Monday, February 15, 2010

Blogging Secrets Revealed!

Actually it's not really a secret. And I uncovered it quite by accident. Unintentional is probably a better word!

Blogging in of itself is a social networking community. Key word being 'network.' Which means interaction and comments between blogs and bloggers.

Tuesday, I was on the road. All day. By the time I got home, I was SO exhausted, I went to bed not long after and barely checked my emails that day. Wednesday I was gone for part of the day and didn't comment on any blogs until that afternoon. (I've also been sick with a cold - yuck - and not felt like doing anything on top of it all.)

Guess what happened to my blog traffic last week? It went down - way down. My lack of interaction cut it in half. And not just on Tuesday or Wednesday. It still hasn't recovered.

So what does that teach us?

* Blogging requires interaction

* Blogging is a two-way street

* Bloggers are fickle!

Okay, maybe not that last one! LOL

What about you? When you miss a day, does your blog traffic go down? Do you blog every single day? (I'm not online on Saturdays.) Or do you blog just a couple times but you're commenting daily? Or just commenting on the blogs of those who comment?

19 comments:

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Oh, Blogger and I aren't getting along today! I left a comment, but I don't think it's going through. I'll sum up what I said and if I end up saying it twice, please delete me! :)

Yes, I definitely notice a drop off in blog traffic...usually when I'm super busy. When I'm busy my posts aren't as detailed, my blog visits are less frequent, and I'm slower to comment back on my blog comments. I do see it reflected in my traffic, for sure.

Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I'll try to remember that, although I'm still new enough that there's not a lot of comments regardless. But I am working on that from my end.

Mason Canyon said...

I think it does require interaction. But at the same time I'd like to think that slow traffic just means we all sometimes get so busy with our lives we can't comment. I know lately my days have been more hectic and I've been online less. I never thought I say this, but I miss it when I can't check my favorite blogs.

Brooke from The Bluestocking Guide said...

I know what you mean!! My traffic seems to have leveled off because I don't have the time to visit around a great deal.

Here is mine

Arlee Bird said...

I post something every single day. I still haven't totally figured this blog thing out, but you are certainly right about the activity. During Christmas vacation I set up 15 articles to post automatically, but I wasn't able to comment as much and visits to my blog and comments went way down. In all fairness the holidays are probably partly to blame.

I usually don't see many new followers unless I comment on a lot of new blogs.

But sometimes I just don't get it. Overall though I do see an increase in hits and comments on my site if I'm out there actively visiting and commenting on other sites.
Lee

Helen Ginger said...

The overall blogging circle takes a lot of time. I blog every day and I try to visit everyone who comments on my blog, then I try to pick two or so people who didn't visit and go to their blogs. I should make sure I visit everyone on my Top Blog Roll, but usually I run out of time. Whether you're out visiting or not, comments slow down on weekends. That's just the way it is and that's ok.

Helen
Straight From Hel

Jemi Fraser said...

I don't blog daily - usually 2 or 3 times a week, so the pattern's a little different. I'll have to keep my eye on it!

The Old Silly said...

'Tis true. I've been too busy this past week to visit ALL my regular fave blogs EVERY day, and my traffic fell by more than 10 vists per day avg and the comments averaged only around 14-15 instead of the usual 20+

The old golden rule, hmm? Blog and comment unto others as you would have them blog and comment unto you, lol.

Creative Chronicler said...

For me because I have a demanding "day" job, I write all my post on the weekend & schedule them to post Mon-Fri.I read a lot of blogs because I get them in my email, unfortunately during the week I don't have a lot of time to visit & coment on my favorite bloggers, usually only during my lunch hour. I try to comment on the post that my comment might contribute something. I haven't noticed a drop in commenters on my blog due to my lack of time to comment, but then I didn't have a lot of commenters to begin with. I did notice a drop around the beginning of December and the traffc has not increased a whole lot.

I think it's important to try to visit other blogs & leave comments, however I have only seen a few of the blogs I comment on comment on mine, mainly just my regulars, who I appreciate and adore!

Anonymous said...

Bloggers are fickle. No doubt about that. If you stop visiting them, they stop visiting you. Unless you're Nathan Bransford.

Me, I like visiting other blogs. I'll do it for the remainder of my life. Its fun. And I don't have to dress up or make myself presentable when doing it.

Stephen Tremp

Jane Kennedy Sutton said...

I do see a difference in traffic. However, I’m learning that taking care of your own needs is more important in the long run. Due to my own health issues, I have cut back to posting only once a week

Still I try to visit as many blogs as I can on a daily basis (except weekends in which I try spend more time with family and less time online), but I don’t always have the opportunity to visit or to leave comments on as many blogs as I would like.

Hope your cold goes away soon.

Kristi said...

You know, I think this is a GREAT post because I always wonder about this whole blog traffic thing! I think it's a combo really.

I definitely see my blog traffic go WAY down if I'm not online or making comments but I still have a few of my favorite, steady commenters.

There seem to be groups of bloggers. Those that comment upon you commenting them...kind of a return of favor, which is nice. Then there are those that feel more like friends, that support you and comment whether you are online or not...I adore these and quite often these commenters and I have alot in common, which explains the connection. Then there are the fun new comments from people you don't know that happened upon your blog.

I tend to blog during the week and take the weekends off. We have to have some time to ourselves to write, right???

Nancy J. Parra said...

I think that you are so right. Blogging is a circle. It takes time and dedication to visit and comment as well as write. Since I've had to cut back on my visits my blog hits have cut back as well-although I do have some very special people who visit me almost everyday. ;)
Great point. Cheers~

Lyn Fairchild Hawks said...

Hi, Diane,

A great point of how blogging is serious commitment. My challenge is the drafting necessary for all writing, since good writing = revision + time. And if a writer can work fast, it's possible to do multiple drafts prior to posting, as long as one keeps it short. The time factor must be removed, and that's okay: nature of the blogging beast.

On a completely unrelated note, I found your article about writing from a male point of view very interesting. Thanks for that information.

Lyn

L. Diane Wolfe said...

See, I love all the different viewpoints and ideas today!

And cutting out weekends is okay. I do not post Saturdays, although I might visit about ten blogs if I am online. Last week just seemed to be a big, BIG lull in the action, and I can only attribute it to the fact I was gone all day Tuesday.

And Lyn, nice to hear from you and glad you enjoyed the POV article. Since writing that, I've learned even more and will probably add to it this spring.

BTW - to those who mentioned favorites - yes, I have favorites I never miss!

DL Hammons said...

I don't blog every day, and I wouldn't want to try. My blogging is another outlet for my writing, so if I'm preoccupied with my book, the blog has to wait. I'm not too concerned about traffic, but do try an elicit as many positive comments as I can from those who do read me by posting quality stuff.

Beverly Stowe McClure said...

I try to blog 2 to 3 times a week. It depends on what I'm doing in my writing. Love to visit other blogs and post when I can. It is time consuming, but fun.

Beverly

Unknown said...

I went from blogging five days a week to two, and I comment of the blogs I visit regularly whether or not they comment on mine.

Surprisingly (it was to me), my cutting back on posts has not affected my followers or comments. As a matter of fact, I'm blessed in that my followers have increased. Seems a little backward, but hey! I'm not complaining – I'm very grateful!

It does take interaction and is definitely a two-way street. But it's a lovely street, isn't it? I've come to think of the blogs I visit as *friends* and went through withdrawals when I cut back! Sometimes I have to take a break from *work* and stop in and visit a few on my non-posting days!

Maurice Mitchell said...

Thanks for the honest assessment. Blogging really is a two-way street in a lot of respects and I find the same ratio of comments\commenting. Jakob Nielsen did a study and found that 90% of users are lurkers (read or observe without contributing) with only 9% of users contributing ‘a little’ and 1% actively contributing. He has some good tips to increase participation some of which is applicable to blogging.
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/participation_inequality.html

CyrstalClearProofing makes a good point though. In the end, the best reason to blog is that you love to read and write blogs.