Comments on Measuring law blog success : Web stats are not the answer | Real Lawyers Have Blogs

rush.nigut@brickgentrylaw.com (Rush Nigut) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:38:21 -0800

This post is right on the mark. I know there are many other law blogs that have more subscribers and receive more visitors each week than my blog. But each and every week I continue to see work come as a result of my blog or other opportunities come my way because of the blog. It is the single best thing I have done for marketing in my legal career. Hands down.

I don't need a lot of visitors to the blog, just the "right" visitors.

Rush

trasmussen@lanealton.com (Teri Rasmussen) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:51:10 -0800

I agree that stats are not the only measure of a law blog's success. They are, however, not completely unimportant.

For one thing, before business starts rolling in like it does for Rush, it gives you some sense of making some progress. Having other bloggers link to my blog and comment on my posts is also nice and perhaps more important, but that's not going to happen every single day.

I also like to look at stats about which posts seem to be most popular because it helps me know what my current audience is most interested in.

kevin@lexblog.com (Kevin OKeefe) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 18:42:40 -0800

You're both right.

As you get started, it is nice to know that someone (hello world) is listening. If looking at stats, I tell folks to scan what people are reading, what they are searching for to get to your blog (though that's a self prophecy - what you write on is what brings people on search), what referrers are/who is linking to your posts, and the gradual increase in unique visitors (though that levels off).

If you do want stats, number one thing is sharing what you think your readers will find of interest that you find in your feeds. That results in good content which will include a link to a blog or news site that has existing readers - they see you, subscribe to you, and share your content with others. That's quality, interaction with blogosphere, and quantity.

dpr@dunn-carney.com (David Rossmiller) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:30:36 -0800

I think this debate over stats has a couple of components, including one that is often overlooked -- most sitemeters are horribly unreliable in my opinion and give vastly inflated portraits of traffic and exist chiefly to make bloggers feel good about themselves. Stats like hits or page views or whatever, taken by themselves, are no accomplishment. Instead, if you are getting e-mails, comments, calls from reporters, speaking invitations, links from other bloggers, then you are doing something right. These things don't happen unless there is some kind of decent traffic, of course, but focusing on building stats is a fool's errand. Figure out who you want to talk to and what you want to talk about, and do it with creativity and passion. No one wants to read boring, overly cautious folderol. We can pick up any legal brief for that. Writers who reward their readers with excellent work will be rewarded, in time, with loyalty, reputation, opportunities and clients. And you'll have a great time and meet some terrific people you never would have known otherwise. Stats should be seen only as a manifestation of the other goals, not as a goal in itself.

brian@simoneau.com (Brian E. Simoneau) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:08:14 -0800

Qualified relevant traffic is absolutely critical to success. What good is a blog if nobody reads it? You can't get an "an enhanced reputation in your niche area" without people visiting your blog. You can't "interact with your readers" if you're only getting 20-30 per day and they're finding you only because they're searching on a non-competitive terms such as your name.