One of the natural things to note while we’re talking about traffic, monetization, and especially web metrics is that obsessing over it and constantly checking your Adsense account and metrics will really get you nowhere.
In fact, it might be one of the more unhealthy things you could be doing with your time – there are certainly more important things to be doing with your life (like spending time optimizing!).
But let me be clear that there’s a rational and reasonable justification of why checking daily (or more than once a day) is pretty much fruitless:
- Hourly (daily) changes have no long term statistical meaning and relatively low-to-no significance.
- Checking that often is just a waste of time. Period. You have better things to do.
What you’re better off doing is establishing a rhythm and schedule of checking and sticking to it. For example, in my BlogX program I’m coaching people to check daily but for less than 5 minutes and at the beginning of their work. And that’s it! Just once to jot down some statistical information.
What we do then is once a month take a look back and begin to formulate significance. This of course begs the question about frequency…
What is the Right Frequency for Checking Statistics?
The quick answer is that there is none. There is no one right amount of checking a day, a week, or a month that’s “optimal.” Rather, the most important thing is that it’s both calculated and systematic.
What does that mean? It means that you determine a period of time that works for the goals and the elements that you’re measuring and check during that time. It actually behooves you to stick to that schedule and you can learn a thing or two about self-control!
I think checking once a month is too long and I think checking more than once a day is ridiculous. For my activity for BlogX participants I’m asking them to checkonce daily (to get them in a rhythm of establishing a method and practice) but I personally check my analytics once a week.
Why? I simply have discovered that nothing short of a week is going to give me enough practically to make significant changes to my blog that are warranted. You can’t believe how much time this saves me and how it reduces my stress!
Pick the right frequency that works for you and then stick with it.
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