Blog 101: Google Analytics

If you want to get a better handle on who is visiting your blog, how long they stay, and how they found you, you need Google Analytics. There are lots of tools on the interweb designed to help track site stats, but none do it better, smoother, or freer than this one. Get it. Use it. Enjoy it.

So let's explore just a few of the tool's features. We use it to primarily keep tabs on general site traffic. Here's a screenshot of the summary page:

Here's the basic layout of the visitor stats:

For each stat, you can investigate to greater detail. Here's a shot of the visitor loyalty stat, showing that many people visit our blog once and then head somewhere else. These people are not inpressed with Ella's cuteness or my video editing skills. Most people, though, visit frequently.

Finally, you can see how people came to your site. Redirected from another blog, found through Google Search, etc.

Keep in mind, we're just scratching the surface. You can create goals, benchmarks, and more. With Google Analytics, you can stop wondering if anyone is visiting your blog and begin to have a more advanced understanding over what's going on in the background.