Thanks to Wendy Perrin of the PerrinPost, I found this Invesp Consulting list of travel blogs broken out by various measurements: Google PageRank, number of inbound links, number of RSS subscribers, number of unique visitors per month, etc.
Now, normally I try not to pay too much attention to such lists. They often compare a one-woman show like mine to wide-ranging, multi-author efforts like World Hum, and there’s no way that I can match a gargantuan site when it comes to some measurement metrics.
On the other hand, seeing the Family Travel Logue floating around in the #40 – #60 range (for most metrics) was rather depressing for me, I’ll admit, considering that I’ve been writing here since February 2006 and have some nice recent kudos in addition to past recognition in the UK’s Guardian, the Telegraph and Real Simple magazine.
I lost some Google search engine placement/authority last summer when we shifted the blog to this URL, but we’re talking almost a year ago now, so that’s like claiming you’re fat because you had a baby, but the baby’s now 9 years old (like, ahem, my son. Hey, the baby excuse can no longer explain wearing “fat jeans” all the time.)
Anyway, seeing the stats was a good wake-up call for me, because between my obligations to the Perceptive Travel Blog and my new blog about tourism and social media in support of a new business venture, plus staying active on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr and others, I simply haven’t had the time to blog here as much as I’d like.
I have a notebook (yes, a paper one) full of ideas, so there’s no problem with writer’s block. It’s the “blood from a turnip” problem.
Sometimes, I’m phoning it in, an old journalism epithet for lazy reporting.
Yeah, yeah, work smarter not harder, they tell me. Blargh.
Part of the problem is that I have a hard time tossing up a quick post. I edit and review a LOT, then look for a good photo or graphic to go with the post, because images are important in blogging.
Mostly, my obsessing is probably justified, but if I was honest, I’d admit that I over-edit some posts that really aren’t that earth-shaking. I’m not ADD, but I sure play one on TV.
Part of the answer is spending less time on Twitter, but I’ve built important relationships and a lot of interesting followers there. Maintaining that takes time, even at only 140 characters a tweet.
Maybe it’s the summer doldrums hitting me hard. Are you finding your bloggy stats are on the downslope, and kicking yourself about it? Let’s talk in the comments….
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{ 12 comments }
haha, I’m not even on any of the lists
I obsess over everything I write as well, but I think that the strategies for marketing and good content are different and you’ve got to approach them separately.
Thanks, Anil. The fact is that I have to do what I tell everyone else they have to do for blog “traction;” good content posted reasonably frequently. I only need to add 1-2 posts a week to my current output, and I need to think more about what my readers would like, then provide it. I can only bring my own perspective and talents to the table; it never works to imitate someone else’s successful blog.
The marketing part is actually easy for me – I have plenty of other Web outposts (as Chris Brogan calls them) to tell people about what I’m writing here, but if I don’t post a bit more frequently, people come here and find….crickets.
Sheila -
Once again, appreciate your candor. (And analogy to the baby fat when you’re baby is school aged!)
I think you, like many other travel writers/bloggers, are spread thin. Writing for many other sites (and print outlets), promoting your blogs, starting new business ventures, marketing … then there’s trying to find time for yourself AND be a mom. You’re right – blood from a turnip.
I’m w/ you, too, on the “Spend less time on Twitter and you can be more productive.” Easier said than done, for sure.
Just know I’m right there with you. So many ideas, so many intentions and so little time.
Hi Kara, I know how much work goes into the quality content on Traveling Mamas, so your support is very much appreciated. The obvious answer is to give up one or two things, but I’ve already had to give up covering NHRA drag racing for Fast Machines this season, and I’m bummed about it. Sportswriting really stretches me in a different way.
Oh, well, we all get the same 24 hours!
Thanks for visiting.
It’s so good to hear that I’m not the only one suffering from this. I have no trouble thinking of ideas but with work/kids/etc, blogging just doesn’t make the cut some days.
I’ve been trying some strategies which sometimes help – borrowed from classic time-management techniques:
- Scheduling twitter-time. Naturally you get the most out of twitter if you’re on all the time, but really, what’s the ROI? Esther from trekaroo.com told me at TBEX that she did an actual measurement and discovered it’s only worth 1 hr/week for her, so that’s what she does. Me, I like to chatter, so I give myself 5min “twitter breaks” during the day.
- Scheduling blog-writing-time. Some days it’s an hour in the morning before my kids get up, sometimes it’s 3 hours on a Sunday evening. I rarely get everything I want to get done completed, but blocking out a specific time has been a huge help.
- Asking for help. Beth (my fabulous sponsor/editor/co-writer) on wanderlustandlipstick.com has hired some interns. I’ve “borrowed” intern time especially for searching for images – which can take hours.
- Parking posts and editing later. This may be because I’m a newbie writer, but I find I edit more thoroughly and more quickly if I park a post for a day or so and then return to edit.
Hope that helps some.
And once again, thanks for sharing!
Michelle
Such helpful input, Michelle! I literally have to close TweetDeck and other tabs when I’m writing or I will wander off into the wilderness.
I also need to “blog ahead” but here’s the deal; as soon as I have a post polished and done, I want to hit Publish right then and there. I’m terrible about pre-posting because of that! So, maybe I should only PARTIALLY write a post, or finish it but not find a photo until I’m ready to launch, because I tell you I want it OUT there the minute it’s done.
Thanks for stopping by….
Oh, I’m so with you. I saw the ranking of Perceptive Travel blog and thought, ugh. But the truth is — there just isn’t enough time in the day to do everything, *especially* if you’re a mom. We’re just scraped so thin, always scrounging for time to do a few more things.
Like Michelle, I’ve found I have to schedule Twitter time. I can’t keep up with it all anyway, but shutting down Twitter and Facebook means I do focus on actual writing for longer periods. Sometimes I just try to work somewhere without Internet access to resist the temptation.
But I’d give a lot to have someone do some of the fiddly work for me like mucking with images!
You’re so right – Twitter and other stuff is perfect for my tendency to be distracted by interesting people and experiences, so I have to turn all that off if I expect to truly focus on something. Some people have two monitors or computers, and they put “all that stuff” on one and only the current work project on the other.
It provides an “air gap” between writing and other kinds of interaction.
Here’s a great way to focus: go offline. I’ve been on the road for two months, with off and on Internet access and a family tagging along with no work obligations of their own. It’s amazing how little difference it makes to let some things go (yes, of course you know I think Twitter should be at the top of the list). It’s also amazing how much writing you can get done, say, riding on a bus when you can’t go online and get distracted. At home I try to go outside beyond the reach of my wireless schedule to get some real work done when I feel like I’m multitasking too much.
That should have said beyond my “wireless signal” of course (not “schedule”).
That blog ranking thing is pretty cool, but it’s got some holes in it. My Cheapest Destinations blog has nearly 1,000 subscribers but it says n/a for that category. I like that they did “pages viewed per visit” though. A lot of those big multi-author blogs don’t get much in-depth reading or regular followers.
Thanks, Tim. There’s a Function key on my PC keyboard that disconnects my wireless. I think I need to use it more often.
Hello. Thank you for this great info! Keep up the good job!
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