Writing
- When you look strictly at websites categorized as blogs, an astonishing 99.93% of blog sites receive fewer than 1,000 visitors per month.
- Only a microscopic 0.07% ever cross that 1,000-visitor line.
The Reality of the Infinite Web
There is a disconnect between the sheer volume of writing published online and who actually sees it. If you have ever felt like your personal blog is a quiet, isolated corner of the internet, the data shows you are in very good company.
Across the estimated 600 million blogs that exist globally, industry tracking indicates that fewer than 10% of all blogs generate consistent organic traffic. We tend to see the massive success stories anchoring our feeds, but the vast majority of publishing happens in near-total anonymity.
To make the scale of this even clearer, data from a massive index study by the SEO authority Ahrefs reveals a stark threshold for independent domains:
You can explore the broader study on how these search dynamics function directly via the Ahrefs Blog.
A Shift in Perspective
For a personal project or an independent portfolio, this isn’t a failure—it’s a clarification of purpose. The internet’s search ecosystem is structured like a winner-take-all game optimized for massive media farms, corporate backlinks, and algorithmic boxes.
When you stop writing for search engines, you get to write for the exact group of people you want in your space. A tiny, intentional audience who types your URL in directly or follows your RSS feed is infinitely more valuable than a thousand accidental clicks from Google anyway.
Why Write?
This post gets at something I’ve never quite been able to say:
When I think about what I wish to accomplish if I knew I was going to die, apart from spending time with my loved ones I think only writing is left. It is a way of emptying myself I guess, a way of sublimating my sad existence. I wouldn’t pretend that my writing is useful, but at least it will be a window into an interior world that doesn’t exist anywhere else.
Is more visibility always good?
Blogs don’t have the important place on the internet today that they once had; I know that perfectly well, and I don’t care. Those who are genuinely interested in what I have to say can find me here on the open web.
It’s Important to Have Your Own Space on the Internet
Om on big publishing platforms:
No matter how often this happens, we don’t learn our lessons — we continue to till other people’s proverbial land and keep using their social spaces. Whether it is Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Medium, we get trapped in the big platforms because they dangle the one big carrot in front of our eyes: the reach, the audience, and the influence.
And we keep doing their bidding — they use our social networks, our work, and our attention — and, in the process, help make their networks gigantic and indispensable. We become pawns in their end game. And then they change the rules of the game — after all, if you own the league, you make the rules.
I have known the truth about social platforms. I quit Facebook and Instagram years ago, and candidly I am better for it. I don’t need 5000 friends — 15 good ones will do. And as far as sharing photos — I am happy that I have about a thousand people interested in my photographic work instead of 100,000 followers on Instagram.
Finding Readers One at a Time
Sophia Efthimiatou, head of writer relations at Substack, explains that it’s ok to start writing with a small audience:
You would think known writers with large audiences have it easy here, but the pressure to succeed is felt more among them. The stakes are low if you are not at all known. There is no audience to lose, only one to gain. And gain you will. Perhaps when you start your only subscribers will be your best friend, your lonely neighbor, and your aunt–who can’t even read English. And then, one day, a fourth subscriber will roll in, a total stranger. That person will be there just to read you.
She’s right. One thoughtful reader who finds value in something you’ve written is enough.
Blog About Whatever You Want to Share
Ben Werdmuller on what you should write about on your blog:
Whatever you want to share. That’s the long answer and the short answer.
What you shouldn’t worry about is whether what you’re sharing is valuable. If you want to share it, it’s inherently valuable: a reflection of who you are and how you think about the world.
If you want to use it to build a business, then do that. If you want to share more about yourself, then do that. There are no wrong answers.
This is such a simple answer and the best one I’ve seen.