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How To Track and Monitor Your Blog Statistics and Traffic

By
Education & Training with Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp Non-Licensed

5 Tools and Resources for Tracking and Monitoring Your Blog or sites Traffic and Statistics

Now that you are getting more traffic and results from your Blog posts, it's helpful and very informative to see where that traffic is coming from and what articles are getting you a variety of results.  I've put together this list of some tracking tools that are available on the web that will help you monitor your statistics and traffic results.  Hopefully these tools and resources will allow you to see what areas, topics, and Blog posts you can improve on based on the results of the information you can capture. 

Your "RainMaking" Stats

#1 - ActiveRain Statistics - Your Basic ActiveRain Traffic stats for Comments, Views & Clicks.  This is located on your ActiveRain "My Home" page and can be found in the lower left hand sidebar.  You can just click on "Statistics" to get your Blogs results.

The Global Overview

#2 - ClusterMaps - See where your traffic and visitors are coming from geographically.  Their Widget allows you to share with others on your site or Blog.  The interesting thing about ClusterMaps is that you'll see how many thousands of people are reading your stuff from all over the world. Sharing this information with others somehow seems to generate even more traffic and more visitors from other locations.

A FREE Parking Meter

#3 - SiteMeter - This one offers various reports and information regarding traffic and visitors to your Blog or website.  With their detailed reporting methods and tools, you'll have a clearer picture of who is visiting your site, how they found you, where they came from, and what interests them plus a ton more.  This was the first tracker I ever installed on my ActiveRain Blog.

An Active Measure of Results

#4 - ActiveMeter - Similar to Sitemeter, it works well on the ActiveRain network and offers some tools the others don't.  It is coincidentally called ActiveMeter but is NOT a product of ActiveRain.  Most web site analytics measure the number of web visits, unique visitors, pages viewed and returning visitors.  So does ActiveMeter, but with one difference; they do it in a "web visitor-centric manner", which means in many cases, you'll know who visited, and exactly where from. 

The Best Part of a "Click"

#5 - Get Clicky - A great tracker and real-time stat recorder for any Blog or website. The Free version is limited but works well.  Get Clicky gives real-time statistics to fine tune your Blog posts, sites and marketing campaigns to help you gain optimal performance.  This tracker tells you what is happening on your site right nowIt may be one of the easiest and fastest ways to keep a pulse on your Blog or websites activity.

                  

                  

Note: Google Analytics is another great tool but currently only works on ActiveRain Outside Blogs.

All of these tools are FREE and available on the web.  It's a matter of preference as to which ones (or all) will work best for you.  I have tried each of them and currently run all 5 on my ActiveRain Blog.  Each one offers different information, stats, and reports that I have found useful at one time or another.  The key is knowing how to use them to better your Blog.

The better your Blog and posts, the better your traffic and results will be.  These reports and analytics help you see your Blog posts and sites differently, more from a visitor or readers perspective.  Knowing what works and what may be falling short will help you to make quicker and more decisive decisions about changes, and the necessary improvements needed to your Blog posts.  They've helped me.

How do you install these trackers and widgets on your Blog?  Just Follow these instructions.

The "Building Better Blogs" Series

How To Create A Blog Post for Customers and Search Engines

Create Stickiness, Increase Traffic, Get Visitors Coming Back

How To Find Popular Search Terms, Keywords, Topics and Phrases

Google's SEO Starter Guide - Tips to Know about SEO

Comments (101)

Susan Brown
Keller Williams NE, Kingwood Texas (Humble & Atascocita too) - Kingwood, TX

I really value the information you give out.  Thank you for explaining how to make my Active Rain site even better.  I can't wait to get started on some of these new ideas.

Aug 03, 2009 03:50 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Hi Lyn - I think the product you're referring to was called statcounter which had some "javascripts" that weren't compatible with the AR network for various reasons.  Our programmer had to remove any widgets with those types of scripts to prevent any malicious or potentially harmful activities to our site.  These sites and tools in this post have been approved and are all safe to use on your AR blog. :-)

Aug 03, 2009 03:57 AM
Rick Schwartz
William Raveis Real Estate - Danbury, CT

OK - one more question regarding stats on my A/R Outside Blog.   Since the platform for posting on the  inside and outside blogs is simultaneous -  do the keywords, tags, etc effect both blogs.  The outside blog entries do not show any tags.

I guess another way of asking is this -  if I post the same post on inside and outside and assuming I do an incredible job of creating the post for maximum Google juice -  what happens if someone does a Google search and my wonderful post comes up very high in the results?  Which blog will the results lead them to?

The reason I am asking is because if readers are just as - or more than - likely to find the inside A/R blog than the Outside one - what is it I gain from having the outside blog?

 

 

Aug 03, 2009 04:31 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Rick - great question.  I have seen many cases where the outside Blog post comes up first and visa versa.  You'll notice at the bottom of each post where we are pointing the original content to be.  If you post to your outside blog, we are doing what we can to let the search engines know that the original post was authored there.

Of course we have no control of how Google ranks, rates and indexes Blogs, posts and articles, but this has certainly made a significant difference.  There are too many other variables to give you a black and white clear and concise answer, but hopefully this helps.

The benefits of the Outside Blog include much more than just search engine results, feel free to call me and I'll explain in detail some of the other benefits you may not have discovered from them yet.  This post is about tracking so I'll refrain from the details here. Thanks. :-)

Aug 03, 2009 06:03 AM
Chanda Barrick
Keller Williams Indy Metro Northeast - Indianapolis, IN
in referral

Brad, thanks for the info.  I'm guessing these tools will only work with an outside blog correct?  I mean, we probably couldn't use them with our ActiveRain blog, right?  I forgot about ActiveMeter and I like the idea of the ClusterMaps tool...

Chanda panda

Aug 05, 2009 02:41 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Chanda - these all work on your AR Blog, for the outside Blogs I recommend Google Analytics. :-)

Aug 05, 2009 02:47 AM
Sharon Alters
Coldwell Banker Vanguard Realty - 904-673-2308 - Fleming Island, FL
Realtor - Homes for Sale Fleming Island FL

So, Brad, where do we sign up for the Masters Degree in Blogging SEO? And I assume AR is working on its accreditation? rofl!

Sharon

Aug 11, 2009 03:14 PM
Judy Chapman
Referral Network of Illinois LLC - Chicago, IL

Hey Brad - As of August 7, Get Clicky stopped registering searches phrases. I've written to them, and they seem to think it should work but can't give me any answers. Could this be an AR problem. Their code requires JavaScript. Worked before.

I really miss not getting search phrases that brought readers to my posts.

Aug 16, 2009 12:10 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Hi Judy - I don't think it's an AR issue other than the possibility of certain javascripts getting rejected.  How get clicky reports back their analytics is something we have no control over.  As far as the widget goes, I use the html widget and not the javascript codes.  Most of these types of sites offer alternative codes for members to use. 

Aug 16, 2009 03:47 AM
Lisa Matykiewicz
United Brokers Group - Gilbert, AZ

Very helpful information.  I am new to active rain so I am learning TONS from you past blogs!  Thank you!

Sep 07, 2009 04:08 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Lisa - Welcome to the AR Community.  You'll find lots of great information here.  I look forward to your involvement and wish you all the success possible on our network.  :-)

Sep 07, 2009 04:34 AM
Betina Foreman
WJK Realty - Austin, TX
Realtor, C.N.E., with WJK REALTY

As always you provide the best information. I hope this helps me track what drives readers to my posts. Thanks!

Sep 08, 2009 01:55 PM
Dan Quinn
The Eric Steart Group of Long & Foster Real Estate - Silver Spring, MD
Dan Quinn

So much good stuff here.  Thanks Brad.  The challenge will be deciding which widgets to use and which ones I'll have to do without.

Sep 09, 2009 03:35 AM
Rebecca Gaujot, Realtor®
Lewisburg, WV
Lewisburg WV, the go to agent for all real estate

Brad, I missed this but saw it reblogged and will bookmark for weekend work.

Oct 22, 2009 11:19 AM
Missy Caulk
Missy Caulk TEAM - Ann Arbor, MI
Savvy Realtor - Ann Arbor Real Estate

Brad, I found this re-blogged.

I don't think we can use Site Meter here, right?

Just asking....

Oct 23, 2009 12:40 AM
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

BRad - When I try to install Sitemeter I get html code showing, NOT a logo, nor is it invisible. Help!!

Jeff

Oct 23, 2009 02:40 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Missy - as far as I know, you can. I have it on my sidebar, you just can't use the HTML with Javascript in it. :-)

Jeff - they have a couple options, be sure to NOT use the javascript code and select the option to not show button if that's your choice.

Oct 23, 2009 05:40 AM
Martin E. Kalisker, Esq.
Natick, MA
Real Estate Law From A Practical Perspective

Brad -

I missed this when it first came out.  I'm glad that I found it!

Oct 28, 2009 10:45 AM
Steve, Joel & Steve A. Chain
Chain Real Estate Investments & Mortgage, Steve & Joel Chain - Cottonwood, CA

Brad, Is there a way to get the analytics from localism?

Nov 09, 2009 12:38 PM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Steve - not currently for Localism. 

Nov 09, 2009 01:52 PM