Google Analytics Makes Numbers Fun, Maybe Overly Personal

image from Blogoscoped

Back when I first started blogging, I was naive enough to believe that literally nobody on the Internet would ever read my blog, let alone find it. Maybe if I had access to analytics back then and was able to see that people actually did read what I had to say, I would have been a lot more conscious about the things I wrote.

A few nights ago, while trying to find a new design, I found a guide on how to configure Google Analytics to my Blogger blog. If you're on a Wordpress account, it's even easier. I just got in my first round of numbers, and the level of information I can get kind of freaks me out.

I'm used to not having any real reference of how people use any site I've ever made. I just put it out there, make some content and people do what they do. The thoroughness of Google Analytics is almost too much information to me.

Now there's so much more to scrutinize. I get mad if my unique visitor count drops from one day to the next, or a less than desired number of people read a specific post. I sit here and wonder how could anybody find my site when they searched "Cundari Toronto" when I don't think I've ever mentioned them on my blog. I can see how much time people spend on my site to the second how long people spend reading my page. I can even tell how effective my tweets are in driving traffic to my blog.

The most heartbreaking thing I've discovered about my blog to date: I started this blog so that when someone Google searches my name, this blog shows up. When I looked at my numbers, then tried searching for my name on Google, I realized that my blog didn't appear anywhere. My profile did, but nothing I wrote showed up. Since then, I've played with some of my tags to try and shake things up. We'll see how that goes.

It's nothing new if you've played with analytics before. I did for the first time a few weeks ago using Compete for my internship. But when it's your blog, you might take all the numbers a bit personally, for better or for worse.

image from sheremembers

I almost feel like I've opened Pandora's box. All I wanted to know was roughly how many people look at my blog, but now I could tell you all sorts of weird facts and figures about it. And based on those weird facts, trying to come up with strategies to boost my "stickiness" or drive users to a specific part of my blog. Knowing the type of person that I am, I might even just sit here analyzing numbers more than writing content, which is what I started this blog for in the first place.

For most people, tracking your blog this intricately is probably not on your radar. However, if you've ever wondered how your site or blog is performing, there are free tools out there to do so. You never know what you might find, or know how deeply you'll get into it.

In the meantime, I'll be hitting "refresh" on my browser until the next set of numbers rolls in.