are still interested in what I’m reading, and right now, for me that’s enough :)
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YES THAT MAKES SENSE. *weeps a little* I really really struggled with blog stats. I wanted to watch them everyday…it was only really after I kind of let it go that they actually improved. Typical. ;) lol But honestly, I fuss about my blog all the time and followers/numbers ISN’T the reason I blog, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t important to me. It is nice to know people are clicking and all that. And it IS very hard not to be jealous of the successful big blogs. Sooo. yes. I get this. But I’m also happy that I’m happy with how my blog is doing. ;)
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I’m not obsessed with blog stats, but I don’t dismiss them, either. I blog what I love and I enjoy doing it, but seeing my stats also validates the fact that I am being read, and the fact I am sharing my opinions and love with fellow booknerds makes me happy. I mean I’m not going to wallow if I get low views in particular days; it’s not the end of the world. But like I said, I don’t dismiss it either, and they’re important to me and lets me know what kind of posts click and what I need to improve on.
Faye at The Social Potato
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Good on you for this post, Aimee! Mine is a low-key blog so stats were a big piss-off issue for me this past summer, in especial, when I had nothing to do. Then I realized that it’s basically because of me. Because I’m as antisocial even on the internet as can be. but I can’t help it. I have few choice blogs, bloggers that I feel comfortable with, that I interact with and once I realized that(it took a long time), I’ve been mostly okay with it except sometimes when I get depressed. It sucks but it is what it is. It’s either that or get talking. No thank you on that. I mean, I won’t say that it doesn’t bother me and I won’t say it doesn’t make me ecstatic when there’s that steep line indicating so many views, butttthh I’m kinda sorta happy in the place I am right now.
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“Blog because you’re passionate about it.” *high five*
I do care about blog stats, especially before when I was just very very new, but now I mostly care about people commenting on my posts. I like it whenever people starts discussing something that in turn makes me think too and then start a long conversation.
You know what I discovered? If you want to raise stats you have to interact. Interacting doesn’t only raise your stats, it also lets you meet new friends and followers just like how I met you, and this alone is what I consider as one of my success as a blogger. :)
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*jumping up and down with pom-poms*
I love this post, Aimee. It’s true! We should be passionate about the things we do, then we reap the rewards after. I love how I met new people by visiting new blogs, and returning to those that I’ve come to love (like here) <3
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I tend to worry about views a lot, but less now that I’ve been blogging longer now. Lol, when I compare my blog to ‘bigger’ blogs, I’m comparing my blog to yours… :)
Great post, as usual!
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When I first started blogging, I tried all the things to bring up the follower count – and looking back I do wish I hadn’t spent so much time worrying about it. It comes with writing good posts and engaging with other bloggers and you feel way less stressed in the end! This was a great pep talk of a post Aimee! I totally agree that it’s just important to be passionate about blogging and being a part of the community!
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When i first started blogging i was obssessed with stats but after i hit the nineth or so month of blogging i just didn’t care anymore. I talk about books and visit other blogs and do what i want and am okay with my stats! Sure—they are important but i’m deifnetly not stressing about them and making my life difficult over them. I have a passion for blogging so i don’t want to take the fun away and make this whole thing a difficult chore! Great discussion post Aimee!
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I’ve actually been thinking about this actually! I do still worry about it like “Ohmygosh I don’t have a lot of bloglovin followers.” “Ohmygosh I don’t have 500 views” but then I remember the fact that there are still people WHO TAKE THE TIME to read my blog posts. And that’s just amazing
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This definitely makes sense! Numbers is just how our world revolves, and it does affect the blogger in some way. But I mean, everyone starts a book blog because they love BOOKS, right? It think the key message is to remember this, remember why you’re blogging and stats will soon become much less daunting. I don’t like to share my stats much because I don’t want to compare myself to others or have others compare themselves to me. Rather, I used them to compare myself with myself. Use your stats to better yourself guys! Such an awesome discussion topic Aimee <3
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Well said dear. It’s only normal to obsess a bit over blog stats. That will never really go away I don’t think. Unless of course you get to be big big lol. I still check my page views daily now mostly just to see if a particular post was popular. I like seeing that sort of trending data. Overall though I’ve calmed down about obsessing over followers. Many of those hops won’t glean you any real followers – many of them are just people hopping through for the free loot and rarely do they stay to become true followers.
Keep your chin up you’re doing great.
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I totally understand you! I’m actually happy I don’t have like a big’ole number of followers because that means I’m setting more goals for myself. I honestly have no idea what I’d do if I reached all my goals… I guess make new ones, but more challenging. As of now, I think we, bloggers, should enjoy the journey and adventure of reaching our goals.
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I’m not obsessed with blog stats. I don’t care if anyone reads my blog at all. I just blog because I want to record all the thoughts in my head. Then I always find myself back reading my posts and some of them made me laugh. It’s my diary but open to the public. :)
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As a fairly new blogger, this post is a great reminder for myself to not worry and just do what I love most: reading and writing. I’m in the marketing industry and in this field, we obsess about page views, clicks, likes, and such details. But when I started to, I just had one goal, and that is to share my love of reading to other people. I think that’s the most important part of what we do. So thanks for reminding me. :)
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I totally know what you mean about blog stats. In the beginning, they were everything to me and I kept on checking back at them and seeing how many people had read and commented on a post. These days, as long as I post regularly and people are reading it, I’m happy :)
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Awh, don’t feel bad & I’m loving your positive attitude! I find you to be super brave to come on a blog w/ another & talk about your ideas & feelings. I just found you blog today & I (already follow) plan on visiting a lot in the future. You’ll get there & the followers will come . . . just stay honest & humble. (:
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I love this post. I do think bloggers care about stats, in one way or another, no matter how big or small their blog is. But numbers are just numbers, and I don’t think I’d last long in the blogging world if I don’t really have the passion to do what I do. I admit when I started blogging there was always a time when the green monster would rear its ugly head. Now I’m able to manage that and think of the core reason why I started blogging in the first place.
Thank you so much for your honesty. You might not speak for all, but you definitely did for me. We need to be proud of what we have accomplished and will continue to accomplish in the future Cheers to us! :)
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Honestly… I only check my stats every now and then. I try not to “worry” about them. What I want most on my blog is for people to come and chat about things. I look forward to the social side of the blog. Not so much how many people are coming and going. It can be hard to follow all the blogs out there since there are soooo many of them. They are every where! I think when I really stopped paying attention was when I discovered that blogger stats were totally inflated and I had been looking at those all along. Boy was that a bummer. Then I switched to google analytics and just check every now and then.
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I’ve only just started blogging and this post is so reassuring!
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