Written on November 30th, 2008 at 12:11 am by Darren Rowse
Ten Tips for Stats Addicts
Today Dr. Nicole from Kitchen Table Medicine shares her story of overcoming her Stats Addiction and gives some tips on what to do with your time to build your blog instead of checking stats.
Do you obsessively check your blog traffic stats throughout the day? Do you optimistically expect your Alexa ranking to drop every four hours? Do you frequently fret over your Google Page Rank? Do you watch your Adsense account like a hawk throughout the day? Well as much as these statistical markers may be helpful in understanding the success of your blog, they may also be interfering with the long term growth of your website.
Not only is checking stats a total time kill, but it can be a real buzz kill too when it doesn’t turn out the way we want.
In a month’s time, I stopped checking my stats only to return and find that my page views had doubled if not tripled, and my Alexa ranking had dropped from it’s consistent 252K to 151K! WOW!
So what happened? Had I actually changed anything I was doing…no not really I had just freed up a few extra hours to spend doing something more productive for my blog then obsessing over my stats.
First of all as a recovering stats addict I can’t stand before you all pure and pristine that I actually decided to give up stats all on my own, I never stopped obsessing over my stats intentionally. Actually, I was locked out of my stats program when my website crashed from hitting the front page of Digg! When I upgraded to a better host, their stats program was down for maintenance.
I WAS LOCKED OUT OF CHECKING MY STATS! OH THE TRAUMA!!!
Do you feel my pain?
For the entire month of October I was unable to check my stats! Only those of you obsessed with the constant joyful reassurance that checking stats brings can even begin to understand the frustration!!!
In an attempt to just “go with the flow” I decided to give up worrying about stats and start spending my time on marketing, writing, and building my readership….you know those things I should have been doing all day instead of wondering about my readers in Zimbabwe and if more people read my blog through IE7 or FF?
So you can only imagine my extreme paranoia when I finally could log back in to my site statistics and see if I was meeting my goals. You can only imagine my shock when I logged back in to see 10,000 page views a day!
Previously I would freak out if I hadn’t hit my goal of 3500 page views daily. Previously I liked considered 3500 pv’s my “fighting weight”.
So I was SHOCKED to find in just one month’s time that my baseline was bumped up to 7000-10,000 page views a day!
WOW! Maybe there really is something to this…
For most of us bloggers checking stats is the immediate reward we need for our day. However, checking stats can also be discouraging when we log in to find that a post was not as successful as we hoped.
So can you do it? Can you stop checking your stats? Are you fit for the challenge to completely give up obsessing over your stats for an entire month? Can you stop doing it every day and sit down for an hour once a week to go over it all? In hindsight the following ten traffic building tips are what I unintentionally ended up doing to build up traffic, and for just 20-30 freed up minutes a day, you can likely double your traffic flow in a month as well:
1. Stop checking your stats and stop writing for stats!
Write from your heart. I know we hear this over and over and OVER again, but readers really don’t “care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Keep it fresh, keep it live, and let it flow right through you. Say what is on your mind and be passionate about your beliefs. You may lose a few readers occasionally with some extreme viewpoints, but it ensures everyone else that you are at least always giving your honest opinion. When I couldn’t check in to my stats after a while I suddenly found myself not writing for stats but instead remembering all the things I always wanted to write about…and then writing about them.
2. Instead of checking stats, help out a fellow blogger!
Offering newbie bloggers in your field guidance and feedback for instance is a great POSITIVE way to spend a bit of free time. One day out of severe boredom while my site was down I started a forum thread offering help to people about their blog. It was a fun project for me and a valuable learning opportunity for those brand new to blogging. Pay it forward instead of obsessing on your latest stats. People quickly pick up on your kindness and will link to you like crazy. Please don’t go about this with the intention to gain backlinks. Don’t be fake, just sincerely make an effort to help out those folks you see with a great deal of potential, because it feels really good and truly is SO much more rewarding than checking stats. Honestly I think this is what helped my traffic out the most. The fact that I found myself a bit bored from not checking stats and so started just checking in on other bloggers.
3. Interview other bloggers.
In just FIVE MINUTES you can put together a fantastic set of FIVE interview questions that will not only promote another blogger, but will hopefully bring along some of their following. Find someone that specializes in a niche within your niche and you instantly have a free SEO friendly page perfectly made for your website….by an expert! Don’t forget to ask them for all their favorite links to add as resources, readers love it, and it easily connects you to other like minded bloggers.
4. Participate in discussion forums.
I always participate in the threads that catch my interest and the threads that are within my niche. Participating in your community is a million times more beneficial than obsessively obsessing over you your stats.
5. Check in on your readers instead of your stats!
Pay a visit to your latest commenter’s, thank them for stopping by your blog and read their latest article. Being a successful blogger means being part of a community. Are there any top bloggers that are an island within themselves on the internet? Not that I know of. Chances are if you have the time to fritter away checking stats, you are better off using that precious time to build your community.
6. Sign up for a new social network each day instead of obsessing over stats.
The more websites your blog is featured on, the more enmeshed in the internet you become. It only takes a few minutes to get signed up. I just copy and paste my info from Blog Catalog consistently in to each new site. If you are seriously obsessed with stats you may need to be prescribed two to three social networks a day to fill the void!
7. Write a scintillating guest post such as this one (well hopefully).
Translate those moments obsessing over stats into something productive like guest posting. Ask to be interviewed. A great guest post can be done in a matter of minutes. Many bloggers are just looking for a quick basic bit on your area of expertise. Write up a list of tips and tricks that reference longer posts on your site to generate new interest to old content. A great guest post can typically be done in a matter of twenty minutes. You know the basics about your field. Don’t waste your research time on a guest post. Talk about the stuff that constantly rattles out of you. You will sound more like an expert that way anyways. Save writing longer articles for your own site, and then write guest post “press releases” using them as a reference. Whatever you do, just keep writing, you got in to this business because you love to write—right?
8. Reach out to new friends at Stumbleupon, Digg, Reddit, and Mixx.
These social news sites are fantastic places for promoting your news and the more friends you have the better. I spend about 15 minutes on intentional time per day per social network and it is plenty. You don’t have to be on the front page, don’t digg your life away. Remember the best way to have a friend is to BE a friend. Spend a few minutes each day voting for your favorite articles and finding like minded authors and readers in your field. Now write some articles intended for the front pages of these sites. I know I know…Ignore my previous recommendation to write from your heart. Suck it up and write some REAL newsworthy piece of journalism for your niche. Spend some time on the front pages of Digg and Stumbleupon in your category to see what becomes popular. When you learn to consistently craft posts that are eye catching and intriguing they will inevitably hit the front pages. For Digg and Mixx I write brief journalistic newsworthy features on the latest in alternative medicine research, and for stumbleupon it is all about the simple numbered lists of tips and tricks, quizzes, and photos. I’m sure right at this moment you can easily go through your categories and find a theme for some numbered posts such as my article “21 Free Preventative Medicine Tips” .
I actually now create categories for certain tips and do a post a month on this topic until I have enough for a great viral link post.
9. Keep a stats journal.
Instead of obsessing about your stats on your computer make a stats journal. Write a log of the post title’s for each day, the time you posted them, what you did to promote them, if they became popular on any social media sites, etc. Then sit down with your stats journal for a couple hours at a time once a week and try to make REAL sense over your page traffic instead of just obsessing over numbers and feeling destroyed if today wasn’t as popular as yesterday. Looking at the big picture is the best way to address stats. Is it really worth all your time to spend your day on Digg when 90% of your socialnetworking traffic comes from Stumbleupon? Hmmm…Maybe not.
10. Read Problogger.net!
Ha…you all know that Darren did not edit this in because I made it the last tip and not the very first ;) But really we always save the best tip for last and the most important thing you can do to improve your page traffic is become a better blogger. You are far better off reading Problogger or your other favorite blog improvement blog 15 minutes four times a day then you are obsessing over stats. I remember a post a while back here on ProBlogger on how to be a “Meta” blogger. Some people hated the post, but I took it to heart and the advice has rung true on many frustrating occasions. The message behind “meta” is that you don’t have to be the very best each and every day. You just have to be a little bit better than we were yesterday. That is why Meta is bettah.
In all honesty, if you are on the internet to write, if you are passionate about blogging, I hope you will be inspired by my little stats success story to focus on your readers and your writing, and not use stats to determine the success of your blogging endeavor. Instead of obsessing over your traffic, obsess over ways to improve it.
Could you give up checking your stats for an entire month? A week? One day? Two hours?
What else would you recommend to increase traffic instead of checking stats?
Tags: , Blog Promotion, statistics
89 Responses to “Ten Tips for Stats Addicts” - Add Yours
Jamie Harrop
November 30th, 2008 12:15 am
Excellent post, Nicole.
The addiction is even worse when you use a live stats program such as Woopra, and it even worse than that if that program pops up alerts each time you receive a new visitor. I often find myself looking at Woopra and watching navigational paths of my visitors when I should be doing something far more productive.
Of course, I’ve learnt a lot and improved my blog because of my close eye on visitor trends, but I’m sure I could have improved my blog much more by doing other things.
Having said that, when a post gets Stumbled or receives high amounts of traffic from another source, it’s great fun and a huge motivational boost to see so many visitors coming in to the blog in such a short time.
Jamie
GotFreeBusinessCards
November 30th, 2008 12:43 am
I check my stats every morning and watch affiliate network orders every hour. I need to follow your advice. Thanks
notrachel
November 30th, 2008 12:54 am
Those are great tips and wonderfully timed. I’ve found myself becoming increasingly obsessive about stats on my various accounts/pages. It’s a good reminder to step away.
Thanks!
David
November 30th, 2008 12:59 am
Watch out for those social networks, they can be a real time eater too!
Vitaly Pimenov
November 30th, 2008 1:01 am
Helpful tips, thanks!
The thing I would recommend it scheduling the stats hour, e.g. each Friday at 2 p.m. and develop a habit of working with stats by the schedule.
It is reasonable because of statistical significance – the more data you have to make a decision on, the better.
Especially for just started blogs, checking once a week would be enough.
Making decisions too early is a huge mistake.
Derek
November 30th, 2008 1:01 am
Great post. People need to focus on creating value and checking stats doesn’t do it. Y0ou should always ask yourself, “is this good for my readers?” If you say no, skip it and do something that is.
Scott Williams
November 30th, 2008 1:06 am
Nice post… I think I will give up the stat addiction for a bit. As far as helping a fellow blogger out Mr. Pro Blogger you can feel free to help me out; my blog is http://www.bigisthenewsmall.com; it doesn’t hurt to ask.
Some of my most recent traffic is consistently coming from a post that I wrote about quotes from a movie that I took the kids to see: Madagascar 2!
Rarst
November 30th, 2008 1:06 am
My stat checking was going down until I got approved for Woopra. :) Should probably uninstall it – having low traffic days can indeed get on my nerves at times. But it’s not like not checking stats will get me more time – I mostly take fast looks for few seconds.
Adam
November 30th, 2008 1:11 am
Great post, Thank you.
I think the best time to avoid looking at stats is in the early days of a new blog; it’s too easy to think ‘no-one’s reading this – why am I bothering?’
Unfortunately, the early days is when we addicts hit the stats the hardest
A Maui Blog
November 30th, 2008 1:17 am
I think this is an excellent post – simple, practical, so true and helpful. I used to obsessed over my starts, now I don’t (not much anyways) so I know exactly what this post is about. I also agree so much about hleping new bloggers – very important and they become your best supporters in the end :)
Thanks!
Liza
Roy Scribner
November 30th, 2008 1:29 am
In the context you are referring too, I agree that obsessing over site statistics is unproductive (and even destructive, if it is interfering with quality content creation). However, if you are not watching your site statistics for data points such as individual post popularity and traffic sources, then you are not fully connecting with your readers.
Sonja
November 30th, 2008 1:33 am
Oh woman you know me too well. I think it’s hilarious that your addicton only responded to stats page breakage … I’ve spent two or three hours this weekend trying to get stats on wordpress to work. But I can still check them at godaddy. Not to mention adsense.
Thanks for the inspirational post, I’m going off to read your blog!
Sonja
Jim Goldstein
November 30th, 2008 1:38 am
Great post. Definitely some excellent food for thought and a much needed reminder. Thanks.
Tom Bonner
November 30th, 2008 1:39 am
Thanks for the post, Dr. Sundene,
I’m sure it is great advice, but it is awfully hard to follow. In the first place, I carefully review my stats trying to understand where my readers are coming from and what they are looking for. So my stats help me decide what to write on next,
Secondly, blogging without knowing who is reading your material is somewhat like an actor going through his routine without an audience. I’m no actor, but I have heard many thespians claim they perform better before a live audience; the presence of the crowd drives them to excel.
I find it is the same in blogging. If you don’t know that people are reading your material, it is easy to get discouraged and assume “nobody’s reading this stuff.” If you craft a great post and are rewarded with a spike in readership, you are inspired to put more work into the next post…at least I am.
Having said all that, I will admit I overdo it at times. I will attempt to follow your advice and cut down the times I review my sats each day. Going without my stats for more than a day? As long as there is electricity and an internet connection, it isn’t going to happen!
Tim Tyrell-Smith
November 30th, 2008 1:43 am
But it feels too good! How can something so wrong feel so right?
Actually this was great to hear. I am a very new blogger < 3 months. – I have so much to learn about this new world and avoiding a focus on stats would be a big help.
But do I have to take it off my Blackberry? Can’t I have just one little peek?
Thanks Doc.
Thomas Flight - Netager.com
November 30th, 2008 1:48 am
Great tips. I will now commence checking my stats less.
Tumblemoose
November 30th, 2008 1:52 am
I think we’ve all heard the old saying about three kinds of lies so I won’t repeat it here.
I also remember some theorum that postulates that we change the behavior of what we are studying just by the fact that we are observing it. Seems like that applies here.
I peek at my stats about once a week, out of curiosity. You’re right, if the stats were lower than what I was expecting, it puts me into a deep blue funk.
Cheers
George
Matthew
November 30th, 2008 2:01 am
Great tips, I really need to try some of these. I think spending 15 minutes a day on social networking sites is a great idea! Thanks!
15 Minutes to Riches!
November 30th, 2008 2:07 am
This is the best article I’ve read in quite a while. Very good info! I’ve tried to place emphasis on my contributions to the community, but I’m lacking participation in a large number of social networks. Definitely something I can aim to improve upon! Thanks!
Mlinar
November 30th, 2008 2:13 am
Great, humorous post! :) Thank you.
Corey - Simple Marriage Project
November 30th, 2008 2:22 am
As a recovering stats addict who frequently falls off the wagon, or is it on the wagon, this is good stuff. It calls to question why you blog in the first place. Is it for stats or for the passion that is writing?
Thanks for the thoughts.
A. Dawn
November 30th, 2008 3:32 am
Great tips. I have the same problem. I keep checking stats throughout the day. Recently, I was able to stop checking my RSS Feed stats. However, I need to work hard to stop checking my regular stats.
Cheers,
A Dawn Journal
http://www.adawnjournal.com
charles
November 30th, 2008 3:32 am
Yeah. Checking stats daily consumes alot of my time in the past. But now i haven’t checked for almost a month. I don’t care anymore. I am working on a blog. I write what i want.
Susie Mac
November 30th, 2008 3:41 am
Hello. My name is Susie and I am a stats-o-holic. Some days, I view my stats three or four times a day….After reading your tips, I will do my best to keep it down and try out some of your advice. Yup, I will. Thanks for writing such a practical and helpful article.
Angel Cuala
November 30th, 2008 4:06 am
Interesting guest post! Your questions are quite fun to answer, Dr. Nicole. I check my stats on weekly basis because I post only 3~4 times a week. Very seldom that I check them twice a week, that is if I am somehow expecting a spike on them.
Anyway, I think your last question is very timely to me. I recently won a Problogger book from Kevin Muldoon’s contest on his Blogging Tips forum. The question was to give the best blogging tip in 140 characters or less. Incidentally, Darren Rowse himself was the judge.
Here’s my winning piece – “Inspire others, and be useful to them. This is the best strategy so far, even better than search engines and all the social sites you can find.”
With this, please allow me to use this space to thank Darren Rowse not only for choosing my entry but also for continuously inspiring for more than a year since I started blogging.
Derek Clark - Geek Politics
November 30th, 2008 4:34 am
This was a great post for me today. I am a new blogger and I’m sure that my time would be better spent writing and joining the conversation on other blogs. I’m not sure I could give it up for a month, but maybe I’ll start with trying a few days :-)
SATISH -- Technotip.org
November 30th, 2008 4:55 am
Bookmarked this article…Its the best article of the month for me.
I am happy I read it at the right time.
Thanks Dr. Nicole & Darren.
joe gelb
November 30th, 2008 5:10 am
loosing visitors is not too bad either, i suspect that the watching for the stat increase is like watching a clock tick its feels good but so does getting outside
how to make money
November 30th, 2008 5:33 am
Wow, how much did I need this one. I check all my stats at least every 4 hours.
Thanks for the great tips I’ll be sure to try and put them in practice : )
Kyle Judkins
November 30th, 2008 5:36 am
Hello, my name is Kyle, and I’m a stats addict.
Dean Holland
November 30th, 2008 5:51 am
Oh my gosh…
Did you write this about me and just for me ??
LOL
I guess it gets to the point where you dont even realise you are doing it until something like this post comes along and makes you sit and think !!
Being fairly new to blogging I admit I have obsessed over stats …
In fact I have the same problem with checking my emails for new comments on my blog
You see my blog is just 5 weeks old but it is taking off very well ( In my opinion ) I am basically detailing my every move to build an online business with my blog and there is a great community following my moves
I am loving every minute of it but I now realise how much more productive my time could be
Thankyou for this, it has been a turning point for me and my business :)
Will keep visiting here now with pleasure
Till next time
Dean
http://www.Deanholland.com
Teri Fitzgerald
November 30th, 2008 6:03 am
Yep, obsessive blog stat behaviour. I cannot say that I am obsessive, as I spend just enough time on this to keep my blogs on the right track. Thanks for pointing out the signs, as I will be sure to check myself if I find my behaviour deviating from the norm.
Great post, by the way! I love to read about peoples success stories, especially when it truly feels like they want to help others succeed as well. And your advice is sound. Socializing is a key point to bringing popularity to true bloggers. I maintain four blogs, and my personality shows through with my various interests, and I love to watch them grow.
Enjoy,
Teri
~
westpenninewoman
November 30th, 2008 6:40 am
Wow! What a brilliant article. I thought it was just me doing this.
No more logging on to Google stats before my morning cuppa anymore.
Thanks
Tom - StandoutBlogger Underground
November 30th, 2008 6:48 am
I found myself highly addicted to stats for ages, and it really cut into the time I needed to build my blog. But as soon as I spent less time checking my stats – funnily ehough they started to rise because I was using the time I spend checking my stats on building them.
Bash Bosh
November 30th, 2008 6:53 am
Very nice and interesting article!
Thank you for sharing this with us! My favorite is tip #10 :)
MK (Casey) van Bronkhorst
November 30th, 2008 6:56 am
Did I read that right, Dr. Nicole? You recommend signing up for a new social network every day? Maybe I need to change my perception of what a social network is – I’m not aware of many outside Facebook and Myspace. Do you have a list of recommendations?
David Johnson
November 30th, 2008 8:46 am
Forums are always a good way to get traffic and help other people but they can be just as addicting. How about the next post be about overcoming forum addiction! lol
jen at semantically driven
November 30th, 2008 9:04 am
If only I had the problem of 7000 readers per month. Oh well, onto building some content and networks.
TwinToddlersDad
November 30th, 2008 9:12 am
I think the main reason – at least in the beginning – that a blogger wants to check the stats is to get a sense of feedback and accomplishment. Speaking for myself, it is a struggle to keep working hard and producing your best content in the beginning and without getting any encouragement.
However, your advice is absolutely correct. It is better to spend time building a network and finding friends in your niche. The encouragement and feedback can come from them. I am very new to this, so still trying to figure the whole social networking out.
I did try to force myself to stay away from Google Analytics for whole week. It was tough!
Thanks for your post.
http://www.littlestomaks.com/about/
Krissy Knox
November 30th, 2008 9:13 am
Hi Dr. Nicole. Thanks for the advice. I don’t think I check too very often, but I do let the stats get me down at times, when I have a slump.
I guess if I would have a suggestion for traffic, it would be to make one’s blog interactive, with lots of activities for readers to participate in, and lots of questions they can ask and answer. And of course, content is king!
krissy :) http://sometimesithink-krissy.blogspot.com
Codrut Turcanu @ Article Writing Software
November 30th, 2008 9:27 am
You recommend… “Sign up for a new social network each day”
Isn’t it better we focus on just a few and get maximum results from these? I prefer this way…
Andre Thomas
November 30th, 2008 9:31 am
Most non-webmasters have the obsession to check their email. Us webmasters have the obsession of checking both stats AND email… And now with the popularity of Twitter… Perhaps we are also obsessing over twitter tweets!
Vera Marie Badertscher
November 30th, 2008 10:05 am
Terrific post. I’m not addicted to stats. Yet. Just in the planning stages for a new blog. But your ten tips work even for the non-addicted population. Just wonderful, solid recommendations.
Thanks.
se7en
November 30th, 2008 10:52 am
Oh you are so right!!! I really need to just not look, even if is only for a week – the hours I spend waiting for my stats page to download – again and again and again… I just love seeing where everyone is looking from and where they came through… Really that is time I could be blogging all the bazillion ideas I am dying to spill out… hmmm I will take the challenge and it won’t be easy!
Jules
November 30th, 2008 11:23 am
I keep kicking myself up the backside to stop myself looking at stats, its a compulsive thing but of no use really except when selling space on the blog. Great article.
Chris | Healthy Gaming
November 30th, 2008 11:27 am
Thanks Dr. Nicole, nice post!
Count me as a stats addict too :)
I’ll try cutting down to at most once a day, in the morning.
Rebecca Laffar-Smith - Writer's Round-About
November 30th, 2008 11:58 am
There is a time and place for stats but spending time every single day glorifying or melancholic in statistics is not beneficial. On the other hand, statistics are an important measure of progress and a fantastic way to judge what your readers like and who your audience is.
I used to be very anti-stats. They would do their thing in the background and I wouldn’t check them, ever. In more recent months I’ve taken to spending time once a month digging deep into the stats. Total page views isn’t significant but the trend of page views over time is, the pages viewed is, the pages pulling traffic or diverting traffic is important. It’s one thing to play a numbers game with statistics but more important to pay attention to the information beneath the numbers.
With the knowledge gleaned from your hour or two stat haul the next month can be spent replicating what worked, avoiding what didn’t, and writing new, fresh content for that growing long-tail of your blog.
Atif
November 30th, 2008 12:03 pm
Thanks for sharing. Really useful tips.
Dr. Nicole
November 30th, 2008 12:19 pm
Hey guys thanks for all the fun and funny comments! Will be back to read more and respond tomorrow, just got the ping back that this went live as I was running out the door….
Glad to see I am not the only stats addict on here. Maybe I need to start a twelve step recovery blog. Maybe that is the next step. lol
But seriously, I am finding a deeper passion for blogging by moving away from stats and focusing on other things.
And of course the answer is NO to those people that think I was dead serious about signing up for a new social network each day. I don’t recommend participating in more than about ten regularly. I have five that I consistently work with and that is more than enough.
I guess what I meant was more to register your blog at other blog catalog’s and networks similar to mybloglog, BC, and technorati. There are a ton of them out there.
I remember seeing a post “The top 50 places to register your blog” if anyone can dredge that up it may help the commenter that was looking for places to further network.
Thanks for all the great comments, it is fun to share my blogging experience with fellow bloggers.
Glad I am not alone on this one! :D
Glenn Haggard
November 30th, 2008 12:37 pm
I am fairly new to blogging and this is great advice. You’re 100% right about spending more time working the business and less time watching the stats. “Watching” stats doesn’t generate traffic, make friends, or get you on any social sites.
Thanks for the great advice!
Ganesh
November 30th, 2008 12:44 pm
I’m moderately obsessed over stats. I need to cut down the habit and start focusing on content.
AffiliateObsession.com
November 30th, 2008 1:07 pm
I am stat crazy as well, but I have been trying hard to ween myself from them :)
Nice post!
Duncan Riley
November 30th, 2008 2:01 pm
I know part of this is tongue in cheek, so with that priviso I still think it’s a little extreme. Yes, you can spend far too much time looking at stats, but knowing your numbers and knowing how to read them is an important part of intel for any blog. Knowing what works, what doesn’t etc…if you’re not looking at your numbers, you simply don’t know. There is such as thing as too much, and Alexa and PR would be two examples that shouldn’t be regularly checked, but Analytics or live stats should be checked at least once a day.
shy blogger
November 30th, 2008 2:02 pm
I’m stat crazy..
everyday I must check my stats..
Maybe coz I’m not earning much from my blog…
If I get 1K visitor per day maybe i won’t be addict like this
Daryl Pereira
November 30th, 2008 3:04 pm
On the subject of joining social networks, I’d recommend spending the time hooking your blog up to Twitter – a great way to reach out to an ever-expanding crowd.
This can also pay off in different ways. Last week someone sent me a message that my site was down. Something that could have taken me days to realize (thankfully apparently I’m not as addicted to stats as some out there).
German Romance
November 30th, 2008 3:30 pm
Truly exellent tips. The 15 min time to spend on social networks a day is what I will start to do from now. thanks for the exellent tips!
Albert
November 30th, 2008 3:33 pm
I’m crazy about checking my adsense everyday, probably because I have just launched my blog a few days ago. I’m just getting a couple of viewers so far, hopefully more. I think I’m crazy about my stats is because it’s fun to blog and it’s to fun to make some money at the same time.
Jeff Fine&Frugal
November 30th, 2008 4:04 pm
Thanks so much. Very helpful. as it speaks straight into what I’m experiencing as a new blogger. I’m learning to go with my heart…focus on what I enjoy writing about and providing for people, and that is liberating.
CrazzyCool Sjay
November 30th, 2008 5:31 pm
Dam I am going through the same issue. This is a great help to stop checking stats, adsense account regularly and do something productive.
Really good one for me personally. It seems like you gonna save lot of my time.
Thanks Darren
Cheers
Sjay
Harish
November 30th, 2008 7:05 pm
Great tips.I do get addicted upon stats.But I feel they are bit useless.Any way I must try to decrease it.
J.D. Meier
November 30th, 2008 7:54 pm
Beautiful post and Your passion shows through in your writing.
Congratulations on getting over your addiction (you are over it aren’t you?)
Mary@GoodlifeZen.com
November 30th, 2008 9:44 pm
Great post!
A short while ago I moved Goodlife Zen to a new host and something went very wrong. I ended up without a blog for about a week.
When my site came up again, the first thing I did – this is confession time – was to check my feed-burner stats. Yes, ok, ok – I’m too am a stats addict. To my amazement, my blog had grown 100 subscribers, although nobody had seen it!
I might see what happens if I don’t check this week…
Anjay
November 30th, 2008 11:40 pm
Its been a month since starting our recipe blog http://radiancerecipes.com so I couldn’t help but check the stats around twice a day. You are so right that it can waste precious time that can be used for more productive exercises.
One thing that has helped is whenever we follow one of the advices given on problogger, for example, after signing up to technorati, digg etc we can see the results on the stats.
Once again another great post.
Tim Rueb
December 1st, 2008 12:03 am
Great post, thanks. I ran across your BLOG on AllTop.com and really the title caught my eye. In the same way I help my clients work on email subject text, I think more time could be spent on Blog Post Titles as well.
Thanks again.
Good Hunting,
Chic Gal
December 1st, 2008 12:21 am
When I read your article, I thought you wrote it just for me. I do obsess over my stats. I look at them several times and day….bad, very bad. It does change my mood sometimes, but more often it makes me questions why I’m not getting more visitors. I plan to take each of your tips to heart. Thank you!
Real Estate Investor
December 1st, 2008 3:06 am
I am addicted. It might be a problem.
I check my Google Page Rank and Alexa Ranking. I even get a little annoyed when the number in my browser plugin doesn’t match that number on the widget on the page.
I refresh my YouTube stats hoping for more views. I also check my feedburner stats, hoping for one more subscriber.
I also check adsense to see if I made more money.
I admit I also check statpress and wordpress stats about 5-10 times a day as well. I don’t think it really helps much.
I’m going to take your challenge. Tomorrow morning, I will check my stats one last time in order to get the month total results. I will then not check my stats until January 1. I will focus my efforts on the things I know builds traffic. I will then report back.
The only think I will not change is that I have the Google Pagerank and Alexa toolbars. So I won’t uninstall those.
Wish me luck and strength!
Rahul
December 1st, 2008 4:17 am
I’m a stat guy. No doubt about that. This has become an addiction for me. But I’m trying to get it out actually and focus on other things like online marketing, social networking and SEO.
Btw, I do check my stats @ least once a day. My stats are like mountains. Some they they climb high up and sometimes its like downfall. Still I’m positive and my readers are definitely increase too. Which is a positive sigh for me.
David from livingelpaso.com
December 1st, 2008 4:59 am
I needed that Nicole. I just realized that I probably check my stats 5 times a day. I have only been in the blogosphere for 3 months, but I now admit I have a problem….first step is to admit you have a problem…right?? Thanks for the advice, and I am taking on your challenge.
Kendra@ShoppingforTwo
December 1st, 2008 7:46 am
Hi my name is Kendra and I’m a recovering stats addict :) I would check it multiple times a day just hoping that traffic would take off for me. But I realized one day that I really was getting a little obsessed with it, so I made a resolution to only check once a week. Then it got down to less than once a month, then I almost completely forgot to check them.
After about four months I finally checked them and I too was totally shocked at how many more google hits and general traffic I was getting. About 10x more! I used all of that time to do actual ‘work’ towards getting people to my site and it worked!
I really like these suggestions you gave. I just printed them out to put next to my computer.
Mel Menzies
December 1st, 2008 9:06 am
Great post, Nicole! Like all addicts we kid ourselves that we’re not really hooked, that we could give up just like that if we wanted, when we wanted, that the peek we take at our stats is actually absolutely necessary, and that though others may be addicted to several checks per day, we most certainly are not looking more than once – maybe twice, well, perhaps every other hour – but what does that say? Only that we’re vigilant. Surely? No? Oh, well!
From a stataholic.
Logan
December 1st, 2008 9:37 am
Awesome post! Thanks! :-)
Jim Gaudet
December 1st, 2008 2:05 pm
Um, great post. Number 9 is the best idea I think.
I think I will try this since the first of the month is coming..
thanks,
Dragos Roua
December 1st, 2008 2:21 pm
Thanks for the post!
I do like the strategy: “don’t just kill your addiction, replace it with something really worthy”…
I’ve been a stats junkie myself, not as a blogger, but when I had an online publishing network of vertical portals and I know what damage this can do. I think I spent around 1-2 hours daily only on stats.
In the end, it’s not the stats that are counting, but your real contribution to the real people.
James
December 1st, 2008 11:52 pm
Hi, I would just like to say that I really enjoyed this article. I feel very much encouraged….especially in the area of social networking…it is such a powerful tool, and I have been very lazy when it comes to social networking on my current project…I have seen how well twitter has been working for me, and i’m sure that there is SO much more potential to be unlocked!
Marc Williams
December 2nd, 2008 12:56 am
As a true addict of stats, this is very helpful. I know I need to stop looking at it all the time and now you have given me reason why I should stop. So thank you and I will try..
Alan Thomas
December 2nd, 2008 1:25 am
Very interesting thoughts. It shows you how much time you can waste just going over your stats.
David from livingelpaso.com
December 2nd, 2008 3:21 am
So I failed on day one. I tried, I really did. However, On the wordpress dashboard, you can check stats without clicking on the link and so I told myself that it was ok. I guess this a guilt post…well…time to try again!
Dawn
December 2nd, 2008 6:21 am
Thank you for your insight…I would like to promote a beautiful seaside town. Can you suggest a blog that provides information to people looking to come to south Florida?? How about the locals that live here?
I would like to reach more people interested in vacationing or moving to the area. Some of the wonderful activities offered all year long are diving and snorkeling, charter fishing, parasailing, waverunners, fine restaurants and shopping or just laying on the beach and soaking up some rays..we have it all and want to share it with everyone interested in having a tropical vacation all year long.
I would appreciate your direction in getting started, my sincere thanks!
Saving Money
December 2nd, 2008 12:27 pm
This post has given me the courage to try something.
I am not going to check my analytics or adsense for 7 days, starting right now.
That means I won’t be logging in until 9th December (Sydney Time).
I will also limit checking my email for the blog to 2 times a day.
Wish me luck!
Check out my saving money blog at http://www.savingsguide.com.au
DeeJay
December 2nd, 2008 1:20 pm
The post was useful for me.
So… I swear, no more Stats! ;)
Hajib
December 2nd, 2008 5:16 pm
This is my obsession.. checking stats every hour.. still in my project to drive 1000 visitors daily traffic to my blog…
KC TAN
December 2nd, 2008 10:31 pm
I think checking emails and web stats are both great killers to building our blog quality. Come to speak of it.. it has been a while since I check out my commentors.. lol.
Takumi86
December 3rd, 2008 12:42 am
Darren thanks so much for letting me know about this, before i read your post i never make any friend at Digg, Stumble Upon, Reddit, and Mixx, now i know that i have to make a lot of friend and gain more exposure, thanks. Again thanks a lot, i owe you Darren – really
Chris Raider
December 3rd, 2008 1:26 am
Thank you. Very good article, I am also an “every hour checker” (until now). I will try the surprising effect by only checking the stats once a week: As a reward I will spend me a beer ;-)
Rohit
December 4th, 2008 1:41 am
I could remain aloof from stats for a week.
But I always believe checking stats is necessary daily. You need to know if something is wrong with your site i.e if its down or up etc.,. They can be discouraging at times but we need to get on with them.
Nicole Feliciano
December 13th, 2008 1:48 am
Guilty as accused. I am going to try to cut down to 1 x per week. Maybe over the weekend since those are slower traffic days, but I do agree with Rhoit that you have to check a bit to make sure all is A-ok especially with revenue generating links.
julie
December 20th, 2008 4:00 pm
well, considering it’s 1 AM and everyone is in bed while i check my stats, i’d say this article is for me. i’ll give your advice a try, but i can’t imagine life without my stats…
wish me luck!
julie
Mobile Games
March 10th, 2009 1:00 am
well.. i tried to not check the stats but i have to say that i can’t :(
Allen - Montreal Web Design
April 26th, 2009 10:22 pm
Hello from a Montreal Web design company. Stats are very important.
Allen
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