Tuesday, February 23, 2010

{discussing analytics}

If you have a blog that brings you income {or if you blog to build your business} it's soooo important that you are tracking your visits. Why? Because you need to know what has become a good investment and, alternately, what has not. Just ask the professionals -- they are all doing it.

It's also key to remember that advertising takes 1-2 months for it to become a good investment. Paying for one month won't change your life {well, it could...} but what is really key is repetition, continuity, etc. The more often you are seen in the blogosphere the better off you are.

Personally, I've had to put myself in the shoes of a buyer more often than the shoes of a seller. If I was buying, what would I pay? If I was buying, what would I want? If I was buying, how many times would it take to actually buy?

Most blogs offer multiple month discounts if you become a sponsor. Take advantage of those discounts, advertise on multiple blogs, and then sit down once a week to analyze your analytics.

Ohhhh, sounds sexy. Or confusing.
Actually, it's neither! :)


I use Google Analytics and SiteMeter. It's easy to tell who comes from where, what they typed to find your site {this can be really funny some times :) }, and what percentage of change your blog experiences.

I really look forward to looking at my stats. It's fun to see where and how people find my blog, especially when I advertise on other blogs and that investment proves to be a good one! It's a great pat-on-the-back when a decision I make proves to be a great decision! Yeow! Don't you just love when you're right? :)

Another AMAZING analytic feature is knowing how how many visits your website receives a day, week or month. Want to know if your blog is growing? Track your anaytics! I mean, look at all this wonderful goodness:



This is where I'm at to-date with my stats. And I bet you have wonderful goodness going on with your blog, too. The question is: Are you using all available tools?


Here are the top 7 sites that give me the most traffic {thank you, thank you}:


1. The Nester
2.
(in)courage
3.
Where Women Create
4.
Ashley Ann Photography
5.
Made By Girl
6.
Jessica Turner - The Mom Creative
7. The Pleated Poppy



For some more fun, a shout-out to some of my blog sponsors

Kara Rosenberry Co. -- clever cards & what-nots

b's {blog} boutique -- darling blog designing

Sweet Baby Creations -- unique handmade baby items

My Favorite Things -- garnering inspiration from everyday people, places & things



Do you think you'll set up blog analytics? If not, what is holding you back?

17 comments:

Sweet Harper said...

Great post, I have set-up analytics, but don't really know how to analyze them...I need to do some more research! I need to be more on top of checking all my stats on a regular basis and making decisions based on the stats-rather than what I "think" is working. Thanks for the kick in the bee-hind!

Franchesca said...

New to this whole blog world, and just started a blog design business... I enjoyed reading this! Thanks for sharing.

emily anderson said...

i've always used statcounter...is that similar?

Sarah Seitz said...

I have the free version of wordpress and so I can't use either of those :(. It's a big bummer but I don't really want to pay to upgrade...oh well!

http://comeandseetheseitz.com

Celeste said...

Great post! I have google analytics set up for my blog. But - here's what weird. One day, it just stopped working! All the data disappeared & it hasn't been recording data since! ...I really into check into this, and see what went wrong!

I wonder, though, am I crazy for not receiving any $ whatsoever through my blog?

I don't charge for ads, giveaways, etc... is that "too nice"? LOL

Amy said...

Fantastic post, really good of you to share some of your secrets to success :)

xox
Amy

Katherine said...

Thanks for the great post. I do have Analytics on ALL of my sites (blog, Big Cartel, Etsy) It's a must to know how much traffic you are getting, and from who. I am just now Sponsoring on other sites. I do monthly fees..so this is great to see who's site is a good fit for my ad, and who's is not.

Jaimie said...

thanks for the tip on analytics. i have been thinking about it, but haven't done it yet. my blog doesn't make me any money yet, but i am planning on opening an etsy shop sometime.. soon, i hope, so this will be a good tool. : )

Hillary @ The Other Mama said...

Love this, Gus! As I'm thinking about getting into advertising, it makes it ALL the more important to track this stuff. :)
What a great shout out and you gotta love that Nester! And the Poppy, too!

J.J. said...

YAY for you! That has got to feel good for you...especially for your awesome sewing stuff :) Congrats!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing this. I had just set up my Analytics this week but I've had Site Meter for about a month now. Sometimes it's depressing to see the traffic that's NOT there but I know it takes time. My blog is new. I'm still feeling my way, :).

bailey said...

i really enjoyed reading this post! i feel like i learned a lot :) i have google analytics, and after reading your post, i set up sitemeter. can't wait to see all the results!!

Melissa @ The Inspired Room said...

Hi Gussy. I just had a couple of interesting conversations with advertisers, I thought I would share them with you in case they help.

I just had an advertiser tell me she was no longer paying anyone else she advertised with and just sticking with me exclusively. Thanks to her stat tracking, she realized she was getting most of her traffic from me! Yay, I loved that she was checking those stats so she could make an informed decision about paying for advertising.

However, there is another part to the equation that I realized in another conversation.

I had an advertiser today tell me her ad on my blog was spotted by a huge wedding site (that happens to read my blog). She now has a connection to that wedding website for advertising her products and is excited about it so she wrote to thank me for that connection.

Sometimes choosing the RIGHT site for you based on the kind of people who read that blog will make a huge difference in your sales. Yes, the traffic coming from them is important but don't forget to consider the READERS of that site and if they are the ones you want to reach! There are different kinds of readers at every site, some might be more inclined to buy your products than other. Traffic is great, but it is worthwhile to consider if the traffic is right for your products.

Great stuff Gussy, you are doing so well! :-)

{kara} said...

thanks for the shout out! I am going to look into this analytic stuff a little more. It is just a matter of a lack of time. :) oh well!
kara

Mindy said...

I have analytics just for fun :) Sometimes it is interesting to see where people come from and how many visits I get!

kanishk said...

I enjoyed reading this! Thanks for sharing.

Work from home India

Jessica said...

Thanks for the link Gussy. xo