Blogs - What is More Important- Traffic or Comments? from Planck's Constant

When I first started blogging three years ago I wrote that my purpose in blogging was to write about the same things that interest me in real life, which is to say, everything ¹.

But that only explained the what. I didn't mention the why. There are actually three reasons why I blog: the first is to leave a permanent record of the contents of my mind for my children and grandchildren. I expect this to take the next ten years to do.

The second reason is to engage in discussion. My children and wife agree with me on 99% of the issues in the world although we really get into it hot and heavy on the 1% where we do differ. However, even where we disagree, the differences are not enough for me. I thrive on rabid disagreement. I miss being in college where I had the opportunity to chance upon some really outrageously differing points of view. And with blogging there is nothing I enjoy more than getting comments and emails where the reader disagrees with me so thoroughly that just contemplating how to respond acts as a whetstone to sharpen my mind.

Indeed, a whopping 15% of my articles (213 out of 1420) are in response to comments and emails.

The third reason is to add my voice to the blogosphere in denouncing Islam. To let others know that the Quran is far from being a Holy Book, in fact nothing less than a military handbook outlining the care and feeding of slaves, converts, and dhimmis. I lost almost 99% of my relatives because there were too few voices raised in protest the last time the world was confronted with an evil ideology of world conquest. It must not happen again.

Jack over at the blog Random Thoughts- Do They Have Meaning? asks the following question:

Defining a Successful Blog: What is More Important- Traffic or Comments?
I have an ongoing discussion/debate with one of my clients about the most elements of a successful blog. It is a simple question or whether it is more important for a successful blog to have a very active comment section or a large number of readers.

I like this sort of question because it is the kind of thing in which the answer is tied into what sort of blogger you are and what sort of goals you have for your blog. Now that might sound to be synonymous with obvious but it really isn't.

Because the reality is that the goals of a personal blog are often quite different from the goals of a corporate blog. I know of a number of businesses that have blogs because they feel like they have to and not because they want to. They don't like comments because they see that as being a risk and a lot of extra work. In their eyes it is a liability that they would rather not deal with.

And then you have a ton of personal bloggers who are dying for hordes of commenters and readers. They would be thrilled to see millions of people come to their corners of cyberspace and camp out. They dream of posts that generate hundreds of comments.

I have had this discussion with a few of my blogger friends and many find it disconcerting that they don't get more comments. My blog, for example, gets more than a million page views a year yet relatively few comments (less than 6,000) although certain articles garner more than 80 comments. Why this is so is hard to determine. Interestingly, more readers send me emails than leave comments.

The one thing that Jack left off in his discussion is the subject of emails. I suppose it is a more appropriate venue when a reader wants to suggest a topic for a post, point out a dead URL, wants to leave me a link to interesting videos, or wishes to express gratitude that there is somebody out there who is saying the things that need to be said about Islam. That is to say, the email is more for me to read than for my audience. I should mention that about 10% are from Muslims suggesting that I change my attitude.

As to my first reason for blogging, leaving a personal journal for my children, I couldn't care less about traffic, comments, or emails.

As to my second reason, getting into heated discussions, I want comments and insulting emails.

As to my third reason, a voice in the wilderness warning the world of the coming Caliphate, I want traffic to hear my message.

Traffic or comments? It depends on why you blog.

I have left off for discussion the subject of links to your articles, although in some regards it is like a comment, only more detailed.

Notes

(1):

Planck's Constant, Easy Money on EBay
Welcome to my blog. I will be writing about the same things that interest me in real life: everything. I may concentrate from time to time on the threat of Islam to Western Civilization but I don't want to limit myself just to that topic. In real life I am often asked for advice, so you will see a category on that topic.