When it comes to blogging, everyone wants to be successful. Why put hours — and the blood, sweat and tears — in if not to be triumphant over the wiles of the web? So, let’s count the ways to measure such a thing.
Ways To Measure Blog Success
Sometimes a blog explodes and it’s easy to see that it’s hit the right chord with your audience. But when that doesn’t happen (umm, like the majority of the time), there are several ways to gauge its popularity.
Views
Every web hosting service worth a dime will have a section where you can track individual page traffic. This will tell you how many people have clicked onto every page on your website, including individual blog posts.
More sophisticated web hosting services, like HubSpot, can even tell you the average time spent on a blog post. If your average time is very low, say under 30 seconds, that probably means readers skimmed the piece, didn’t find what they were looking for and left.
If your average time is more reasonable, like a minute and a half, people may actually be reading what you’re writing. Huzzah! Note, however, to take average viewing time with a grain of salt. Afterall, how many times have you gotten distracted and left a tab open for hours?
CTA Clicks
Don’t get discouraged if your post views aren’t so hot. As discussed in a previous post, every blog needs a Call to Action (CTA). If you find that your post views aren’t very large, but that people are clicking on your CTAs, that’s a big cha-ching. CTA clicks mean viewers not only read the article, but that they also engaged with it. Those engagements can lead to a relationship that eventually leads to a sale — an overarching goal in content marketing for business.
Comments
As with CTA clicks, comments on your blog posts are a great sign of engagement and interest (that is if they’re not trolls). Make sure to respond promptly and positively to further that relationship.
Social Interaction
Last, but certainly not least, is interaction on social media platforms — comments, likes, shares, retweets, tags, etc. Higher numbers of any interaction type indicate you’ve met the needs, wants and interests of viewers with your blog post. Give yourself a pat on the back in such instances; popularity means you’re on the right track.
For more tips on how to write successful blogs, check out our related articles on blogging success.
