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Have a look at the above graph. Alexa may not be the most reliable source of statistics, but that's a pretty good spike. There's probably more to come, as my website statistics tell me that I had a couple of very good days this week in terms of traffic.
I know that some people look at graphs like this on other sites and say the following: "Wow, they are doing well. I want to do well too. I'll just do what they do." Similarly, sites that tell you how to make money online show how well they're doing by putting pictures of cheques on the blog.
There is nothing wrong with sites showing that they are doing well. The problem is when other sites take this advice a bit too literally and think that to be successful, they have to produce a carbon copy of the blog that's giving them advice.
This is not what blogging is about! To be successful, you need to publish good quality content on a regular basis, and you need a unique identity.
Copying doesn't work.
I remember when I first read John Chow dot com. He obviously had (still has) a very popular blog and was (still is) making plenty of money. Understandably, other people want that too.But some of those people think they can get as rich as John Chow by copying his blog, putting flashy cars in their banner, using an almost identical layout, trying to be an "evil blogger" and so on.
Do you really think that's going to work? Maybe it's not impossible, but I think it's highly unlikely that you'll build a successful blog if you take this route. I take one look at those sites and immediately think, "hey, it's a Chow clone". Hopefully I'm not the only one who notices the similarities.
Don't let a good formula stifle creativity.
Unless your blog is so well-known that people read it no matter what you have to say - we're talking tens of thousands of readers here - you have to keep publishing good quality content. Otherwise, you won't get off the starting blocks. Even if your blog is very popular, I think you should keep writing good content anyway.As you start to publish more content, you may find that certain posts do better than others. This may be because they're interesting, unique, well-written, clever, funny... basically, the kind of content that lots of people want to read.
To give an example: as I'm an active member of Entrecard, many of my readers found my site through Entrecard. If I write a blog entry about Entrecard, it's more likely to generate comments simply because it's something that a lot of my readers can relate to. However, my blog is not dedicated to Entrecard, so I don't blog about it all the time.
This doesn't mean I object to blogs who write about Entrecard a lot. There are some that I subscribe to and enjoy reading. But if every blog has an Entrecard-related post at the top of the front page when I stop by, it makes me wonder who their target audience is. If it's Entrecard users, then why is their blog listed as being about something else?
Writing about what's popular - i.e. what everybody else is writing about - is not the way to make your blog stand out.
Chasing statistics is pointless.
Some sites seem to be very focused on how to rank well on search engines, how to get more visits, how to get onto Digg and StumbleUpon and so on. Now, it's not a bad thing to know about these things... but it shouldn't take precedence over the content of your blog.I've seen sites that try to make money from advertisements when they only have a handful of posts. Sites that are more than happy to give out their link to anyone and everyone - but that don't have enough content to keep readers for very long.
Personally, I'm much more interested in growing my blog gradually, focusing on writing good quality content and taking my time with things like blogging forums. Joining a dozen blogging forums just to say "hi here's my link" or just to post links to your own articles contributes nothing to those communities, and may get you banned. Submitting every single blog entry to StumbleUpon or Digg won't do much good either.
Statistics are good to see how you're doing, but if you spend more time worrying about statistics than you spend on the content of your blog, I think there's something wrong.
What do you think?
How do you feel about sites that are just copies of other sites?Do you think it's OK to keep blogging about the same things over and over again if that's not the subject of your blog? How do your readers feel about this?
Do you spend a lot of time looking at ways to boost your statistics, or do you just keep an eye on how they're doing?
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Tags: statistics, originality, unique sites, quality content, repetition
Posted by Ben on February 16, 2008 22:47 / Edited: February 20, 2008 09:57
Comments
Ben, you are one of my favorites. You give very good information and if people really wanted to do better blogging they should start reading your posts. Of course that sounds kinda pompous coming from someone with only one subscriber. I love your tips! I look at my stats but I don't obsess. I just keep an eye on the ups and downs to let me know when I write something good or am getting some traffic. I am still working on other things I have read here. Thank you very much
Hi Ben,
Hermann the German, ähmm Michael once more here ...lol
Though copying is rooted in the nature of mankind, it's futile when it comes to blogging.
Content is king. Uniqueness the queen. Statistics bow down.
I only believe in statistics i faked myself anyway ...*_)
Pagerank and visitors are sort of hype to me. Be aware of blog- and sitepushers, networks trafficking to monetize.
Why do we blog? Why do we read blogs? Do we know what readers are really after? Perhaps we're lucky to know what we ourselves are looking for.
Some tools can help us to find out, what our readers might look for (i recently installed a special WordPress plugin, enabling me to read my readers minds ...lol).
So perhaps we could match their needs better. But hey, who cares about MY needs? Who cares at all? So many blogs, so many posts, so little time ...
My suggestion: let others blog their way, while you blog your way (without becoming autistic or self-absorbed).
Than you will do well too. Perhaps even in a statistical signifcant way ...
Regards
Michael
I agree with you that the increase in traffic does not mean squat unless it leads to bookmarking, RSS subscribers or return visitors. I have seen entrecard droppers just drop and then move on. Sure, my visitor stats have increased but so have my bounce rates. Since most everyone on entrecard is a blogger looking to help themselves, it seems like the blogs that blog about blogging are the ones who are more successful. My niche is tailgating so I have not seen too many people interested in that come in and become active members of my site. I guess time will tell.
I think you are spot on Ben. And I think you will go far for that very reason. You have your own unique voice.
I'm subscribed to one blog at the moment that I'm finding to be very much a clone of Problogger. To be honest, I'm very close to unsubscribing from that blog.
To me it's about balance. I don't think my blog content has changed all that much since I began to learn and understand about how the whole "blog game" works in terms of effective linking, social networking and other promotion techniques etc work. Yet, it has risen dramatically in readership and rankings etc since I have worked on those things.
They do go hand in hand but content has to be the number 1 priority.
The thing I love about blogging is that everyone has their own voice. I find it sad that some people feel the need to mimic other bloggers instead of finding their own voice. They're really missing the beauty of blogging when they do that.
noelevz - this is a very good comment: We should posts about the thing we love doing the most. I think it's important to blog what you know, and what you enjoy. It's like the difference between pursuing a career in something you hate versus something you love.
ettarose - thanks for the positive feedback, glad you enjoy the blog. And it's always good to have readers who return for more. :)
Emarketscout - lol @ Hermann the German! I have to disagree with you here: let others blog their way, while you blog your way - I'm not forcing people to change, but the whole point of my blog is to help people improve their blog or website. If I had no interest in how other people blog, I'd be better off writing about something else. But I do have a big interest in this. If people choose to ignore my advice, that's OK, different things work for different people. Some of it is down to personal preference anyway. I'm just providing some guidelines. :)
Big Dave - yes, I have heard similar comments from others who joined Entrecard as they also blog about things that may attract a smaller audience. I'm not sure what resources are out there for your niche, but do you know of any forums or link directories that are more closely related to what you write about? Have you tried searching Google? This might help you to find others who are interested in the subject you're blogging about.
Thanks for the comments!
Hi Lightening, looks like we commented at the same time. I'll reply to you here.
Thanks for the praise. Content is more important than some blogs seem to realise; having your own voice is definitely the route to success. Though I haven't commented on it much, I do read your Blogworld blog and I think you have hit on a good formula there.
I'll be honest, I don't subscribe to a lot of blogs but yours is one that I do subscribe to. I have very high standards and it doesn't take much for me to unsubscribe. I'm sure that other people are more forgiving with an off-topic post here and there, but I've seen too many blogs that just lose interest and stop putting the effort into writing good quality content.
It is a lot of hard work to get a blog off the ground. Hopefully my tips will make it easier for people to focus on writing good quality content and worry less about the technical side of things. :)
Thanks Ben for helping us to re-focus on the important things about blogging. I don't think the new blogger really realizes how much work there is in building a blog and then monetizing it.
Sure you can try to copy the "masters." But, are you copying what they are doing today or what they did 3 or 4 years ago when they were hungry and building their blog business?
There are no get rich quick plans. The bloggers of today that will succeed (however they define success) will be the ones that consistently deliver interesting, quality content on a regular basis.
Everytime I run into one of those clone sites my mouse become attracted to Xs. I close the window.
Seriously what were they thinking? At least offer some variation.
I also just wanted to say that being unique and having a different voice has given me plenty of reason to get up in the morning to write more content. I know as a new blogger I have to prove myself over and over again.
I think one week (out of the four I've been blogging on my new site) I focused too much on gaining new traffic. I realized my posts were rushed, not the usual length. I found myself watching stats obsessively (they were good). But what was the point? I gained new subscribers and had a lot of bounces. Everything would have turned out the same had I not obsessed. :)
--jason
Good Post. I tend to blog about whatever I'm focusing on. If it's entrecard, then I blog about entrecard. If its gaming something else, then I share my knowledge. If I'm not interested in what I write, why would anyone else be? Write what's on your mind. Some blogs lock themselves into a niche and can't escape.
kexbrown - exactly my point. There are no shortcuts!
Jason - it's good that you're driven to write more content. Having the drive to do it helps immensely. There's not much point starting a blog if it just dies after the first week or month. I see that a lot.
turnip - maybe jumping from one topic to the next is strange to some, but I think it works. You're less predictable and people are genuinely interested to see what you'll write about next. Getting stuck in a rut just makes the blog boring to read, and probably boring to write, too.
Thanks for the comments. :)
Hi Ben,
Well written post. I agree on all points. There seems to be a flood of copied sites that all try to tell you how to make money online. At least chow's site throws in some food reviews and personal thoughts that are off the topic of making money online.
I also have been noticing a ton of copied sites too...When I got to a site and see an image of a nice car being the first thing to load, I usually just close it down and read no further.
Thanks for commenting, Tim. I'm not sure that so many food reviews are particularly useful on a Make Money Online blog though. But the blog is still better than a copied site...
I am rather tired of seeing so many copy sites out there.
The flavor at JC has changed to how to protect your money in the real world. It's a nice change.
As for staying on topic or going off topic, if I feel the need to go off topic too often - I just start a new blog. It's not too difficult. It opens up a new source of readers and allows me to cross-promote my existing blogs.
Thanks for the comment, Contamination. There are certainly a lot of unoriginal sites on the web. I'll have to check out JC, I haven't been there in a few weeks.
great post! and great stats. i think noob bloggers think that doing what johnchow does will get them the big bucks. or the big traffic. that is never the case. you can't start a paid posting blog and write about restaurant reviews to make money. you really have to find your own creative ways to market. writing good content is the foundation. keep doing it and your site will grow. but along the way, you better come up with unique ideas to market you blog. or it'll be a hard climb
Thanks noob! Don't worry, I have lots of tricks up my sleeve... it's going to be a fun ride. :)
I totally agree with you. Blogs shouldn't be copycats of other blogs even if the other blogs are their inspirations because posting would just feel like a chore to them. We should posts about the thing we love doing the most.