Not all traffic gets recorded in the same way
I’ve been analyzing my stats. I use multiple ways to look at traffic, who’s visiting, how long are they there, where do they go, etc.
Now, this is a very time-consuming process, but I believe it’s the only way I can determine what’s working, what’s not, what’s in my control to change, etc.
For this blog, I use Google Analytics, Entrecard Stats, and cPanel.
With regard to Entrecard, I’m specifically looking for how many people clicked on my icon through ads on other member sites. Once I have that information, I can compare the cost of the ad (EC Credits) against how many clicks (EC Credits) to determine a rough Return on Investment.
Beyond that, with Google Analytics, I can observe the time the site was open (doesn’t mean the eyeballs were there, though), and then by looking at the blog, I can see comments. All these pieces of information will eventually drive my advertising strategy, as well as my “social strategy”… that’s card dropping.
What it all comes down to, is that I am looking for the optimal way to maximize my time and resources at Entrecard. If other social networks provided some kind of stats, I’d do the same there.
Blog Catalog provides some stats, however, I’ve not taken the time to really dig into the prospect of determining Return on Effort. Many folks who are at Entrecard, are also members of Blog Catalog.
I have discovered that some “clicks” at Entrecard are not recorded by Google Analytics or cPanel. I’ve yet to determine why the difference, unless it’s related to “chain dropping”, the process of opening a site with an Entrecard icon, clicking on that icon, then proceeding to click on successive icons until you come upon either your own icon, or a repeat of the any of the other icons.
If that is the case, then it will be very easy to identify sites that provide less than ideal traffic. I think I may be inclined to refer to those as “hits” much as if someone saw an element of a page, but not the whole page.
If you have any insight as to why not all stats get recorded equally, I’m open to your ideas. I am tracking stats across four sites, and have seen the phenomenon on at least two sites. Just drop me a comment, as I’d like this to become an intelligent discussion. If you’d like to “borrow” this article, please provide a link back.
Related Posts
3 Responses to “Not all traffic gets recorded in the same way”
Comment from admin
Time January 12, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Hi Pam,
At this point, the Entrecard stats are what I’m using to determine return advertising, but I’m still not sure it’s a true number, based on the fact that the clicks can be less than reliable.
Watch for my next post, as I’ve found more data.
Shari
Comment from SEO News
Time January 24, 2008 at 4:04 am
“I thought that was pretty good. UNTIL I go 79 hits from New Contest! I went right back and ‘bought’ another ad from them! And for less credits too.
I’ll be interested to know if anyone else knows more…”
When you buy an ad in EC, you really aren’t getting clicks from that particular web sites visitors.. I’d say, depending on the website, 70-90% of the clicks are coming from other Entrecard users.. They will drop a card then click the ad to go to the next blog in order to drop another card and click the next ad leading them quickly to the next drop and so on until they come to a dead end. Then it’s back to the EC web site to find another person to click on to start the chain all over again. I was guilty of doing this when I first started at EC, but now I tend to click only from the EC website or from my inbox feed so that I’m not skewing other’s stats.
As far as a way to see actual stats and exclude EC users from the equation? That’s a tough one. I don’t think it’s possible but I could be wrong.
Comment from Pam Hoffman
Time January 11, 2008 at 10:49 pm
If you go to your ‘Statistics’ page on EC, you will see this information (it is at the bottom of the page for me currently):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Top clicks by widget
This table lists the sites who provided the most clicks over the last 30 days via adverts you ran on their widget. High numbers are good, suggesting that you received many visitors interested in your card, and therefore that the site you bought the advert from did a good job of placing the widget to attract attention.
A word of caution: It is possible to generate “fake” clicks, so it is not wise to rely on this table to the exclusion of other checks such as examining the site you want to advertise on yourself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
See the second paragraph ^^^^ I’m not sure why or how that works exactly but there it is!
I kind of use it as ‘bragging rights’ myself. For example, my ad ran on johnchow.com awhile back and I got 60 ‘hits’ from that.
I thought that was pretty good. UNTIL I go 79 hits from New Contest! I went right back and ‘bought’ another ad from them! And for less credits too.
I’ll be interested to know if anyone else knows more…
Pam Hoffman
http://seminarlist.blogspot.com