Day #2 Blog Book Tours Class

Yesterday we covered the importance of having a hit counter (which tracks your blog visitors) on your blog and a bookmarking button.

I recommend that new bloggers begin with either Sitemeter.com or Statcounter.com because they are simple to install. If you like statistics, you might be happier using Google Analytics, too. Blogger doesn't have a built-in hit counter, so you'll have to add a third-party counter yourself. WordPress has this function built in to their blogging platform.

I prefer the counter to show the number of visitors as demonstrated at the Blood-Red Pencil blog and at the bottom of the page or bottom-most in the sidebar.

The bookmarking button most people like best is AddThis and that should be placed quite high in the sidebar where it is easily accessible to readers perusing your newest blog post. However, place it below your profile or other built-in sidebar feature, as third-party widgets tend to slow down blog loading. I like the AddThis button to be right where it is now to the right of this post. See it? It's very handy and makes it easy for you to share this post. :)

Next we'll discuss the all-important acts of regularly posting to the blog and building relevant blogrolls. The class is frantically at work getting their blogs in shape for the impending critiques scheduled to begin this weekend. When was the last time you posted something really good and well worth reading?

Tracking your visitors

In our current blog book tours session, we're talking about the importance of adding a hit counter to your blog. You must be able to track your visitors. Popular and free counters include Sitemeter and Statcounter, and they are relatively easy to install on your blog, even if you're a novice blogger. Just follow the directions. Morgan Mandel has a good post about it at her blog.

What kind of hit counter do you use on your blog, and why do you favor it? Please leave a comment.

The numbers game

Week One of the August Blogging Challenge has passed. It's now time for the participants to check their traffic statistics and compare them to a prior period when their posting was low -- just to confirm that the effort put into regular posting will really reap some results.

All bloggers should have a hit counter of some sort. I use Sitemeter which unfortunately had some issues during their move to a new server. So I don't know how accurate my statistics will be for the entire week. But, one of our challengers reports that he had 500 hits this week, a first in his blogging history.

This is exactly the kind of confirmation an author needs to validate the effort of regular blogging. You might not post daily all through the year, but raising your blog's profile and making it more "sticky" prior to a blog book tour is a good way to prepare for a successful online book promotion.

Make the numbers work for you. Most definitely learn to read the reports. Poke around at your counter's website and see what kind of reports you can generate, and then really look at them. They're really not all that confusing, and you might be in for some pleasant surprises.

Tomorrow, another report that every author needs to pay attention to, before, during, and after a blog book tour.