How Do You Analyze Your Blog?

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“How Do You Analyze Your Blog?”

I use two different analyzers. I like to check and balance my information and not rely on just one source.  The numbers are slightly different with each tool.  Fortunately, both of these tools are available at no cost.  You can pay for an upgrade with Site Meter if you so choose but the complimentary version works for me at this time.  Maybe when I am rich and famous I will upgrade.

Site Meter

Site Meter is web based service that provides you with detailed real time tracking and counter tools. You can easily check out who is visiting your site, how they found you, where they came from, which post or posts interest them and much more. It is really useful to see by details or referrals where your traffic is coming from.  If you are trying to build traffic through a few different social networks you can see how effective they are over time.

I can see from the  recent visitors section under entry pages where my visitors are coming from.  If one of my posts is “Stumbled” and someone clicks on the link to get to my site it is listed as the entry page.  Although each social network site has it’s own usefulness, they are not all the right choice for everyone.  Each one is unique to the user.  Based on the review of my statistics in Site Meter,  StumbleUpon seems to work best for me.

The graph above (unfortunately, not from my site) shows each day the number of visitors for the previous seven days.  You can also view a graph by the month or by the year.  Site Meter is a great resource for analyzing your visitors.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is the most popular and most used service out there.  Good ole’ Google.  They are the most popular in all of their services.  Huge associations like Google make me nervous.  They do as they darn well please.  I have found, absolutely no service!  I don’t know the answer to their lack of service problem is but I’m thinking “none” is not the answer.  Sure, they have forums, but so far, I haven’t had any success in getting an answer or any help for my feedburner problem.

Since this is not a Google bashing post I will move on to their wonderful analytical software. It features, custom reports, keyword and campaign comparison, custom dashboards, adword integration, site overlay,  and more.  Google tracks the number of visitors, whether they are unique or repeat visitors and how long they stay on your blog.  You can also see which page they clicked on to get to your site, where they found your site which again helps you decide which social network is most beneficial to you. Google Analytics shows what keywords people use to search for your site.  Some people strive for more search traffic.  You can use this tool to show what words or phrases people used in the search and how they landed on your page.

I like to use both tools to compare numbers.  Site Meter is real time and Google is yesterday’s numbers.  Believe it or not, Google has actually come up with blank numbers.  I think Google is great, but I think they have a lot of problems.  Maybe growing problems.  Often, a business has to choose between growing and growing out of control.  Being the biggest isn’t necessarily the best.

What do you use for analytical tools?  What features do you look for?  What numbers are most important to you or most useful to you?

Toodles – Blog Happy!

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“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes…”

~ Oscar Wilde

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Popularity: 40% [?]

What’s In A Name?

“What’s In A Name?”

In my daily visits around the blogosphere I came across a post from Rachel @ Averagegal.com with some advice on choosing the domain name for your blog.   5 Blog Domain Name Tips is a useful post to read if you are considering buying a new domain name for any business.  It got me thinking (which is what a great post is supposed to do) about what thoughts I went through to choose a business name.

I had to choose a name for both a brick and mortar business as well as an internet business.  They each had separate and distinctive steps to make that decision.  How and why did I arrive at the choices I made?  I had a list of criteria I used in brainstorming for my name.

I thought about how I chose my brick and mortar business name.

1. I wanted to be listed first or as close to first as possible in the phone book pages.  My thinking behind that brilliant idea was from my own personal routine when I am looking for a business.  I usually look at the first ten names or so and if they sound good, pick a few to call and compare.  I chose Affordable Choice Insurance.
2. The name needed to be memorable and self-explanatory.  What will people easily remember?  Will they choose my business just by the name?  Will they know what my business is about?
3. I looked for a name that would be manageable as far as advertising and logo design.  I didn’t want my competitors to use my name against me.  I wanted to be able to design a logo that would stand on its own.  You could look at the logo without the name and know who and what it was about.
4. The name had to be timeless.  I didn’t want the name to be tied to any year or decade or passing phase.  I planned on being around for awhile.
5. This is an important decision.  You are committing to a name that will (hopefully) last for years and years.  I narrowed my options to ten then to five and finally to the name I accepted as mine forever and ever.  I never understood why some businesses change their name or logo that they spent countless hours and dollars to become recognized.

There is obviously a difference in choosing your domain name.

1. Being listed first in Google pages takes a little more than choosing your name alphabetically.  Discussing  how to be listed first in Google is another post.  Actually an e-Book!
2. Choosing a name that is memorable and self explanatory is crucial on the internet.  There could be more than a few pages to go through to get to your name by searching a topic!
3. I still haven’t chosen or created a logo for my blog.  Very important.  The more popular the blog becomes, the more important brand becomes.
4. BloggerNewbie – a timeless name?  Does the name indicate that the blog or blogger is new?  Or does the name indicate the blog is for new bloggers.
5. I thought of about 40 names before I made my selection.  I sent the names to my three daughters and told them to pick a few of them and tell me why they picked them.  I don’t think any of them picked BloggerNewbie.  So much for asking for help.

One of of Rachel’s suggestions for a successful blog name was to choose a dot com name.  I totally agree.  Yet, against the norm – look at ProBlogger.net – guru of blogging.  Another tip, do not use dashes in your name.  Again, totally agree.  Okay, now we have to look at Entrepreneurs-Journey.com – another guru.

Now what?  These are not necessarily easy names to remember. Is everything we ever learned just something to throw out the window.  Anything goes?  How many blogs do you search for by the name?  Is the name really that important?  So what’s in a name?

Now I don’t know what to think!  In the comments section of Rachel’s post I found some exceptional advice.

Debo Hobo says

“What’s in a name. umm everything.

Everyone should own there own personal name as well.”

So on Debo Hobo’s advice, I bought the domain name – www.deelangdon.com.  Of course I should own my own name!  What was I thinking?  What if I didn’t buy my name first and then when I became rich and famous someone else tried to sell my own name to me for stupid money?  I would be mad. Thank you Debo Hobo.   You probably saved me a bunch of money.

So what’s in a name? Now after all this, what do you think?

Toodles – Blog Happy!

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“What we see depends mainly on what we look for…”

- John Lubbock

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Popularity: 28% [?]

5 Tips To Increase Blog Traffic

“5 Tips To Increase Blog Traffic”

Oh No! Not another blogger posting about how comments will increase blog traffic! That has been beaten to death. We all know commenting is somewhat an effective approach to increase blog traffic.  Having said that,  I am not going to include commenting as a way to increase your blog traffic in the “Five Tips” for this post.  This post is a little different from the other assortment of posts in the blogosphere about increasing blog traffic!  Actually, commenting should be part  of any method to increase blog traffic.  It “goes without saying”, so I’m not going to say it.

As part of my research for tips I discovered what track-backs are and how they work.  I know -  hello!  Where have I been?  Well, I just called them something else.

Obviously, there are more than 5 tips to increase blog traffic and these tips might not bring in an onslaught of hundreds of thousands of visitors but… but I would like to discuss the following 5 tips.

1. Use a signature. Subtle but effective. Put a link to your blog or even a post at the end of your email address. When you join forums, end each discussion with your link. When you join social groups, be sure to provide a detailed profile. Tell everyone all about you!
2. Create your reputation. Get people talking about your blog. Give your readers something to talk about. Do you have something unique to share? If your blog has a character of its own, people will talk. Does your blog maybe have a welcoming feeling? Do you encourage your readers to comment? Are your posts conducive to interaction? Maybe they will tell two friends and they will tell two friends and so on and so on.
3. Get discovered. Write.  Write well and write frequently. And write something people want to share and promote. When I first started blogging I would stumble every post I wrote. Bad idea. First of all, you are going to saturate your friends with what will feel like spam even if it is not your intention.  Sorry, every post is not “stumble worthy”, and visitors come in for days on posts that are shared. Think about your own usage of StumbleUpon.  You cannot possibly read and stumble everything sent your way effectively.
4. Collaborate with your peers. Join forces with your peers.  Offer to guest post on their blog or for your peers to post on your blog.  You will gain exposure to new readers and you will have fresh, different writing for your readers.  When you write, link to other relevant posts.  You will be sharing additional information for your readers as well as leaving trackbacks on the blog of the post you are linking to. Trackbacks, in turn will leave an excerpt on the post you are referring to.  Trackbacks and links continue the conversation and add many dimensions.
   
5. Craft your Titles. Let the search engines find you.  Write relevant titles that are timely.  Find out what people are searching for.  Go to Google and ask questions.  Find out how your topic is searched for then craft your title.
   

Comments – I know, I said I wasn’t going to use that as one of my tips to increase blog traffic, but it’s not what you think – read on.  If you are using commenting on other blogs as a way to generate traffic you may be disappointed.  Commenting to simply to leave your link will possibly generate some traffic but not the kind of traffic that you really want.  Leaving a comment should continue the conversation.  Ask questions, add your thoughts, contribute and advance the exchange of ideas.

What do you do to increase your traffic?  What has worked for you?  Do you have any fun or creative ways that you want to share with us?

Toodles – Blog Happy!

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“People with goals succeed because they know where they are going…
It’s as simple as that.”

— Earl Nightingale

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Popularity: 23% [?]

Blogging Is A Journey Of Daily Discoveries!

“Blogging Is A Journey Of Daily Discoveries!”

I just love blogging!  I learn something new everyday.  I know – cheesy!  I can’t help it.  More often than not, though, there is too much to learn and without discipline can lead to the Blogging failure plan.

Half of what I know (hey, could be a lot) about computers or the internet, I learned by mistake.  I bumped the keyboard and found a short cut, I decided to try this even though it didn’t make sense, etc.  Well, that process has not ended.  It’s harder to teach sometimes, but eventually I figure it out.  It is probably my perseverance that has brought me to where I am today.  Actually, not probably, undoubtedly.

We all use plugins on our blogs.  Some you barely notice you have even activated.  Some show up on your blog for the convenience of your readers.  Okay, plenty of plugins are for the bloggers use and benefit.

One of my favorite plugins is CommentLuv.  Do you have the CommentLuv plugin? CommentLuv is a plugin that you install on your blog that enables your visitors to get a little recognition of their last or latest posts when they comment.  Most of the blogs I visit have this plugin and I really like it. Not only do I get to read the current post and comments, but each commenter has the title of their last post after their comment.

What I didn’t know and what I think maybe other people aren’t aware of is the “mouseover”  feature of this wonderful plugin.  You are require to register your site at CommentLuv.com for this awesome feature to show up.  If you aren’t registered then the “mouseover” just shows that you aren’t registered.  If you are registered the mouseover shows how many people clicked over to your post, what sites you left comments on, a little profile and picture of you and your last few posts.  How great is that?

Besides all of that – CommentLuv is sponsoring a contest.

How You Can Participate in the Contest & Promote Your Site

You need to:

• Register your blog at CommentLuv.com
• Provide a profile description of you and your blog
  
• Leave comments here, there and everywhere (goes without saying – no spam)
  

Good for you, good for me, good for CommentLuv.

• Encourage more comments on your site.
• Get quality links back to your site.
• Spread the word – make it viral!

Now I know you want to join in on all the fun!  Simply visit the CommentLuv contest page for more information.  Did I mention there are prizes?

Okay, so leave a comment, make sure you register your blog at CommentLuv then enjoy!

Toodles – Blog Happy!

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“The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery.
There is always more mystery….”

- Anais Nin

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Popularity: 41% [?]

You’ve Gotta Be Kidding Me!

“You’ve Gotta Be Kidding Me!”

Where Have You Been? Good question. I have been working on my server! I am in the process of changing web hosts. So easy a caveman an do it! This is totally ridiculous. I had so many different titles for this post, I couldn’t choose. There is no reason this process needs to be so difficult. Read more

Popularity: 34% [?]

What Are Your Challenges of Blogging?

What Are Your Challenges of Blogging?

Blogging is STRESSFUL! I am fairly new to blogging – a BloggerNewbie. Having said that, blogging is challenging with all the “must do’s” in our daily schedule. Then, of course as with any business, unexpected difficulties will arise that can throw you off your schedule.
Read more

Popularity: 21% [?]

Dude – Blogging is Sweet!

Dude – Blogging is Sweet!

Blogging is the in-thing on the web. It’s cool, it’s hip, it’s fashionable! It is definitely phenomenal. What makes blogging so awesome? Why do people go blogging? Is it Read more

Popularity: 9% [?]

Keywords: Part 5 of the 5 Part Series – Keep going?

Keywords: Part 5 of the 5 part series – Keep going:

Congratulations! Your initial keyword research process is behind you. Let’s recap. What have we accomplished so far?

“Part I – Analysis of your Keywords:

• First, we created a list and tried to figure out what keywords we would use on our blog. We brainstormed and listed every word that came to mind.

Part II – Keyword Research Tools:

• Next, we discovered a few keyword research tools. We ran our list through the research tools and pared our list down to the most important keywords.

Part III – Finalizing Your List:

• Third, we again eliminated a few words from our list to settle on our final keywords.

Part IV – Implementing the Plan:

• Our last task was to implement the keywords into our blog to generate search engine optimization (SEO).

Part V – Keep Going?

• You’re done, right? You’ve done all the steps, what could you possibly need to do now?

As your visitor and blog needs change over time, so will your keywords.  It’s important to keep monitoring your keywords and make tweaks as necessary. Doing so will allow you to stay ahead of your competition and keep moving forward. But, the majority of the work is already set in motion. Kind of like when you started your blog, all the setup, the tweaking, the research; that took a great deal of time and effort. But to maintain the blog is not so difficult and even fun on occasion!

Now let the traffic begin! Welcome new visitors!

Toodles – Blog Happy!

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“The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more…“

~ Jonas Salk

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Popularity: 6% [?]

Keywords: Part 4 of the 5 Part Series – Implementing the Plan

Keywords: Part 4 of the 5 part series – Implementing the Plan:

So you made your list, you’ve checked it twice; you decided which ones were naughty or nice! So you have pared it down to Read more

Popularity: 7% [?]

Keywords: Part 3 of the 5 Part Series – Condense your list

Keywords: Part 3 of the 5 Part Series – Condense your list:

Now that you have a basic list of words and have tested their worth and value, it’s time to pick the essential keywords and narrow down the field. What keywords will make it into your coveted final keyword list?

I recommend creating a chart or some other visual that will allow you to easily see each word and what the conversion rate, search volume and competition rate (as given to you by the tools mentioned in yesterday’s post Part 2 of the 5 Part Series-Keyword Research Tools. These three categories will allow you to calculate how feasible each term is for your site and will be a great aid as you try and narrow down your focus.

The first step in narrowing down your list is to go through and highlight the terms that most closely target the subject and theme of your web site. These are the terms you want to hold on to.
Eliminate all the words that are not completely relevant to your site or that you don’t have sufficient content to support (unless you’re willing to write some). Just because you write a post about “Google” doesn’t mean you want to target that keyword. You can’t optimize for words that you don’t have content for. Content is your blog, not an individual post.

Create a mix of both extended or broad keywords and focused keywords. You’ll need both to rank well. Broad terms are important because they describe what your web site does; what it is about. Blog is pretty broad! However, they won’t increase the level of qualified traffic coming into your site. Think of the numbers! And where would you rank? For example, say you are a blog that specializes in cell phones, it may be natural for your site to focus on the broad search terms “electronics” or “phones”.

These words are important because they tell the search engines what you do and may increase your visitors, but the traffic you receive will be largely unqualified. Visitors will arrive on your site still unsure of what kind of phones you blog about. Do you sell or service cell phones? Do you recommend different companies, different manufacturers. Will I get information or will I also be able to buy a product? By only targeting broad terms, visitors won’t know what you offer until they land on your site. Be specific.

Targeted terms are often easier to rank for and help bring qualified traffic. They also make you a subject matter expert to the search engines, since the targeted terms strengthen the theme created with the broader phrases. Sticking with our example, targeted terms for your cell phone blog may be “iphones”, or “verizon”, or “family plans”, etc. Broad search terms may bring you the higher levels of traffic, but it’s targeted, buying-oriented terms like these that will maximize conversions.

How many keywords do you use? Where do you put them? How do you utilize this list? Check back tomorrow for “Keywords: Part 4 of the 5 part series – Implementing the Plan”.

Toodles – Blog Happy!

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“Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another…“

~ John Dewey

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Popularity: 19% [?]

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