Ask Me Why… Work From Home

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.