Congratulations!  You made the decision to enter the world of blogging a couple of months ago but how do you know whether it is a success or not?  Which of your blog posts has had the most readers?  Both of these questions can be answered by looking at your web analytics for the period.

In order to answer the question ‘is my blog a success?’ you need to have defined a few parameters first:

What is the purpose and objective of your blog?

All internet marketing initiatives should have a defined objective and your blog is no different.  It is a well know fact that a blog that has been created with a specific target audience in mind will build a much larger online following than one that tries to appeal to all.  Visitors will return to your blog if they see what they like when they visit for the first time.  A loyal online following can be achieved if you always post good quality content on topics that appeal to your audience.  Your content should add value to your audience and it should always be around your core expertise – in our case all our posts are about one or other aspect of internet marketing.

How much feedback have you received

Blogging should be a two way exchange – not a monologue.  How much feedback has your blog generated?  Another proven blogging fact is that the more interesting and informative your blog posts are, the more feedback you will receive.  Use your analytics output and the feedback data to help you identify which of your posts have been the most popular.  Once you know this you can write more posts on the most popular topics – give your audience what they want.

Blog success yardsticks:

Whilst not intended as a definitive list, the following can be used to help you determine how successful your blog is:

1. Visitor numbers:  If you have little or no traffic to your blog, it is ineffective.  You should aim to post at least three times each week – if you do you will be able to see which posts have been read most often and from that you can work out what you did right and repeat it.
2. Comments / Replies:  Which posts generated the most comments or replies? What was the topic? What writing style did you use – formal or conversational?   Did you ask for people to comment on your post?  How long was your post – many posts can be too long – some are too short.  We recommend between 300 – 500 words as being about right.
3. Time spent on your blog:  How long did the average visitor stay on your blog?  Were they only there for 10 seconds or 5 minutes?  How long does it take to read your post?  Could it have been read completely in the time your visitors spend on your blog?
4. Blog landing pages:  Which posts are visitors coming to your blog on – is it always the most recent post or are there some popular posts from weeks or even months previously?  If there are, these older posts are likely to be the ones that are the most popular with your readers as these are the ones that have retained a high search engine position because of their popularity.
5. Geographic Location:  Where are your blog readers coming from?  With Google analytics and other web analytics software you can determine where your blog visitors are located.  Are they located in your target market areas? This can be critical if you are promoting a local service.

To truly determine whether a blog is working for you or not it needs to be measured over a sustained period.  A good blog requires dedication and effort.  If you cannot resource it properly yourself you should consider outsourcing to a professional internet marketing company such as WSI IMS.  Like most things in life, online marketing success is rarely achieved overnight.

If you would like more information about Blogs or any other aspect of internet marketing please leave a comment below or visit WSI IMS – WSI Internet Marketing Services in the South East of England and throughout the UK.