Why Google Analytics is so much fun

While I’m not a power user of Google Analytics like those who track e-commerce and advertising performance, I know my way around it well enough to discover fun and interesting facts about my blog’s visitors.  Below are a few insights into my blog’s statistics:
  1. I love maps!  The Demographics-Location screen shows that my blog has nearly spanned the globe.  It’s no surprise that the United States is the darkest shade of green, which means that it is the country with the most number of visits.  The countries in grey have yet to make a visit.  I am still waiting for Greenland to turn green.  If you have friends there, send them my way. Google Analytics map
  2. It is always interesting to see the search keywords used to get to my site.  “Should I…” is a very common search phrase.  Sure, I can explain how to enter credit card charges correctly into QuickBooks, but don’t expect too much more from me.Should I
  3. Below is a graph showing the value of my investment portfolio.  Just kidding!  The graph shows the number of daily website visits.  It is satisfying to see an increase in web traffic over time.  This is a good lesson for people just starting to blog to not be discouraged by low numbers.  Loyal readers, links from other sites, and search results accumulate over time, so don’t give up!Web Traffic Graph
 

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Comments (2)

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    Jeff Lester

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    Hi Dustin- Thanks for the blog! I was just curious what caused those documented spikes in web traffic? I’m considering creating a blog, but don’t have much experience with the medium, Google Analtyics, etc.
    Thank you!

    Jeff

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    Dustin Wheeler, CPA

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    Jeff, the spikes in traffic came from blog posts that became relatively viral, meaning that several readers shared and tweeted links to those blog posts (not just me). I also found that writing a blog post in connection with an event and then tweeting a link to the post along with the event’s Twitter hashtag generated a lot of traffic.

    Integrating your blog with Google Analytics is fairly simple if you’re using WordPress. All you have to do is install a WordPress plugin on your site and then follow a few steps setting up a Google Analytics account.

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