Following your blog’s traffic can be considered an addictive drug.
Web site traffic has the power to keep me lying awake at night — whether it be the exciting rush of writing an article that really resonates with readers, the terrible feeling of rejection when commenters vehemently disagree with my point of view, or the worst of them all, when there is absolutely no response at all. I question everything, the highs and the lows: Am I the smartest person in the universe? Am I out of touch with my community? No, seriously, I’m so smart and SO right!!! Wait, am I wrong? AM I BORING!? Please tell me I’m not boring.
As the numbers go up and down, the adrenaline rushes and the neurotic tendencies heighten. I set a goal, and once I reach it, I immediately set a new one without even celebrating my first accomplishment. How can I improve my SEO? What are my keywords? What do people want to read?
Hopped up on coffee, all I can think is, “Higher! Higher! Higher! More! More! More!”
But maybe this greedy, traffic grubbing thinking that drives me crazy isn’t such a bad thing…
Site traffic is the life line of your blog. It’s what determines your notoriety, your advertisements, and ultimately your cash flow (and yes, even if you working at a larger website and not a personal blog, your boss will keep tabs on the numbers coinciding with your work). So maybe it’s actually a reasonable notion that I should feel like I’m going to throw up if my traffic rises or drops suddenly (with excitement or fear, respectively, in roller coaster type waves).
Alright maybe getting stomach aches from numbers is a little extreme — but staying hungry for traffic, figuratively speaking, should be a daily motivation if you plan on ever making your blog into a business and lifelong career. I wrote about how to set tangible traffic goals for yourself, and it’s serious stuff that really makes a difference.
On the other hand, no one likes a blog that only harps on Google’s “hot trends” without creating content relating to the blog’s voice, but if you want “moves like Jagger” in the blogging world you’re going to have to get hungry…every single day. (And yes, I just referenced Maroon 5 lyrics.)
What am I trying to say here? I’m trying to say you should be a little crazy about your site traffic. And you should never be satisfied.
[Image credit: Wenn.com]
hah
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I am soooo guilty of this. I track traffic religiously – especially since moving to WP, where it’s so easy to check on the dashboard! That said, I think it’s totally, 100% okay, and I think my blog is better for it!