Blog Statistics with StatCounter

Although I don’t regret choosing Typepad as my blogging platform, I have to admit that the base subscription program comes up short on reporting features. I can obtain information on the total/daily number of hits, if that still means much. I can also see where visitors came from and what search phrase led them to me. Beyond that, I either need to upgrade to the next level of Typepad or switch blogging tools…or so I thought.

I recently came across a free tracking/measurement service called StatCounter. After a few simple steps I was ready to insert their HTML code into my template. A running total of the number of page loads appears at the bottom of the right panel of my blog. The counter is nice, but it’s all the other statistics that caught my eye. StatCounter shows things like which pages are the most popular, where people entered and exited your site, where they came from, what keywords they most often searched for, what browsers they’re using, how long they tend to stay on your site, etc. In short, this is way more information than I can obtain through Typepad alone.

Here are a few interesting tidbits for “The Average Joe”:

• The phrases “average advance” and “average royalties” continue to be the most popular search phrases that lead people to this blog. Approximately 25% of the incoming searches are the result of someone looking for a phrase similar to one of these.
• It’s still very much a Google world. 90% of the incoming searches are from Google. The other 10% are from Yahoo!
• 90% of the traffic is coming from within the United States. The top 5 states are California, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey and Connecticut.
• Top 3 browsers: IE (45%), Firefox (21%) and Safari (16%).

I plan to check in on my stats every few days and post anything that looks interesting or unusual.

Comments

[Jim Minatel]

Did you just put the statcounter code in a typepad list?

[Joe Wikert]

Yes, I put the StatCounter code into a TypeList, the same way you would implement Google AdSense, for example.

[Blaine Moore]

Nice little tool; I have a site that could benifit from that.

[Naba Barkakati]

Joe, Thanks for the tip! I'll have to add it to my blog. By the way, I checked to see why it's free - - the statcounter site says it's free as long as your site has less than 9,000 pageloads a day, after that you have to upgrade the account. I think I can safely say I'd qualify for a free account for the foreseeable future :-)

[Naba Barkakati]

Joe, I added statcounter in a hurry this morning and already have a bit- - and I mean just a wee bit- - of data to look at. It's very interesting, just as you said. Of course my sample size is too small to figure out any trends, but it's yet another thing to obsess with.

[Joe Wikert]

Yes, my sample size isn't that significant either, but you're right...it's interesting to look at the stats.

[Emilie Herman]

Greetings from your New Jersey readership and former DE. I've been enjoying your blog - hope all's well by you!

[Joe Wikert]

Hi Emilie -- it's great to hear from you! I hope all is well and that you'll chime in on the blog every so often. You bring yet another great perspective to the table.

[Gavan]

Where is the best place to add statcounter ,in the main template index or in the typelist section

[Joe Wikert]

Hi Gavan. I'm not sure where the best place is, but I simply put it in a Typelist on this blog.