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Recording Blog Statistics

When I posted about measuring blog statistics a couple of weeks ago, two readers emailed me and asked me to be more specific about what and how I record, so here we go:

The Stats (I do these weekly)

Those are the key metrics I look at every week. And I force myself to only look at them weekly, otherwise I can end up wasting time during the week.

photo_5998_20090427 

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How I record them

I use a simple spreadsheet in Google Docs, but Excel or any other spreadsheet application will work for you. All the points above are listed along the top and each week I enter the numbers. By using a spreadsheet it’s easy to spot trends and simple to make graphs to show to potential advertisers.

Look for the trends

You will get “blips”  - for example I had a huge traffic blip a couple of weeks ago when Mashable tweeted about two of my posts – sadly you need to ignore those. Looking at my sheet now, I can instantly see that:

  • I’m happy with visits, page views, page rank, saturation, subscribers, Alexa and income
  • I’m concerned about bounce rate and need to do some work on that
  • Percentage search engine traffic is getting better, but I still need to work on it
  • I don’t understand how traffic rank works as it’s all over the place! So I need to look into that!
  • Subscribers have risen dramatically since I started using the Ulimate Footer Ad

So, as you can see, taking the time to record this kind of information gives you a brilliant snap shot of what’s happening, and can quickly show you where you need to focus your attention.

What would you add to or take away from my key metrics?

You might also enjoy:

1/ When to start making money from your blog

2/ When Mashable Tweets

3/ What happens when you guest post on John Chow?

Trackback URL for this post:

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Submitted by Mike on May 14, 2009 - 16:03.

Stats

Submitted by Gordie Rogers (not verified) on May 15, 2009 - 00:06.
Gordie Rogers's picture

A few days a famous Australian blogger mentioned my one of my posts on Twitter. As as result traffic to my blog for that day rose over 800%. The next day it came crashing back down to earth. Lol!

It was exciting for me and installed confidence in me as I've only been blogging for a couple of months. However, I agree that I need to remember it was just a blip and I'll need to concentrate on building a stable traffic increase over time.

Thanks for the useful post, Mike.

Gordie Rogers's last blog post... 10 Ways To Improve The Twitter Experience For You And Everyone Else.

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"Mike's Life is where you can stay current with the life, thoughts, successes and failures of Mike Cliffe-Jones. Never knowingly ordinary, Mike shares as much as possible about his work as a marketer and in business, as well as his enviable lifestyle on and in the oceans around The Canary Islands."

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