The chart to the left shows traffic trends (in page views and visits) to this blog over the last 30 days. Without getting into tedious details, the chart shows how difficult it is to grow an online audience. Traffic to the site is flat or slightly in decline. The severe dips are on weekends, which tells me people aren't online much on Saturdays and Sundays. New visitors to the site are almost non-existent.This graphic, which is generated by a companion service, does not reflect how many comments folks are making. But it is clear that comments are also dwindling. One reader said the lack of comments is a reflection of my blog posts taking on a more moderate tone lately. Apparently, people are more likely to respond to emotional or controversial posts. As I looked at a few other blogs written by friends, I also noticed a lack of participation from readers.
This simple blog has hammered home the problem that media outlets face in trying to build an online audience. Reader loyalty was difficult enough in the heyday of print (magazines, newspapers, etc.) but is even tougher online where the choices are endless. It seems that unless you consistently post videos of monkeys flying airplanes or skateboarders crashing into trains, it's very difficult to build an audience with a general-topic blog.
Still, blogging is an interesting exercise for me and has taught me many things about digital communications that might prove beneficial one day. As I said in an earlier post, there are many good reasons to blog or to follow blogs. I am not comfortable with certain aspects of it, but overall I think it is a positive experience and something everyone should try at least once.
How much time are you spending each day marketing your blog? My guess is zero. Wrong move. Spend 75% of your time marketing, only 25% writing the blog.
ReplyDeleteSo you have a blog. Big deal. That's like having a telephone. You're one of a gazillion. How will people find you? By magic? Don't think so. Your #1, #2, and #3 jobs are marketing, marketing, & marketing. Contrary to what you might think, it's not writing.
This is a common error artists make. Their real job is marketing, not creating art. Why? Because the good marketer gets paid. He eats. He can pay the rent. The good artist starves. Many artists succumb to magical thinking: if I create masterpieces, the world will beat a path to my door. Nope. You'll be broke forever.
OTH, those who are good are marketing are often put down as "commercial" by the "true artists." That's just envy. The guy who makes a living with his art is a success, no matter what quality his art might have.
So spend two hours a day marketing your blog and watch the numbers zoom. It ain't gonna happen by itself.
My experience with my own blog has been very similar to yours Mick. On a good day I'll pull in a whopping 20 readers. So I suspect Anonymous is probably correct in saying that marketing is the way to build an audience. Either that or my blog just sucks.
ReplyDeleteBut I have no clue how to go about marketing my blog, nor do I care. I'm not motivated to have anyone read my blog--it's something I do for myself. If you want to make money or advance a cause, then of course you want the biggest possible audience for your blog. If you have another goal in mind, the numbers might be less important. The non-commercial blog I produce is for my own pleasure, and if a few discerning readers stumble across it, so much the better.
Don't get me wrong. I'd love to have millions of people marveling over my brilliance, and if they were there, I'd slap ads up in a heartbeat and try to make a buck or two off the thing.
But as it is I'm just another voice in the wilderness, and that's okay too.
Yes, I don't really have anything to sell to the masses, so marketing the blog isn't really important to me either right now, Hank. Still, through word-of-mouth among friends and acquaintances, I would have expected at least a bit more traffic. Perhaps my blog sucks, too! lol
ReplyDelete