mmmmm?
Many people would have you believe that there is only one way to blog. I’m not so sure. I’ve been blogging since Blogger was still in beta and have seen lots of changes in not just the technology but the types of people who blog, their reasons and the ‘rules’.
I’ve never been big on rules. Okay, safety rules are one thing but rules for the sake of it are just plain limiting. If there is one Lesson I’ve Learnt it is that what is right in social media today is likely to be old hat next year, next month or even next week.
Don’t get too caught up in the numbers of followers. Numbers lie. Or to be more accurate the numbers aren’t always accurate. I read the so-called experts telling the inexperienced that their analytics are the best reflection of how many people read your posts. This may have been an absolute in recent times however I don’t believe it to be true now.
In the last year I found my site visits, page views etc. had dropped significantly. I was puzzled. My ego couldn’t believe that my posts had suddenly become uninteresting. I did consider it for a fleeting moment but no, that couldn’t be, could it? lol
I did some research. The drop coincided with some changes I made to my Blog. Actually they were additions rather than changes. I joined Networked Blogs. This tool allows your blog post to be automatically posted to your twitter and facebook accounts. I also joined a number of forums where my Blog posts are automatically posted. This meant the people were not accessing google to read my blog, they could do it from the comfort of the facebook wall. Because they are not visiting via google they aren’t showing up in my analytics and aren’t reflected in my page rank.
It's only a matter of time before somebody works out how to gather all that information from different sites. Hey, maybe somebody already has. That is just my point. The rules around social media are changing as fast as the technology. Blogs (and blogging) are not set in concrete. It is alright to experiment. In fact many of the platforms encourage you to experiment by providing you with different templates, font and colour choices. If you are thinking about starting a blog or are stressing about your next post stop and have a little think about what is right for you right now. Let that be your guide.
Many people would have you believe that there is only one way to blog. I’m not so sure. I’ve been blogging since Blogger was still in beta and have seen lots of changes in not just the technology but the types of people who blog, their reasons and the ‘rules’.
I’ve never been big on rules. Okay, safety rules are one thing but rules for the sake of it are just plain limiting. If there is one Lesson I’ve Learnt it is that what is right in social media today is likely to be old hat next year, next month or even next week.
Don’t get too caught up in the numbers of followers. Numbers lie. Or to be more accurate the numbers aren’t always accurate. I read the so-called experts telling the inexperienced that their analytics are the best reflection of how many people read your posts. This may have been an absolute in recent times however I don’t believe it to be true now.
In the last year I found my site visits, page views etc. had dropped significantly. I was puzzled. My ego couldn’t believe that my posts had suddenly become uninteresting. I did consider it for a fleeting moment but no, that couldn’t be, could it? lol
I did some research. The drop coincided with some changes I made to my Blog. Actually they were additions rather than changes. I joined Networked Blogs. This tool allows your blog post to be automatically posted to your twitter and facebook accounts. I also joined a number of forums where my Blog posts are automatically posted. This meant the people were not accessing google to read my blog, they could do it from the comfort of the facebook wall. Because they are not visiting via google they aren’t showing up in my analytics and aren’t reflected in my page rank.
It's only a matter of time before somebody works out how to gather all that information from different sites. Hey, maybe somebody already has. That is just my point. The rules around social media are changing as fast as the technology. Blogs (and blogging) are not set in concrete. It is alright to experiment. In fact many of the platforms encourage you to experiment by providing you with different templates, font and colour choices. If you are thinking about starting a blog or are stressing about your next post stop and have a little think about what is right for you right now. Let that be your guide.
5 comments:
I've never thought about that before. It's a good point, not that I ever have a clue about my stats anyway.
Couldn't agree more. I'm a bit over reading how I SHOULD do things. I blog for me, as an art journal, if you want to read along great if not that is OK too. I'm not about to chnage how I do things because an 'expert' tells me so.
Very helpful.
Another interesting post Trish! I've noticed a "drop" in traffic too which didn't make sense since I have more "followers" than before but I have joined facebook recently and many readers are coming into my blog that way. What a relief that I haven't become too boring :)
Now that makes sense.
Post a Comment