Blogging disappointments: Unsuccessful blog posts! // SAD FACE.

Disclaimer: There are many positive things about blogging! Books! Friends! BOOKS!

YET.

Life is not full of positives always??? (I know, it’s an injustice.) And sometimes, we face disappointments which also applies to blogging (obviously or I would not be writing this post). There are a few I can think of but what I wanted to focus on for today’s post is unsuccessful blog posts!! (No duh Analee, go ahead and ignore the title again why don’t you??)

What is considered ‘unsuccessful’?? And what is ‘successful’?

Whelp, there I go again using a subjective term! Like what does unsuccessful even MEAN? (Not the definition, but like in this context.) And much like when I talked about success in blogging last month, it varies once again? I need to choose better discussion topics.

But, if we think in the form of stats; i.e. views, likes and/or comments: The thing is with each and every blogger, the numbers, the stats they expect and the stats they consider to be successful or unsuccessful for their blog VARIES. Greatly. But even those who are newbies to blogging, everyone has an idea of what most of their stats look like, you know? So successful and unsuccessful could be anywhere from stats that REACH or better yet, PASS their usual numbers and that DON’T REACH their usual numbers, respectively. And that’s only from a numbers perspective! Which is not the only definition for success.

But those numbers? They vary SO MUCH. A number that is considered a success for one blogger could totally be unsuccessful for another, based on the majority of their posts, and vice versa you know? It’s so subjective.

Now, for me, what I consider to be successful is a combination of two things; one of them being, COMMENTS. Likes too, but primarily comments because I love having that interaction with blogger friends and readers! Which means a successful post for me, is one that initiates conversation, one that people are interested in reading. And because I don’t check my stats all too often, comments (and likes) are the easiest way for me to measure how well a certain post is being received. Plus I love talking to you guys and getting comments on my posts just totally makes my day?!

So yes, when it comes to successful and unsuccessful blog posts, if we’re thinking numbers (which, I won’t lie, I do), the one ‘indicator’, persay, for me is the number of comments. I don’t go counting them obsessively or anything, but just seeing, oh, this [meme/review/discussion/list] did really well, I might try doing it again, or noticing trends like how reviews, for instance, aren’t that very popular, and so on. It’s just interesting to me and gives me an idea of what readers like, what worked and what didn’t, you know? There’s anything wrong in looking or paying attention to stats, and that applies to posts of course.

YET. I’m going to also admit, paying attention to stats can also lead to feelings of disappointment or discouragement? Not when they’re doing well, obviously, that’s an extremely positive feeling. But when a post doesn’t do as well as I’d hoped/expected, I’ll be the first to admit, I feel disappointed. Much like a book! You have high expectations, and when they’re not met it leads to disappointment! When they are met, or surpassed, it is the BEST feeling ever and it’s the exact same for blogging, for me haha.

And again, like books, obviously I don’t have the same level of expectations for every post, especially because there are so many factors that affect the stats you receive on a certain post! Examples, because I am a helpful potato today:

• What type of post is it? i.e. review, discussion, list, book tag/award, bookish meme post [like Top Ten Tuesday, etc.]

Obviously this can be different for different blogs, but generally I’ve noticed a trend (for book blogs, because that’s what I am and what I follow) for different posts:

– book reviews don’t usually bring in very high stats, unless it’s for a popular/hyped up book
– meme posts are more popular than reviews, and they can be great for stats and discovering blogs but more and more people seem to be against these posts because they become very repetitive?
– discussions & lists tend to be the most/super popular! I’ve noticed this on my own blog, and also on a ton of other blogs as well; I love reading their discussions and lists can be super fun as well if you come up with a topic I’m interested in!

• What day did you post on?

I’m still trying to figure out which day is the most popular for me… WordPress claims it’s Tuesday? I’m not going to be posting all my posts on Tuesday though, and right now the way I set up my schedule I only have like, one other Tuesday post. So.

But different days can definitely bring different amounts of people visiting your posts? I am speculating that Tuesday is popular for me because a lot of people participate in Top Ten Tuesday? In comparison, Monday posts or Sunday posts don’t always do as well BUT again so many factors that play into that!! I give up on trying to analyze my stats why am I doing this

• What TIME did you post at?

I am FOREVER conflicted on what time to post!! I don’t know about you guys, but for me, when I posted something totally affected the stats. See, a lot of people, I am almost 100% certain, read posts from their WordPress Reader. Which means posting at a time where people are most likely to go on to their Reader = better stats! What do you mean you can’t predict when people are going to go on their Reader shh.

What time to post? I honestly don’t know. #help I once (accidentally) scheduled a post for 10 or 11 at night and I got, like 2 or 3 views? It was kind of funny, to be honest. But I do not recommend for stats!!

Nowadays, I tend to post more in the mid-afternoons. Not any particular reason why, though I’ve seen a lot of blogs I follow posting early in the morning like 7 or 8! So I might try that but so far my time has been working for me… mostly. What are your thoughts???

• How relatable is it or how easy is it to create discussion?

Relatable posts are the best! Part of the reason why discussions and lists can be so much fun to read/write! Posts where your readers can relate in some way or talk about something do really well. Of course, it can be argued you can talk about something no matter what type of post, which is why I mention relatable! Obviously not every post has to be relatable, but having a mix of posts is so important, and relatable ones are the most fun to read and write, for me anyway!

OKAY got sidetracked there. Back to successful/unsuccessful posts!! I just wanted to touch on one more aspect of successful/unsuccessful posts, which is something totally unrelated from the numbers.

Comments and interaction is super important to me, but apart from that, I consider a successful post to be one that I’m proud of writing and put a lot of effort into as well. In the past, I’d say I kind of failed at this side of success? I posted mostly memes (SO MANY MEMES omg I honestly don’t know how people managed to survive on my blog back then) and effort was minimal! Which isn’t a bad thing, obviously, but I now focus more on quality over quantity, in terms of my posts? Being happy with your post is a whole different kind of success that can’t be measured.

YET. 

Sometimes, even if I consider a post to be ‘successful’ in the personal satisfaction sense, the stats don’t always match my opinion. Which sucks, sometimes. I can pour my heart out into a post, spend HOURS on a post and be really excited about a post, and it might still flop? There may not even be a reason why.

Blogging, in that sense, can be so unpredictable. Of course you have certain expectations for each post, stats-wise, sometimes they’ll be met (YAY), sometimes they’ll be passed (YAY x2), aaaaand sometimes they will flop (CRY). It’s just how it goes?? I will be the first to say it’s disappointing when the latter happens, of course, but at the same time I don’t dwell often on it too long–my tip is to focus on all the ways your post was AMAZING rather than the numbers. 😉 Does wonders for your mood, haha. (“Easier said than done”, I can hear you say, but I swear it does get easier!)

RECAP TIME!! Because this discussion was too long and too confusing.

For me, I consider a successful post to be one with a lot of comments/interaction AND that I’m proud of writing. And whether a post is successful or unsuccessful depends on so many things, things like: type of post, what time and what day you post on, and also if the post invites discussion or is relatable. Yet sometimes there might not be a reason! Sometimes posts just flop, with no obvious reason why. And I think it’s happened to us all at one point?

What I consider personally to be unsuccessful posts, in a nutshell would be when I spend a lot of time on a post and it doesn’t provoke as much discussion as I was anticipating/expecting? Because comments mean SO MUCH to me, and having that positive feedback on posts I put effort into is a lovely thing. ❤

But I’ve learned to NOT dwell on disappointments for long, because then it just makes blogging all too serious and sad. 😦 AND THAT CAN’T HAPPEN!! (#hellobloggingslump) Focus on the happy stuff! Eat cake. Read fluffy or heartbreaking books. All is well. 🙂

Whoops, that was supposed to be a short recap. NOW is finally the time for me to shut my mouth!! What are your thoughts?? Don’t let this become a unsuccessful post pleeeease! (*wiggles eyebrows* Do you see what I did there?) What time do you usually post things? Have you had unsuccessful posts before and what is your definition of successful or unsuccessful posts? How popular are reviews, for you? Do you agree with me? What are some of your most popular posts? Let us discuss!!