Analytics: when to look at them and when to ignore them

When I started blogging, I used to look at my website traffic analytics every day. I really wanted to know how my most recent post was doing, and I really hoped it was doing well. The problem with this was that I was too close to the picture to see it clearly. My motivation to write fluctuated daily based largely on hyper-specific factors I could not control. 

After a while, I changed the analytics view to only show me website traffic month over month, instead of day over day. This decision brought me less anxiety, while still showing me helpful trends that I could use to grow my community. 

I’m currently running two projects for my clients. One is a direct outreach project to bring in new business, and one is an organic social growth campaign. Both of these have required a fair amount of up-front strategy building, with a set of daily actions to reach our goals. It’s tempting to look at the analytics too early. I want to know how today’s post or today’s outreach is going, because I want immediate feedback on whether or not my strategy is working. But this isn’t the best move.  

With long-term strategies, we need to do all the up-front preparation we can. We need to dive into the analytics, read the blogs, and build the strategies. And then, once we decide to implement our strategy, we need to set a date at which we will consider the analytics and adjust course. This gives or strategy enough time to pan out, without letting it carry on too long into failure. Looking at analytics every day isn’t usually helpful. Usually, you’re too close to the picture to see it clearly.