Disclosure: The tools below are resources we have come across lately and are exploring.
Last week Suzanne shared a few tools to help you find new folks to follow on Twitter to kick-off a new focus on tools and resources for online engagement. I wanted to continue this trend by introducing you to a few blog analytics tools!
Before we dive in, it’s important to note that you should have an idea of how you will measure blogging success and what metrics you will use to measure it. For example, if your idea of success is the number of subscribers you have, then you will want to track the total number of subscribers you have. Seems obvious, right? Always have goals and metrics in mind before you look for the right tools. The list below should hopefully help y’all measure any kind of blog success you can think of!
Chartbeat
As one of the newer blog analytics tool out there, chartbeat offers real-time data and unique engagement metrics, such as whether folks who visit your site from Twitter or Google spend more time poking around. While this tool definitely offers robust data, it is not meant to be used to compile quarterly reports, but is instead intended for those who want to see real-time data and use it to act just as fast. Chartbeat even has a mobile application version to help you keep tabs on your website on-the-go. Chartbeat currently has a 30-day free trial and the basic analytics plan starts at $9.95 a month. Play around with a live demo here.
Google Analytics
The obvious advantage of Google Analytics is integration. There are plenty of tools available that will track unique visitors, but Google Analytics allows for integration of AdWords and other such tools which allow you to understand how search affects blog traffic. Google Analytics also allows you to segment Web data in just about any way you can think of: paid traffic, visits with conversion, page visitors by browser, etc. Beyond all its handy features, it is just plain intuitive and can be a simple or advance solution, depending on your needs.
Piwik
Piwik hopes to become the open source alternative to Google Analytics. What does this mean to you? Piwik makes it easy for those of you who are bit more tech-savvy to optimize and customize your analytics reports. Because all features are built as plugins, you can simply add and subtract features as you see fit. As your measurement needs evolve, your tools can easily change, too.
Snoop
The biggest difference between Snoop and other blog analytic tools is that this one is an application that will run directly from your system tray. This means that you don’t have to always keep an eye on your metrics because Snoop will always be active and will alert you when something happens, much like your computer alerts you when you need to update software. Like many others, this is tool is real-time, so you can get a notification the instant someone comments on your blog or tweets about it.
Clicky
Why choose Clicky? Because this tool claims to do it all in an intuitive, easy-to-use way. Unique features include URL shortener integration and search keyword rankings. Clicky also allows for a focus on goals and conversions, which means you can focus on great organizational and business outcomes as opposed to simple blog metrics. Currently Clicky is the only major blog analytics tool which allows white label customization to allow users to highlight their Clicky dashboard and call it their own. Need to show clients that you have a measurement solution? Use Clicky but give it your own name and look.
Are you using any of these tools? If not, which tools do you use?
