What Defines a Successful Blog?

Blogging can be a hobby, a platform for selling something, or it could be a job. But what makes a blog successful?

My short answer: You enjoy doing it. That’s it. The numbers don’t matter.

But, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t care about the numbers. The numbers are fascinating for me. I like to see them go up, but this isn’t because I have an ego to stroke. More views and more followers mean my network grows and my ability to get my books out to more readers improves. It’s an important factor for my future livelihood.

If we look at the numbers, there are several to consider: views, followers, likes, reblogs, and comments. They all show something positive.

• Views: The more you have, the more popular your blog may be, or you’re just good at marketing your blog.
• Followers: Another measure of popularity. Or maybe you follow a lot, so they follow back.
• Likes: If they like the post, then they click on like. Or they click on like merely because they saw it in their newsfeed without even reading it.
• Reblogs: Someone really likes your post! But I find that these aren’t nearly as common as the other factors.
• Comments: People want to talk about what you posted. What you said inspired someone to say something. It means your message is getting out to people and they want to engage with you.

Personally, I think the most important measure is comments, especially if many of them are your own. This means you are active, interested in your readers, and attract readers. They want to talk to you. Views are good, especially if you have a lot of return readers. You can easily tell this by your comments section. You want people to return. But I believe comments are the greatest indicator of your blog’s success.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below (see what I did there?).