Do you ever feel like you’ve run out of things to say and maybe you should just be quiet for awhile?
I started blogging in October, 2005, with zero readers. I just wrote, and sometimes I wondered if anybody was reading it. After awhile someone left a comment, so I knew I had at least one reader. Over time, more and more comments were left.
I felt a little funny telling friends and family about my blog, so mostly I didn’t. But every now and then, if the mood struck, I’d tell someone. Some of them checked it out, and a few of them stuck around.
At some point I installed Statcounter, so I could track the number of visitors to the blog over time. I kept writing, and the number of visitors kept inching upwards. Then I set up a feed, so people could subscribe to the blog. I kept writing, and the number of subscribers kept slowly climbing.
It was all very motivating to see those numbers trending upwards.
About a month ago I was averaging a hundred visitors a day, and my subscribers peaked at 50. But then the trend suddenly reversed and the numbers started falling. Now I’m averaging about 65 visitors a day, and I’m down to 43 subscribers.
I know I shouldn’t be so concerned with the numbers, but it’s my nature. I’m into metrics. When I was running, I used a GPS system so I could upload my running stats after each run and see maps and graphs of my progress. I was a little obsessive about monitoring changes in my speed and distance. Now that I just walk, I wear a pedometer everywhere I go so I can try to walk a little further each day. I average about 13,000 steps a day, in case anybody finds this kind of thing remotely interesting.
It’s not so much the actual numbers that matter, but the direction the numbers are going. The fact is that momentum does motivate me, and losing ground does discourage me.
So why are my numbers down? Unfortunately the metrics can’t tell me that.
It could be simply that people aren’t spending as much time reading blogs because it’s nice outside. That makes sense.
On the other hand, what if the drop in numbers is accurately reflecting a drop in the quality of my blog? What if I’m running out of interesting things to blog about? Maybe I should just be quiet for awhile. Unfortunately, when it comes to blogs, silence means you just slip off the radar and lose all your readers. Which is worse: losing readers through silence, or losing readers because you’ve got nothing to say but you insist on saying something anyway so you don’t lose your readers through silence?
Okay, I just re-read this, and I don’t know whether to even post it or not. It’s got kind of a pathetic tone to it, don’t you think? It sounds like I’m trying to get you all to say encouraging things. I’m not, really. (But could you all hit refresh a few times before you go? That would inflate my numbers and cheer me up. Thank you.)
(I’m kidding about that last part!)
I’d read your blog more often if you had pictures of a cat on it. (Just kidding!)
I dont know if Im a visitor or a subscriber but I look for your posting every day. Granted, some days are more interesting than others (to me) but I look forward to it. Forget the numbers, they will come around.
People are in the garden, that’s all…
i’m still here. not that that’s anything to cheer again
all things are cyclical no?
Maybe the numbers are down because you are posting less often…I check it out a couple of times a day and am always disappointed when there is nothing new. I know you have a life now, but come on, your faithful readers need their daily fix.
But you’re not knitting and photographing it and posting them. I subscribe to you on Bloglines. Good for you on the walking.
Theory A: Maybe a bunch of your regulars put you on an RSS feed and now they only click on your site when there is a new posting. Less clicks, same or higher readership.
Theory B: You need to adopt another dog.
My stats are down too, and I just decided it was weather. I would like it if you would not stop blogging, please.
I am very new to the whole blog ‘scene’ and I feel the same way you do about telling people about it. Something about telling my friends and family about, makes me a little uneasy. I just started to read it recently and I really enjoy it. Please keep up the good work.
I read you every time Bloglines tells me you’ve posted. If I don’t do it every time, then I get backlogged. I have some blogs with 15 or more posts waiting to be read that I just can’t work up to getting caught up on yet. Heck, I can barely manage to post on my own blog more than twice a month lately!
Nothing new for info to add. I agree, summer days, less people taking online time and RSS means less click thru to check.
oh, and your other question, I definitely feel like I’ve emptied to the well by times but more life keeps happening and more ideas come.
I have been reading your blog for some time now. I didn’t
even know I could Subscribe….You are a great writer & should keep it up.
Awww, you guys are the BEST. You made my day. I feel much better now, but a bit sheepish for being so whiny and insecure yesterday.
Now I just have to photograph a cat, adopt a dog, knit something, and blog more frequently. Anything else?
Well, you could try NOT doing any of the above
I’m here too! Just not every day. And I’m obsessive enough without subscribing to RSS feeds. I think Carmen (is that you Carmen?) is right and people are outside. I know I am and I even have the horrible farmer’s type tan to prove it. Contributions have also fallen off this other chat list I belong to. And now for your horrible CT scan — ouch!