Why I Don’t Bother With Blog Subscriber Stats

Ok that’s a lie…I am interested in the subscriber stats for all of my blogs because it gives me an indication of certain aspects of each blog.

Things like:

• Is the content compelling enough to make people want to stick around and read more?
• What sort of content do readers seem to like more versus less?
• Is it worth taking the time that I could be spending on the business/on the beach continuing to write/run this blog? (when my Dad and Auntie are the only subscribers!!)

Unlike many other bloggers however, I don’t wear my subscriber stats like a badge of honour and display them proudly for all to see.

Not that there’s anything wrong with this at all – but I choose not to for several reasons…

1. I blog mostly because I enjoy it – not as some sort of experiment, to make money or to prove anything to anyone else.
2. I want people to make up their own minds about whether they want to read my blogs – not because it seems like they *should* due to high subscriber numbers (the sheep mentality of “Oh it must be popular, I should read this”).
3. I’m really not that bothered – whilst I’ve had a particular target in mind for a couple of my blogs, I realised recently that it doesn’t really matter at all and the number is arbitary.
4. High subscriber numbers are a “nice to have” but not a necessity for me to blog – and I’d far rather spend time on writing quality content that I know will be useful to and enjoyed by a few particular readers than writing content that is “digg-able”, “stumble-able” or other…but please don’t let that put you off digging or stumbling should you so choose!

I guess the extent to which you obssess about subscriber stats depends upon your reason for blogging – and yes, it is much more rewarding when you know that at least a few people are reading what you write; but just because they aren’t, doesn’t mean you should stop if you’re enjoying yourself.

I’m curious though…why do you like to display your subscriber numbers?