One thing I really like about blogging is the interaction with other bloggers. True, you don’t need to run your own blog to enter the blogosphere, but I have to say that I never really understood the power of the blogosphere until I started this one.

I had of course come across all different sites with information that I was looking for and nice articles to read, but it wasn’t until I started this particular blog that I found out how important it is to start interacting with other bloggers. I do understand that some bloggers really don’t feel that much for interacting with their readers, seeing their main concern is not building up some sort of relation with them. This especially being the case if all you are really after is having them click through your ads in order to generate money on advertisements.

But when it comes to the bloggers on all different sorts of A-lists out there, the Big Guys (and some Gals) so to speak, where would they actually be without that firm base of readers backing them up and spreading their words through their own blogs? To what extend can they start to almost completely ignore their own readers in order to get ahead making more money every day?

I myself do read some of the blogs on lists like 45n5.com (one of the top list of blogs in the money making niche) but can’t stop wondering how come some blogs that according to their own posts make a huge amount of money and are having that many readers while the actually postings they send out into blogoshpere are a lot of crap and then some, while other blogs have a lot less readers eventhough their content and dedication is of a much higher level.

Going back to the interaction with other bloggers, it seems that the bigger the blog becomes, the less interaction comes from the blogowner itself but more from the readers of those blogs. And of course there are blogs that seem to drive on autopilot, being updated through mostly guest posters and maybe occasionally a few lines from the blogowner.

One can argue of course that A-listers have less time to comment and maybe are focussed more on converting the comments they receive into other informative posts. One can even go out their way and say these Gurus have already shown their knowledge enough to get a lot in return.

But to what extend can a blogger justify the lack of feedback and interaction on their part, or even the crappy content offered regularly (influenced by paid reviews more than anything), when the thriving force behind generating their (huge) paycheck is the base of loyal readers?

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I want to start by thanking all of you who have participated in my last post, sharing your thoughts on Bounce Rates. Your comments and opinions have been very interesting and once again it showed me the value of having some great commentators in blogoshpere.

Like I said before in Check your Stats I am not particularly worried about having a high bounce rate, because I believe I know what forms the biggest reason for it, the use of a particular way of generating traffic.

Before writing the post I had been doing some research, reading different articles but they were all especially focussed on just how bad it is for your site to have a high rate but no article really focussed on any reason why it really doesn’t matter that much.

Angilina’s comment was evidence of it not being that important, sharing that her higher bounce rate site is actually making her more money and Arachne sharing that even though he has a high rate, other stats are showing that more and more people are sticking around to read more posts.

Like Alex pointed out, the bounce rate is only a benchmark to measure what is going on one particular blog, but it doesn’t really have a value when comparing sites just because of it.

And even though I can understand Marcus´ reasoning behind regular visitors not spending time going into the archives (and I partly agree with it), I do believe that regular visitors might go back in time, especially when related posts are offered.

I mean, if somebody becomes a regular visitor of a blog, it is because they like what the author is offering, and thus are more willing to look what they have said in the past. At least that is what I do when I come across a blog I really enjoy reading.

Again it all comes down to offering good content and interesting reads, focussing on that and trying to improve it every time you make a post. Focus on what it is you really want to achieve with running your blog, whether it be directing people to click on your ads in order to generate money, of have them stick around for a longer period of time to build up a firm base of regular visitors.

Keeping the momentum going and making sure the statistics you personally care about are going up, since we all have our personal reasons and goals while blogging.

The bounce rate to me is becoming yet another statistic I am not going to fret about, seeing it is only a very small piece of the pie of tracking the success of one´s own blog. I will check it occasionally but like Stephen said… Screw it!

So thanks again to all of you who have shared their point of view and giving me other things to think about in such an extended way. Your comments are highly appreciated and to me it means a lot to see this type of involvement time and time again!

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