The trouble with blog post views and vanity metrics

Even if youve never heard the term before, you know what they are.

Theyre the thumbs up, the hearts, and the likes you see across pretty much every social media and blogging platform. Theyre the page views counter you see going up and up as people land on your site. They're easy to get, and as they generally go up over time we can get trapped into thinking these are a measure of success.

The problem is we can get so caught up in chasing the numbers that we forget why we are writing in the first place.

What are vanity metrics?
Vanity metrics are misleading
Vanity metrics are just the beginning
Vanity metrics and mental health
Where to from here?
Further reading

What are vanity metrics?

Vanity metrics have come under scrutiny as these numbers alone dont lead to any action. At best, they leave us thinking thats great but so what?. At worst, they create a situation where we focus on writing for the numbers and not for the reader. These are some of most common vanity metrics that are easily generated from analytics platforms:

• Users the total number of unique visitors to your page
• Pageviews the total number of times a page on your site has been viewed
• Open rates of an email newsletter - the total number of subscribers who opened an email campaign

Humans are hardwired to judge success on a number, the bigger the better. We love to visit the busy restaurant, follow the popular social media accounts, and watch the numbers go up. Its not surprising that these metrics are used to report success but its also important to understand how they can be misleading.

Vanity metrics are misleading

The number of views your post receives is the lowest common denominator when it comes to the success of a blog post or page of a website. These are easy to misinterpret and easy to game.

No impact on the bottom line

On an ecommerce site a page view doesnt mean much without a sale. If you run a blog a view doesnt mean much unless you are using it to improve your content or achieve another goal.

They set unrealistic expectations

If one post results in thousands of views, and your next one doesnt you may be disappointed and disheartened.

Views dont mean the post has been read

Someone who has clicked on a link to your post may not read it, they may bounce right off the page, or they may skim the post and decide it isnt useful at all. This isnt a measure of success for your post.

Spam and bots

Not all traffic is created equal and a spike in page views isnt always good news. Visits from spam accounts and bots can skew numbers significantly.

Vanity metrics are just the beginning

Before you write off the use of these metrics altogether lets talk about how to use them in conjunction with other metrics and tools.

Find out whats being shared

As a content creator or blogger the best compliment you can get is having your post shared. If you are seeing a big jump in page views this may be the reason. By knowing more about who is sharing your writing and where you can have genuine conversations with the people who enjoyed your work.

• Use a backlink checker like ahrefs to find out which newsletters, pages, and even GitHub repos your post has been shared on.
• Use Tweetdeck to keep an eye on who and when your post is being shared on Twitter.
• Find out more about the demographics of the people visiting your page using demographics reports.

Find out how the page is performing

Using page views in conjunction with other metrics on your analytics platform can give you a better idea of how your post is performing. This can help you tweak content, and find issues with your site.

• Use the bounce rate to find out if people are bouncing off the page or staying to explore more.
• Use the new/returning visitors report to find out if people are coming back to your site.
• The site speed report can help find which pages are loading slowly and why.

Vanity metrics and mental health

In recent years weve seen both businesses and content creators lean into vanity metrics so much they start to focus on nothing else. Waiting for the follower count to jump or page views to increase is not why we write. It can be a great feeling to know your message is getting out there, but it shouldnt be your only focus.

Metrics like page views arent there to make you feel bad about yourself. They also arent there for you to obsess over gaining internet points. Theres a reason Dev.to dont show follower counts on your profile. Use them as a guide for your content, not as a measure of your self worth.

Where to from here?

Vanity metrics often involve big numbers and out of context can imply success. As a standalone measure of success, these can be misleading and sometimes harmful. These metrics can confuse the purpose of blog posts and why we are writing in the first place.

Id love to hear your thoughts on page views in the blogging world? Should we make these metrics more visible or do away with them altogether?

Further reading

Why Microsoft doesn't share Xbox sales numbers

Vanity versus actionable metrics

Stop measuring these vanity metrics

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