I know it’s a bit late in the week, but hey, it ain’t never.  Besides, I was racking my brain to figure out what census in the wilderness could possibly have to do with the internet.  Then, somehow, it became perfectly clear:

Blog traffic.

First, it’s important to note the at the time of the counting that takes place in parsha B’Midbar: The Jews are out of Egypt, they’ve gotten their marching orders, and they’re about to set off on the long haul between Har Sinai and the Promised Land.  Little do they know how long the journey ahead is.

Lately, I’ve started a couple of blogs (including this one) and of course the first thing I plug in after installing Wordpress is the Google Analytics codeblock, so I can measure traffic from day 1.

This is, of course, completely useless.

What am I going to learn from the 2 visitors I get the first day?  Or the 5-7 visitors I get (cumulatively, not counting myself) for the next 2 weeks?  Virtually nothing.

I see it like this: the Exodus from Egypt is like installing Wordpress.  The time spent around Har Sinai (both the particular instant of Revelation and all that interminable camping) represents getting organized — picking a cool theme, strapping on all the widgets, picking a new theme because the widgets don’t work with the first one. 

Then, and only then, is it worth it to start counting.  You’ve got your strategy and editorial calendar (mental or explicit) mapped out, your tools in place, and you’re ready to roll.  Now you can begin to take meaningful stock of how your writing and promotion affects your daily and weekly numbers. 

And don’t get me started about the different counts for the Levites and everyone else…anyone who’s tracked web stats for any period of time can tell you the 00:00:00-duration hits from China (via Google Image Search) are fundamentally different from the 5-page visitor from your own time zone (via a keyword search on the main topic of your blog).

So what does B’Midbar tell us? 

First, leave Egypt:  Decide to start blogging, register for free service or find a host and install your blog platform. 

Second, go to Har Sinai and get the Torah:  Decide on your strategy and install the supporting widgets.

Finally, when you’re ready to begin the long journey to ProBloggerdom, take a census:  Install an analytics package and assess your baseline traffic, so you can watch it change with your editorial and promotional decisions (and I hope your gaining popularity) over time.  And remember — not all traffic is to be counted the same way.

Shabbat shalom!