I had a question come up in my inbox a little while back from a new blogger who was asking me about how they would be able to tell if they were on the right track.
More specifically, what the numerical values of blog posts and traffic and overall engagement (social shares, comments, etc.) that they should be expecting after starting up.
Ultimately this blogger was trying to determine whether his efforts were being rewarded and if he was creating enough momentum to warrant his continued path.
I love this question but at the same time there isn’t a clear answer because you simply won’t be able to know conclusively at least for a while.
I can’t speak for everyone but here’s what I do and my thought process about continuing a blog and calculating momentum:
- First, I consider all blogs experiments so I don’t hold anything sacred. I know it’s tough because all blogs are emotional at some level (typically very emotionally connected) but you have to see them as experiments. This is the foundation of any blog that I start, regardless of how invested I am.
- My plan is to experiment with the blog for at least 6 months. As a consequence, I don’t make any qualifying remarks about “success” until the 6 month time-frame. For sure I’ll have a good “feeling” about where it’s headed but I reserve my critical judgement until we’ve passed that point.
So it’s quite simple from a blog startup perspective: Just don’t think too much about it until you’ve crossed the 6 month line.
But, what do you do after 6 months to know if you’re doing well? Here are some more thoughts about the 6 month checkup:
- You ultimately will have to know, in your gut, how you feel like the blog is doing. Are you still excited about it (and the potential) as you once were? Or has that changed?
- Did you give it a good chance to be successful? More specifically, did you blog a good deal, consistently, for those 6 months? Did you blog at least 3 times a week, every week, for 6 months? Or did you blog once a week, on and off?
- Did you market and use social networks and media to showcase it? Or did you just hit publish and pray that they showed up? Did you market actively and effectively?
- Were you distracted with other opportunities and decided to invest more time into those things that your blog? Did your heart wander?
- Did life change dramatically, so much so that you couldn’t invest time into it? Does this mean that your life has been altered permanently where this blog no longer has a realistic chance of success long-term?
You may notice that I’ve made no mention of traffic or financial goals and the reason is because I simply don’t know. I would hope that a decent blog in a decent and focused niche is doing 100-200 pageviews a day (with $0 dollars in revenue) by the end of 6 months but that’s just a guess based on my experience.
Some of you may eclipse that. Some of you may come way below that. But only you can decide if it’s worth continuing on and making it happen.
One thing I will say is that with blogging it’s about a marathon, not a sprint. I’ve been blogging for over 10 years and it’s been only in the last few years where I’ve seen things take-off. It’s a long simmer to boil, not a nuclear warhead type effect (for most people).
Don’t quit before you strike it big. And don’t let the numbers dictate too much your heart.
Great Post John. I started JaysonFeltner.com just over a year ago and reading your blog has helped me a great deal to blog correctly and keep blogging. I too see it as an experiment. I want to one day be a writer so having to write 750 words on my favorite subject (leadership) at least 3 times a week is a fun way to hone my skill. Even if I never make a living off the blog, it is still an incredibly fun habit for me. As such, I see it as a success!
I think to answer this question, you really have to define your goals. I blog about running and books on my newest blog. As long as I am enjoying writing about these two topics and blogging is fun, the numbers don’t really matter.
I agree, great post John! I’ve been blogging since February (2012). Your blog has helped me tremendously since the first time I came across it a few months back. One of my favs and must daily reads.
I feel really good about my blog, and had growing traffic #s until last month. Funny you mentioned having at least 100 daily page views by 6 months. Well, my 6th month (August) I finally hit that number…had I not taken off month #2 I may have reached higher #s.
However, due to some major life changes in September I completely went the opposite way. It was the 1st month I didn’t increase my traffic, page views, etc. That is disappointing, but I believe that is due to the changes that caused me to not invest the needed time.
I’m still working through that, but I believe the “worst” is behind. Now back to focus and quality investment into my blog.
I am not 100% comfortable that I’ve identified my voice, but I am very close. I now feel like I can strategically implement and experiment more based on what I’m learning from you and other great bloggers. I’m not quitting though…not even close. Just trying to get better.
If a blogger really loves what he produces content about and he wants his blog to be a success, then he’ll keep going no matter what until he attains his desired level of blogging success.
I truly agree with you John. If a blogger is building a new blog and writing content by heart then he can’t really quit his blog. Nothing can stop him from growing big and making his blog a successful one. Patience is the key in blogging.
Love this sentence “Patience is the key in blogging”
Thanks John! I think I’m on the right track and plan to do what you suggest. It’s good to hear an experienced blogger validate the process!
I really appreciate your perspective. Blogging, much like most other things, just isn’t worth it if you aren’t enjoying yourself. Regardless of how much money it brings in.
Well, I was really hoping for some concrete numbers but I know why you didn’t give them.
My blog got a slow start and I was (and am) discouraged often – because I work REALLY hard! But I do keep track of the monthly numbers and have seen steady progress. Some months I see larger increases and some months they’re smaller. But I’ve only had one month in 18 months where I didn’t move forward. So as long as I’m seeing “progress”, I’m mostly okay with my direction.
I do love my blog and want to keep doing it. But that being said, I also need to earn at least a little income from it. Based on the numbers, I think I will reach that goal.
Good advice John, I just started a blog 2 months ago and was wondering myself if I was getting anywhere with my blog. But the best part is I am enjoying it and learning in the process so in reality its worth for me continuing my project. My biggest challenge is improving my writing skills as I’m a french speaking person writing in english. Thanks for sharing your vision about the success of a new blog. It gave me the desire to improve my blog.
I like my blog the way it is; however, it’s definitely more a fun and informational blog that ties in to my core business. It’s not monetized (although I did sign up with a company to write on related topics, but have yet to do that), and I’m fine with that. I blog once a week, and currently, that’s all I can commit to doing, and it’s good. Interestingly enough, I have quite a few people I see that will mention they read a piece I wrote or what topics they’ve enjoyed, or even what they want to see me write more about. Oddly enough, they haven’t joined, nor do they add any input on the blog, but they comment on it in-depth, so I know they’ve read it. So, I really think it depends on your goals and what you are are looking to get out of blogging. Obviously if it’s from a monetary perspective, then yes, you probably will want to see significant growth over certain milestone periods (that you may have determined: 6 month, 9 month, a year). As always John, thanks for the thought provoking posts.
Thanks for this useful information john, i started blogging one month back experienced many ups and downs.This post gave me good strength
I would like to thank you! All the time when i read your posts i feel like “relaxed”. Great…!!!
6 months isn’t that long anymore especially with all the algo updates. I have a blog that’s about this much old and has been going up and down and up and now it’s down again. I seriously don’t know what to do with it. I’ll probably give it a month more and if it still doesn’t recover, I’ll fix and relaunch the content in a much nichier another blog.
“Don’t quit before you strike it big. And don’t let the numbers dictate too much your heart.”
Great advice! A few weeks ago I launched a new group blog on encouraging husbands (GospelHusbands.com). Whether the site gets thousands of hits per month or only hundreds, the blog is a ministry and that will always outweigh any rubric of “success.”
fantastic! jump on it!