If No One Clicks, Was Your Blog Post A Waste of Time?

Emily Cretella

Last week, I read a short yet poignant blog post by Mr. Seth Godin, titled: “No one clicked on it, no one liked it…”

I had to click on it. And I liked what I got:

Encouragement. Optimism. Confidence in the face of instant gratification.

In the post, Godin makes the argument that you can’t measure the impact of your work and your words with clicks and shares. That just because someone shares something, doesn’t mean they found it personally significant. And just because someone doesn’t share your content, doesn’t mean it didn’t help or influence them.

He writes:

“Think about the things you chat about over the water cooler. It might be last night’s inane TV show, or last weekend’s forgettable sporting event. But the things that really matter to you, resonate with you, touch you deeply–often those things are far too precious and real to be turned into an easy share or like or click.”

In today’s world of instant shares and clicks and analytics, it’s easy to get discouraged when the words you poured your heart and time into sit unshared.

But remember: low shares are not a reason to stop sharing your expertise. Why?

Shares do not equal impact. Clicks do not equate to more business or deeper relationships with your audience.

Your most “popular” posts in terms of clicks and shares may not necessarily be your most important.

That definitely holds true on this blog. For example, one of our most popular posts (in terms of clicks, shares and unique visits) is “20 Best Tips for using Snapchat, Instagram Direct and Other Chat Apps in Your Content Marketing Efforts“.

It’s an okay post. It’s nothing special. It doesn’t dive deep, it doesn’t inspire, and it doesn’t help us create relationships. But it’s SEO and Twitter friendly, and it brings a lot of traffic.

So if clicks and shares are what I was after, it would make sense for me to write hundreds of similar blog posts. But that’s not what this blog is about.

On the other hand, a post like “10 Nerdy, Unglamorous, Yet Oh-So-Liberating Things I’ve Learned After Two Years as an Entrepreneur” has less shares and drives less traffic, but it made more of a personal impact for me — and it makes me proud. This post helped me connect with other entrepreneurs, and I received many comments and emails that allowed me to start real conversations with current and new readers.

Another example: a more recent post, “12 Timeless Things I Learned From 12 Years of Copywriting Websites” allowed me to use the expertise I’ve built over more than a decade to help readers improve their own website content. Again, not as many shares, but it did drive a few new business opportunities from readers who connected with the message.

If you are authentic with your words, and you understand your audience, you are making a difference.

Don’t be discouraged if a post you’re proud of doesn’t catch fire. Because you might not know about the person who has it pinned to the wall above their desk.

Or the person who hungrily ate up your words and changed something that was holding them back.

Or the person who emailed the link to their dearest confidant, with a personal note of encouragement.

If the right people are reading your words — and your words are resonating — sometimes it’s enough to make a small, meaningful, personal impact. It might not show in clicks and likes right away, but it’s there. And it will materialize in great, important ways — if you stay encouraged, optimistic and confident.

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