It’s tiring to hear people constantly crave over how many RSS readers, or twitter follows they have. Some people even praise their sites because of their Alexa rankings. But really, do those numbers really matter? No, they don’t. Just because you have 10,000 RSS readers, does not mean you have 10,000 people who read your blog. It’s time we stop worrying about these numbers, and start focusing on the numbers that really do matter.
What are the numbers that do matter
Lets say you have 3,000 RSS readers, but when you look into feedburner only 100 of those readers are opening your emails, and only 300 of them are taking the time to read your article. Those are the numbers that count. So you can pride yourself on having 3,000 RSS, but does it really matter if only 300 of those 3,000 read your articles?
Stop focusing on the whole, and start narrowing down your focus on the numbers. There is a reason that the tracking programs offer detailed analytics, and if you’re not taking advantage of them, start doing so.
How to focus on the numbers that do matter
Looking into user interaction
Now that we’ve learned that the mass number is not important, let’s focus on the lower numbers. For example, we will focus on our readers. You have a total combined amount of 3,000 readers, but only 300 open your emails,and 100 of them click to your article. Now we need to identify why these other 2,900 readers are not reading your articles.
Investigating the problem
Let’s find out why these 2,900 readers are not reading your articles. First lets identify some of the minor issues, have you looked at which posts are getting the most click thru’s? Is it because you are writing bad headlines, that nobody is wanting to read your article? Take the time and email a couple of your readers. Email readers who do read your articles and email readers who don’t. Ask them what is the reason why they don’t read your article. Trying to assume the problem works some of the time, but if you really want to find out the problem, talk to the people who are actually subscribe.
Group Discussion
Do mass amounts of numbers matter if your not seeing any results? Is it just pointless to brag over 3,000 readers if only 100 read your articles? After you’ve read this article, do you find it important to take the time to go deeper into the numbers? What’s your thoughts? Share with the community what you think about this. An article is never complete without others opinions.
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
That is the one reason that I love email lists, because you can look at your account and it tell you exactly how many people actually open your emails and also how many people click through on those emails. I don’t put too much thought into my RSS subscribers.
But I do think that writing headlines that grab attention would definitely increase your RSS readers.
Tom | Build That List´s last blog . . .The Aweber Code….And Why You Need To Promote It!
You’re right Tom, I love looking at what articles perform best and it really does lay down to sticky headlines like you said. I’m thinking about writing a post about that
You hit it dead on Rob. Numbers really don’t matter if you’re not getting any results & if the majority of those people don’t even read your posts in the first place. I think it’s essential to getting feedback when you can. If you’re experiencing a big issue like that, ask your audience, do a poll, something that will give you insight into the problem. It’s very powerful and eye-opening when you do so.
Mike Stenger´s last blog . . .How Twitter Chats Increase Your Following
Right, and a lot of times bloggers are afraid to ask their readers for advice because they think they wont offer it. But the truth is they will, and you can really find out some valuable information.
That’s very true Rob, what matters at the end of the day is the actual no. of readers of your post. Being happy at the large no. of RSS readers is just a kind of false satisfaction, where as our actual motive is to get serious readers for our blog post.
Health n Fitness Care´s last blog . . .OSTEOPOROSIS IN WOMEN: TIPS TO PREVENT IT
Right on, I’m glad your with me on this on this and understand the importance
In the past I’ve been guilty of this – looking at the big number instead of of breaking it down and making sense of it. As an example, getting 10,000 visitors one month from Digg was exciting as hell when I started out, but obviously that didn’t last and the next month I got next to nothing.
For me, the most important things I’m aiming for now are email subscribers, revenue and search engine traffic.
Despite some numbers being useless, I think having 3,000 subscribers of which 90% never check in is obviously a lot better than 300 subscribers of which 100% always check in, social proof and all that. As long as those subscribers are real, they once had an interest enough to subscribe… so there’s no reason they wouldn’t come back eventually.
Jason
Make Money At Home´s last blog . . .Trent Brownrigg Interview – The $48,000 Site Flip
Yea, but I have to disagree Jason, and here is why.
You have 3,000 subscribers, cool, they showed interest in your article at some point, but why don’t they now? Also, why pride over 3,000 subscribers if only 10% are dedicated to your site now? Wouldn’t it be more better to have 300 dedicated readers who comment and engage on your blog? If it came down to it, who do you think would do you better? 300/300 ACTIVE subscribers, or 270 out of 3,000 people who read your blog?
I try hard not to be number bound. Getting to the true meaning of the number is very important. I have been online for almost 14 months and success has been slow coming. Although I see the numbers improve slightly, I try not to focus to much on the numbers. I focus on a solution to improve my numbers. Great article. Thank you.
Melva´s last blog . . .Home Business Ideas Resources to Help You Get Your Business Up and Running
It’s all about time Melva, some comes faster than others. Keep working hard and it will come to you, no worries
Hey,Rob! Good pointersI believe if a reader is very interested in their blog, he or she should subscribe to one’s blog! There is no point for a reader to subscribe if they are not interested in that person’s content at all. I think that one must never give a persuasion in order to build up their numbers and he or she says, ” if you subscribe to my blog, and I will subscribe to yours!” If one does that as a part of promotion then he or she who subscribed; then he or she won’t have any true readers to read their content on their blog. Next, that person know that he or she is not going to read that other person’s blog! That’s false promotion to me in order to build numbers! I beleive in promotion, but not in that way!
In addition, I believe that looking at the numbers can work two ways for a person. It can make a blogger work harder, and improve to make unique content and blog! Or it can make a blogger become frustrated, mad, and cause them to quit due to not seeing any results because of their focus on the numbers!
Thanks for your pointers
Tyler J.Logan´s last blog . . .The struggles to Forgive
Right on Tyler, I couldn’t agree anymore to your comment.
And I think you’re right about the numbers with people. I look at my numbers and I never take discouragement to them I always use them to push myself to work harder. It’s sad to see some people quit because they are not happy with their numbers.
If I had 3000 RSS subscribers I would brag, and I wouldn’t care what you said about it!
Keith´s last blog . . .Linking Out For SEO
Haha Keith of course you would
You would shout and tell the world.
Excellent article Rob. The only numbers I hear people talk about is when they are bragging about subscriber or feed numbers. Those don’t mean much of anything versus actual loyal readers of a blog or website. The numbers that are vital are the actual readers and visitors. If you have tons of other numbers that aren’t actually reading your stuff then you should try thinking of a different way to market yourself. Great stuff Rob. Happy weekend.
Build Web Traffic´s last blog . . .Facebook and Social Networking Websites Dominating Web Traffic
Right, and that’s why I never pay any attention to those numbers people tell me. I wish you a happy weekend as well
Lots of readers are great, but it only matters if they’re the right readers. For example, a post about a sale on fabulous long underwear won’t do much good if 75% of your readers live in Hawaii.
Basic direct marketing (which is what the internet really is): it’s the list that counts!
(Actually, I have a lot more to say on this. Off to publish a post of my own).
Jodi Kaplan´s last blog . . .Which Numbers Matter?
Totally Jodi, I’m glad you agree. And I’m going to go check out your article to
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