RussHutto[dot]com

Why Blog?: The Series

1) Why I Blog: I blog for fun.
2) Blogging As A Worship Leader: I blog to connect, to share, and to encourage.
3) Blogging & Social Networking. My blog is it’s very own social network!
4) Staying away from the Dark Side.

Today: Why Blog?: Blogging & Stats

First, I love stats.

I love checking them to see how many people have visited my blog and the other handful of sites I administer. It’s fun. It’s almost a game.

For me, blog stats are a vital part of blogging. I don’t check them because I’m trying to win the world over to my blog. I don’t even follow them because I need to be popular.

I’m a man. Yep, a male. I’m very task oriented. You could even say I’m goal oriented, though my wife might disagree!

In my inner workings are wires that cause me to desire to SEE where I’ve been, where I’m at, and where I’m going. I love checking my blog stats.

Thing is, I’m never disappointed if I don’t reach a certain number, because my blog is ultimately about having an outlet to express my creativity and to connect with people along the way. It’s not about conversions and clickthroughs and what not. It’s fun.

Now, that being said I know there are many people who run successful blogs that DO need to set goals and hit targets to bring in income. More power to you. Maybe one day I’ll have the desire to run a blog for that purpose.

If you’re willing to journey with me by reading my blogs and commenting, then gosh darn, you’re so much more than a stat to me anyways. I consider you a friend!

And in my book, I’d much rather have a friend than a number on a chart!

I DO post top referrers and I do visit my google stats at least twice a week. Mostly to see where traffic is coming from and to give link love to those that are passing new friends my way!

So to sum it all up (for me):

1) I check stats because it’s fun, not because I need the popularity.
2) I’d rather have a few good friends to journey with than a few thousand ticks on a chart.