Richard Hart

Head of Something @ Somewhere
Kent, UK

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The Numbers

I no longer get excited about numbers. Pageviews, unique visitors, signups, fans, likes. There was a time when I would, and I would feverishly refresh the counters to see what it was now at. Much like a new trader will constantly refresh the chart of a stock they’ve just bought. Over time, you realise, the daily ups and downs don’t matter as much as the overall trend. Are we actually gaining traction? Or are people filtering in at a steady pace?

On top of that, the numbers mean very little if they can’t be turned into something tangible. A million signups for my site means nothing, if those people never come back. A million fans on my Facebook page means nothing, if I can’t figure out how to get some money out of each one. Is an article about my startup on a site that gets 1m page views worth more than one on a site that only gets 1k?

Always remember the context of the numbers you are looking at and never take them at face value.