I love my 'stats'!

Most days I check my blog statistics. Maybe this puts me in the nerd group, but it really is fun! For example this morning I can see that I had a visitor from Kathmandu in Nepal - that's pretty neat! I can see they came to me through my Blogger profile and stayed to read some things. I am wondering who they might be and what it's like in Kathmandu, and even if it's common to have your own internet connection there or if people go to internet cafes.

[caption id="attachment_1166" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Kathmandu"][/caption]

Besides being fun, checking your statistics is also a good way to find out how well your blog is doing. Online blogs often come with built in statistics, but if you don't have any and wish you did you might consider Statcounter.  I've been using them for years now and really like all the information I have access to.  A starter account is FREE which is always nice, this lets you see the last 100 entries, or pages that people have looked at.  It keeps track over time of how many people visit your blog or webpage and you can run reports to see graphs of how your traffic looks for the last month, year etc.  Another nice feature is that you can have a visible or invisible counter on your site/blog.

You can also see a wealth of other information -

• how long your visitor's stay


• which pages they visit


• which search engines they used with what keywords


• if they are new or returning visitors


• even which browser they are using!

[caption id="attachment_1167" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="You can find ways to increase your site's popularity!"][/caption]

That might all sound a bit boring, but if you've got a website or blog and are using it as a business tool it really is a necessity.  Statistics can tell you how your visitors found you!  This is very useful information if you are trying to build a bigger presence.

For instance, if I post pictures of my latest beads in online showcases I can see the number of people who clicked through to my website from there.  Similarly, if I was paying for online advertising I could tell how effective it was - something that's very important if you are spending money.

[caption id="attachment_1168" align="alignnone" width="200" caption="Track whether paid advertising is bringing you results"][/caption]

You can see that besides being an interesting thing to watch, your website or blog statistics are also a very important way to gauge your success!

Developing your Web Presence #1 - Being Everywhere and in One Place all at the same time!

This is my first post in what I hope will become a series, designed to offer ideas on how to have a good online presence for yourself or your small business.

Do you have business cards?  Advertise in different places?  In that case you've probably realised that what you need is one web address to direct potential clients to.

How do you acheive this when you've got what seems like a gazillion different places on the web that belong to you?  For example, I have - my blog, which is also my website (where you are now), my Etsy shop, my Beader's Showcase, my Flickr account, my Ottawa Glass Bead Artists' group, Facebook and probably a few others!  I'm all over the place - which for once is a good thing!



How are people supposed to find you in so many places, or how are people supposed to find you in one of those places in particular i.e. Etsy?

You need to have one address on the web that you can use on your business cards, at the bottom of emails, and in forums etc.

This single address can be any number of things providing it allows you to have links to all the other addresses.  It might be your blog, or maybe a website, or perhaps just a single page that acts as the sum of your presence on the web.

[caption id="attachment_627" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="With one central page clients can find all your other items"][/caption]

When you are planning something like this, it's important to think ahead, and also to understand your skills and limitations.  This way you can set something up once that will serve you well into the future.

Which one are you -

1. Little or no knowlege of how to build/upload/maintain websites - (you've probably got much better things to do with your time!)


2. Know some .html, can make basic changes, understand how to resize pictures and how to upload or ftp files and images to a site.


3. Have a greater understanding of .html, can create websites, graphics, can ftp, understand c-panel and how to install programs etc. with your hosting company.


4. Are a whiz, completely up-to-date on everything new as it comes out, code your own sites in 20 different languages and probably make good money doing it!

I think I'm a number 3, I know for sure I'm not a number 4!!  If you are a number 3 or 4 you don't need to read any further because you've probably done all this already.

If you are a number 1 or 2 you've got options!

Things to Consider

You can use your blog or website to link to all the other things, I'm sure many of you already do this.  If you haven't got a website or don't want one you can have a simple one page presence that links to all your other places.

A blog is a good tool as it helps you to get noticed in search engines and can be a central place for viewers to find you.  You can add images / videos / slideshows to you blog so it's also a good place to showcase your art, work, product - whatever it is you want to tell people about.

A quick word on the www's

As far as I'm aware if you have a blog that is hosted online - Wordpress, Blogger etc. you are stuck with their url -- i.e. fireseed.wordpress.com I've found out that you can have your own domain name with Blogger see here and also WordPress see here.  If you have a different blog - check and see if they offer this feature!  If you have your own server space with a hosting company you can install a blog and then the url will be what you choose to register.  That's how my site runs.  It's a Wordpress blog, but my url is simply www.fireseed.ca

I'm not a guru -- yes, I know, you already knew that ;o)  so feel free to comment, tell me if you know something different to what I've posted here, or if you have an idea to share.

That's it for now, next time I'll write a bit about having your own domain name and what you need in order to do that.

CLICK HERE FOR #2 - The WWW's and YOU

If a tree falls. . .

Writing a blog post can feel a bit like that. Does anyone hear it? See it? Much less take time to read it. Flaming Hot's subject of the week is What does your website do for you?

Since my website and blog are one and the same I certainly hope they are promoting my beads and myself. My goal is to have a site where I post my latest beads for sale and have them fly out the door the same day. Impossible? No, there are artists out there doing it, but I know it will take more than putting a page up on the web and waiting for visitor's to come flocking.

I am constantly working towards getting more recognition on the web and in the real world. At the minute I almost feel like my website is one of my offspring! I tend to it regulary, and worry and fuss when somethings not working right. I had a stupid technical problem this week, that has meant disabling some of my plugins one of which is the 'shop', and I just can't find the answer to that which is frustrating me no end.

Here are some of the tools I use to make my website do as much of the work as possible.

I use Wordpress a blogging tool that lets you have multiple pages - a website! Everything in one place with links to my Etsy and iCraft stores.

I blog regularly, (this is why I joined Flaming Hot - sometimes I need help figuring out what to write!), its no use having a website that is static, it won't attract many people and those that do come won't keep coming back if everything stays the same. I'm also realising that blogging can be a very interesting tool for driving traffic to your site! I wrote a post about Nortel's Mega Minor and have had all kinds of visitors because people have been typing 'mega minor' into google and my blog is coming up in the listings. How do I know this?

I use Statcounter it's free, and it tracks who is coming to my blog with wonderful detail - if they've searched it shows me the terms they were searching, I can see where they are from, which pages they visited and for how long, even what browser they're using. It's fun and I have to admit a little bit addictive to see who's stopped by for a visit!

I link my site to others where possible to try and drive more traffic my way. This might be from another site or an online directory. Here's a new one that has just started Glassdir.com they are listing Glass Artists by country. Don't forget to put your site address on anything you can that is not on the internet as well ;o)

And I scour the net looking for sites that offer tips on building business online and off. I just discovered Lori Greenberg's Bead Nerd blog which has an amazing amount of information for anyone wanting to turn their beadmaking into a business. Thank you Lori - I'm learning a LOT! I even just got one of those neat little favicons that show up in your browser bar when someone is looking at your site, I've wanted one of those for a while :o)



I guess at the very least my site is keeping me out of mischief and helping me retain some of my brain cells. It's a challenge to see what I can do next to get more people to visit and keep them coming back and it beats playing online games because hopefully there will be some real rewards at the end of it all!