Choosing your blog statistic tracker

Many Web analytics tools are available to bloggers. Some are provided free whereas others have a cost. Take some time to research the various Web analytics providers to find the one that offers you the functionality you want at the price you’re willing to pay.

Most Web analytics tools integrate with your blog through a simple copy-andpaste procedure. You register for an account, enter information about your blog, and a snippet of code automatically generates that you copy and paste into a new HTML/JavaScript gadget on your blog.

It’s a simple process but one that helps your blog to grow immensely. Several free Web analytics tools provide sufficient data and functionality for typical bloggers. Following is an introduction to several popular Web analytics providers that offer a variety of free blog statistic tracking services.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics integrates seamlessly with Google Blogger, as you’d expect. It’s considered one of the best blog statistic trackers because it provides comprehensive information to users at no charge. You can create custom reports and even track advertising and promotional campaigns.

StatCounter

StatCounter delivers basic blog statistics to users for free. However, the free version of StatCounter displays only the last 100 visitors to your blog in its statistics. This may or may not be adequate for you depending on your goals for your blog and the level of tracking detail you want. StatCounter also offers a package that delivers additional data and functionality for a fee.

FreeStats

FreeStats provides a variety of reports for bloggers to analyze their blog traffic patterns. As the name implies, FreeStats is available for free.

SiteMeter

SiteMeter offers a basic amount of blog statistics for free, but only displays information about the last 100 visitors to your blog (similar to StatCounter). Depending on your requirements, this might not be enough for you. SiteMeter also offers a package that provides more information and data for a fee. Some of the blog statistic trackers and tools available to you online are not compatible with blogs hosted through Blogger (meaning they have a Blogspot extension in the URL). Hosting your blog on a third-party server gives you

maximum control and provides access to the widest array of blogging tools, including blog statistic trackers. You can read more about third-party blog hosting.

The Web analytics tool you choose is entirely up to you. In fact, you might want to test the free versions from multiple providers to compare their offerings and find the one that works best for you. If you require more robust statistics, you might want to consider upgrading to a package that provides more features and functionality for a fee. However, most bloggers find the free tools adequate.

How to Manage Blogger Dashboard

From your Blogger dashboard, you can access all the controls for your blog, just like the tools to drive your car are located on your car’s dashboard. The primary elements of the main Blogger dashboard are described in this list:

Manage Your Blogs: This section lists your existing blogs with links to each one, where you can write new posts, change the blog’s settings, revise the blog’s layout, or even view the blog live online. Each of these options is discussed in detail later in this chapter. You can also click the Create a Blog link to start another blog that is then added to the Manage Your Blogs section of the dashboard.

Blogs of Note: The latest entries from Blogger blogs that you sign up to follow (select the Add button to add blogs you like), the Blogger Buzz blog, and blogs of note according to Blogger appear in the Reading List section of your dashboard so that you can easily see the latest updates and news of interest to you.

View Profile, Edit Profile, and Edit Photo: These links open your About page, where you can review and revise your bio that appears on your blog. Profiles are discussed in detail.

My Account: This link opens your personal account page, where you can modify your account information, such as your e-mail address and password.

Mobile Devices: Follow the link in this area to begin mobile blogging. Multimedia blogging is covered in depth Tools and Resources: You can access your Google AdSense and Google Reader accounts directly from the Blogger dashboard. Read more about Google Reader and about Google AdSense.

Help Resources: The online Help function for Blogger is quite useful. Google Groups dedicated to providing help to Blogger users also exist, which you can access by clicking the links in the Help Resources section of the Blogger dashboard. You can also access help by clicking the link in the Manage Your Blogs section or the link in the upper-right corner of any Blogger account page. You can also access the controls available from the Blogger dashboard from tabs displayed as a navigation bar along the top of any Blogger page.