I ask this question because I never used analytics and worked with my eyes wide shut. That’s till I discovered that you need to keep your eyes wide open if you want your blog to be popular. Now what do I mean by this?
What is analytics?
I have a website from which I sell medifast coupons and nutrisystem discounts. Earlier I used to count beans till my site fetched customers. I mean there was nothing much I could do other than SEO the content and wait. But analytics changed all that. With a small bit of code, I could now know what’s going on in and around my website. I knew the number of visitors to my site, where they came from and how they exited. I was surprised to know that most went away from the main page without even looking at my other stuff. This got me thinking about my user interface and how to make it stickier. This is the power of analytics.
Google analytics is the best and free
There are many analytic tools doing the rounds, but Google Analytics is the best out there. You only have to insert a small bit of code in your web pages and you are ready to open your eyes. With Google Analytics I entered a new world of intelligence. There were hundreds of parameters I could study and analyze. I could dig deeper and deeper into the stats. I could even get the IP address of the guys who accessed my site from Nevada. This was an eye opener for sure.
Google analytics for WordPress
There is a plug-in for WordPress users which enables Google Analytics. This is a powerful tool which can transform the shape of your blog. Of course you have to tweak and twist and turn your look and feel – I mean your blog. The information which you glean from the analytics is huge and impressive. Just a word of caution – Google analytics can be addictive – I mean you can spend hours and days looking at the data churned out. Don’t get addicted .Use the data to make changes on your blog or website. The whole idea is to tweak a bit and look at the results and then tweak a little more , till you get it right.
SEO must be an outcome of your analytics
The beauty of analytics is that you are always on a magical journey of discovery. You come to know hidden truths and also hidden lies about SEO.I believe that a couple of hidden lies can hurt awfully more than a bunch of truth about SEO. You will find many great and much talked about SEO techniques don’t really work in practice. But then I leave it to you. Probably you will discover stuff which is unique to you. But eventually, with web analytics, you will know where you stand and what you should be doing to set things right. This is what I mean by saying not to work with your eyes wide shut.
What do you think, are you using Google Analytics on your blog?
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