Since my blog is a fairly new addition to the myriad of existing and already established blogs, I feel overwhelmed by the amount of information and the very process of blogging. Although classes and books are helpful, I believe the only way to learn is by doing it (rather than talking about it), as well as by trial and error, and from experience of those who are successful in the field.
I have no problem taking care of the doing part and learning from success of others, but first I would like to get a better understanding of what success looks like in personal blogging. At this point, the concept in my head is somewhat fuzzy.
So, I would appreciate if dear fellow bloggers could share some of their knowledge and answer some questions:
What does success look like in personal blogging?
What are the most important indicators of a successful blog?
- Is it traffic?
- Search engine rankings?
- Number of comments? Quality of comments?
- Number of Likes?
- Community?
- Awards?
- Ability to profit?
- All of the above?
It sounds like a lot, but in fact all I want to know is when I land on a blog’s home page, what is the most important indicator that would tell me that the blog “has made it”? Or, is it even fair to ask such a question? Do you think there is a common denominator of success, or maybe there isn’t?
I will greatly appreciate your thoughts and comments. I understand that blogging is becoming more competitive, everyone has his or her own priorities, there are no formulas and recipes for success, and you would certainly want something from me in return. I could offer to follow your blog, read your posts and provide my comments, but you likely already have more followers and comments than you can handle. Yet I think it’s still a win-win, because if you reply to my post or press the Like button, I get an opportunity to learn from your blog and join your community, and you get an opportunity to demonstrate your magnanimity, the spirit of sharing, and sense of community. On top of that you’ll have my sincere gratitude and appreciation.
As a side note, I realize that some bloggers do it full-time, some – as a hobby. So, here is my last question: Where is the line you must cross to call yourself a pro?
I look forward to hearing from you!
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I just started too…
I’m amazed sometimes when I see that people are actually following what I write. I think this is a good indication that your successful in the blogging endeavor when people care enough to subscribe to you.
I attribute whatever success I’ve had to God because I felt led to begin this blog because of my love for God. I felt that He was leading me to share with others because my sharing was squelched at another locale, so I came to this one. It was a challenge as I had never done an actual blog of my own before.
God is blessing my blog, imo. I think this is success 🙂
Thanks for your reply, warrioress! I read your posts, not as frequently as I would like, because of my time management issues 🙂 But I noticed that your posts have lots of comments and this is one of the indicators of success in my view. You are very passionate and honest, and a good writer too. I have to admit, I don’t always agree with what you say, but your posts always make me think.
Thanks, Reflections. I enjoy your posts too but I know what you mean; time is always a problem. I have to hurry through most of the blogs I read and I hate that. I wish I had more time to leisurely read all of the many bloggers that I find fascinating, but you know how it is. Anyway, I think you’re successful. Keep writing!
Thanks for the words of encouragement! I really appreciate it.
What I enjoy about blogging is that one is able to share one’s experiences and thoughts without having a deadline, or the threat of losing income. I blog for pleasure: to know that others enjoy reading what I write; and to enjoy the communication you begin to have with others.
I appreciate your comment, Colline. Like yourself, I enjoy the social side of blogging. Yesterday, I saw a personal blog with the comments feature turned off. What’s the point of having a blog and not allowing any comments? Beats me 🙂
How a blogger determiner her success depends on why they started to blog. Some blog for pleasure, as with Colline, others have a professional slant that seeks to build income so the measurement stick changes according to that intent. I have two blogs (thinking about three) that have distinct success measures, yet for both I want followers and readers.
I blog for two reasons:
1. Personal – I changed my advice platform from radio (expensive) to blogging to reach a wider audience. Thus, I use anita answers advice for that.
2. Sales – my CEO blog features writings from my book, Climb Every Obstacle: Eliminate Your Limits! that is marketed (poorly I might add) for sales.
Customize your blog site to fit your needs and determine your measurements according to how you define your blog success.
You are a deep thinker who probes for answers//that is success!
Anita, I appreciate your reply and your thoughts on the topic very much. That confirms my assumption that comments and followers are the best indicators for a blog (to an outsider who has no access to other blog stats.) I am not too worried about my own blog’s “success” at this point. I realize I am not doing enough in terms of promotion on SM, outreach to other bloggers, content, frequency, even date and time when I post my content. But I’d like to find successful blogs in my niche and learn from them. And this post actually serves that purpose more than anything else. Thanks to this post, I’ve already learned about and subscribed to several blogs including yours.
How does one define success as a blogger? I think it has to do with the interaction that happens after a post. When people take the time to comment and interject their own experiences, the blog comes alive.
Can’t agree more, Katherine! Interactions among bloggers are so valuable. It’s not just a numbers game, it’s about making connections and finding your community. It takes a while, but it’s so much fun. Thanks for your comment!
Such a good question.
I believe asking good questions always leads to good answers.
I am quite new to the blogging community so i wouldn’t know by experience what a successful blog is. However, that being said, I think success for any blog depends on one thing- passion.
If you are passionate about the many different aspects of blogging then you will have a successful blog.
You will write with passion, you will seek to share that passion with as many as you can, you will actively learn and explore new ideas and you will continue to write with passion regularly.
That’s success in my book!
Numbers, money, or whatever a person is after will follow such passion.
http://scentsofmagic.wordpress.com/
hi Andrew, Couldn’t have said it better myself. I agree – passion is key to success, in any field, blogging including. Thank you for your great post! I enjoyed reading it.
Nice post..for me, I blog mainly for fun and pleasure………
Thanks for all your comments, Jenny! I really appreciate them. You seem to have a lot of fun with your blog. Keep it up! I find it difficult to maintain my blogging at the same levels as before, but hope maybe it will get a bit better within the next few months.