How do you measure the success of a blog post?

As we drift into the last few weeks of the year, I find the world of blogging gradually becomes a quieter place. Like thousands of others, I’ll be taking a seasonal blogging break as we head deeper into December. 

However, one of the most popular posts I see appearing every December and early January is the traditional ‘My Top 10 Blog Posts Of The Year’ post. It won’t be long before these annual posts drop into your email inbox and WordPress Reader. 

But how do bloggers measure the success of those top 10 posts? What is it that helps make those posts appear in their ‘top 10’ lists?  

The more hits, the more successful? 

Most bloggers who will publish their ‘Top 10 Blog Posts of 2021’ blog post will base their list on the number of hits each blog post achieved. But that always has me questioning if that is the right way to compile a top 10 list. 

A blog post may have thousands of hits, but how many actually read the content? Does not reading a post make it successful? Should the number of hits count towards success when we’ve no idea how many times the post was read?

Does landing on a blog post by mistake make a post more successful when some of those who land there don’t stay and read the content?

Search engines are essential for finding something in particular on the web. However, how often have I clicked a link, then moved on quickly after realising the page I landed on isn’t what I was looking for? I’ll be honest and say that I’ve lost count!  

It’s made me question whether that click I made should count towards making the post more successful when I haven’t read the content. 

Volume V’s Sales

Let’s have a look at it another way. Take these two identical shops: 

Shop ‘A’ gets hundreds of customers a day because of its location or large advertising budget. However, it gets few sales a day. 

Shop ‘B” gets a much smaller number of customers because of its location or smaller advertising budget but gets a high sales volume. 

Which of the shops is the most successful? A or B?

When should comments count towards success?

If I compiled my ‘Top 10 Posts of 2021’ post based on the number of comments every post got, my top 10 list would look very different from the list I compiled for the number of hits or ‘likes’ a post got.

For example, one of my posts that received the most hits did not get any new comments or ‘likes’ left in the last 12 months. Yet the post that was number 21 on my most hits list got three new comments and six further ‘likes.’ Which one should be considered to have been the most successful in the last 12 months?

Then there are some bloggers (like me) who may not count specific comments. Comments that add value or prove the post was read count. Whereas lazy comments such as ‘Great Post’ or comments that only include a line of emojis may not count. 

When measuring success, should we include all comments or only those that add value or prove the post was read? 

When is a ‘like’ not a ‘like’?

I’ve never been a fan of the ‘like’ button on blogs since I discovered that some bloggers and readers misuse it. However, I see many bloggers basing the success of posts on the number of clicks on the ‘like’ button. 

Should clicking ‘like’ without reading a post count towards making a post successful? How many times have you had the same person press the ‘like’ button on lots of your blog posts within seconds of each other?

How many times has somebody clicked the ‘like’ button within seconds of you publishing a post?

Surely Sandra read my 900-word post if she clicked ‘like’ within ten seconds of me publishing it, didn’t she? Otherwise, why would she have clicked the ‘like’ button?

How do we know if somebody who clicks ‘like’ actually read the post?

Unfortunately, unless somebody clicks ‘like’ a reasonable time after publication, and leaves a genuine comment that proves they’ve read the post, we don’t know.  

Misuse of the ‘like’ button seems widespread in the blogging world, with some readers even pressing it to ease the guilt of not having time to read and comment on a post. Some click ‘like’ as a sign of support but may not read the post. Should those ‘likes’ count towards the success of a post?

Some see the ‘like’ button as nothing more than a free promotional tool for their blog, without even reading a post. Leave a ‘like’ and, fingers crossed, it will bring in some new visitors. 

The only success we should be discussing for these types of ‘likes’ is that the person clicking the ‘like’ button feels the post and blog are successful. All they’re doing is jumping on the success bandwagon of somebody else’s hard work.

If you’re wondering why I still have the ‘like’ button at the bottom of all my posts, allow me to enlighten you. I discovered (and WordPress told me) that it is connected to the ‘reblog’ button. Remove it, and the ‘reblog’ button also disappears from your blog posts.

That’s something I was not willing to allow. 

And removing the ‘like’ button from your blog doesn’t mean it will be removed from posts when they appear on the WordPress Reader. If you’ve removed the ‘like’ button from your blog, are you aware that people can still click on a ‘like’ button when reading your posts on the WP Reader?

How do I measure the success of a blog post?

Simple. If I were motivated or inspired to write and publish a post, then it would be a success. Therefore, you won’t find a ‘Top 10 Blog Posts Of 2021’ post on my blog.  

Winding-up

At the end of the day, I guess it’s entirely up to the blogger concerned about how they measure the success of their blog posts. What I do question, though, is whether bloggers should be publishing results that are not necessarily accurate.

Allow me to run a final thought past you 

Suppose a blog post gets only a few hundred hits but receives over 50 genuine comments and likes. Does it make it more successful than a post with thousands of hits yet very few comments and likes?

What do you think? How would you measure the success of a blog post?

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