MyBlogLog Part 1 - Blog Stats

Originally a blog statistics package aimed to help track outgoing clicks with ease, MyBlogLog has grown rapidly the past couple months with the introduction of new features. These features focus heavily on widgets and creating a blog community. In the past, the largest group of users were DJs from The DJ List website. Now, web 2.0 companies and popular blogs are joining the MyBlogLog craze. Being Techcrunch’d last month may have helped promote the adoption.

With a steady base of influential bloggers and regular site visitors MyBlogLog was the focus of recent web 2.0 acquisition rumors. Marshall Kirkpatrick (then with Techcrunch) broke the story that Yahoo was going to acquire the site for an estimated 10 million dollars. Not bad for the two founders, Eric and Todd, who decided to start the company from a simple idea and over an IM. However, the rumors were quickly squashed by Yahoo’s PR firm and MyBlogLog has continued to add loyal users and generate headlines throughout the blogging world.

MyBlogLog Stats

Many people tend to forget that the core offering of MyBlogLog was blog statistics. I first came across the site about a year ago when trying to find a simple way to track outgoing clicks from my blog. I’ve used stat packages Mint and Urchin, but was curious to see what else was available. This post will focus on the features of the stat package offered by MyBlogLog.

MyBlogLog offers both a free and paid stat package. Once registered, the site owner can easily copy and paste the tracking code into their blog. I use Wordpress as a blogging platform and was able to add the code by editing my index.php.

1. “Where Readers Came From”

When checking to see where visitors come from, MyBlogLog captures the link URL and creates a count sorted with the top referral appearing at the top.

In addition, the user can filter top incoming links by search or content related. This can be a quick and easy way to check and see what are the top search keywords and blog sending traffic your way.

2. “What Readers Viewed”

Want to know what’s the most viewed content on your blog? MyBlogLog keeps a count of all the posts/pages viewed on your site.

No bells or whistles with this feature, but just another simple way to keep track of the popular content on your blog.

3. “What Readers Clicked”

Part of the stat package includes the capture of clicks on outbound links to both content and ads. Both content and ad clicks can be filtered.

I like the fact that Google ad clicks are tracked, but I grew alarmed when noticing a large difference to what was reported in adsense vs. MyBlogLog. On average, 25-40% more clicks on Google ads were showing up in MyBlogLog. Why is this happening? Rafer suggests the difference is due to Click Fraud.

Free vs. Paid
The paid version (MyBlogLog Pro) gives you real-time stats and keeps a longer list of tracking information. The cost per month is $3 or a one-time fee of $25 for the year paid through PayPal. For free, users can receive stats on the top ten daily links.

(Note: MyBlogLog offers the Pro version free for the first 3 days.)

For more information regarding MyBlogLog I suggest the following links:

MyBlogLog.com
Official MyBlogLog Blog
MyBlogLog reinvents itself and gets noticed
MyBlogLog: Readers Network Around Their Favorite Blogs
The COMPLETE Guide to MyBlogLog(ging)
MyBlogLog Still Independent
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