How to look at your data

Or, how I learned to stop chasing numbers

When I was a junior in college I wrote a guest post on a blog that got some attention. I know this because there was a little “views” counter on the page. Watching thousands of people come to read something I wrote was completely new to me, and it felt amazing. I’ll never forget sitting in the library, watching the number keep growing, and coming to the realization that I was definitely addicted to this.

And of course, here I am, nearly 5 years later, still chasing numbers.

Since then I’ve written a lot more blog posts, learned to code, and built a couple of websites. I even made a silly little single-pager that begged Google not to shut down Google Reader. All to hit that next big number.

I’ve also paid a lot of attention to the kind of things that get really popular, and the kind of things that don’t. And I’ve realized something that makes me feel not so great about chasing numbers anymore.

Some people might tell you that caring about pageviews is a form of vanity. I disagree. It’s important to take pride in what you do and to want other people to find value in it. Vanity happens when you make it about yourself, rather than the work.

Others might say that pageviews don’t indicate quality. And this is much closer to the truth, but I don’t think it quite nails it. In general, I believe that popular things are better than unpopular things.

The real thought that makes me worry less about the numbers is that pageviews are a lagging indicator. How many people cared about Ethics when Spinoza first published it? How many people signed up for Twitter in it’s first month? How many people read the first edition of the New York Times?

Does it matter?

I believe it does not. The real work starts after you launch. Building something that matters does not happen in realtime. It takes years, decades, and in some awe-inspiring cases, even centuries for the best ideas to fully reach their potential.

So if you are like me, and have a tendency to worry too much about your numbers, try to remember not to draw premature conclusions from your data. Just because your numbers look small now doesn’t mean you’re not on to something important. There is no secret — all you have to do is to relentlessly focus on giving your audience something that will make their lives better.

Do that, and the numbers will eventually take care of themselves.