What is your blog stats telling you?

Do you know what your blog stats are telling you or are you just ignoring it?

When you are new to blogging your Blogger statistics will give you limited but valuable information that you can use as a beginner without getting sidetracked too much.

• What are Blogger statistics?
• What are good blog statistics?
• Where do I find my Blogger statistics?
• What statistics are available on Blogger?
• Why are my Blogger statistics different from Google Analytics?
• What is your blog stats telling you? - Conclusion

What are Blogger statistics?

Blogger statistics are the information you need to evaluate your successes or failures while creating content. The biggest problem with new bloggers is that they pay too much attention to building their blogs too quickly and do not look at the statistics.

We all get caught up in creating content quickly so we can get our blog out there but the honest truth is that it is not necessary. It takes a while for Google to even list your blog and it might be very far down the page list.

Let's face it, the stats that you find on Blogger could have been done better but guys like me don't have time to get drawn into too much statistical activity. 

Keep it simple but giving me more is my motto when it comes to blog statistics. Blogger statistics available will give you a good idea of what content is popular, who is your audience and when they look at it.

At the stage of a beginner, your aim is to focus on creating good quality content which will give the more complicated statistics time to build up data.

What are good Blog statistics?

First, you need to know that there is a difference between Blogger statistics and Blogger analytics. 

Blogger statistics are an overview of how your posts are doing on the web while Blogger analytics is in-depth reporting on every aspect of your main blog which you won't find on the Blogger dashboard.

Good Blogger statistics for a beginner will be knowing:

• How many people visited and viewed your post
• Who is your geographical audience?
• What is the most popular time they visit?
• Which posts are performing the best

As a beginner, I got sidetracked so much being worried about my Blogger analytics that I didn't create much content. This was until I learned that your content is what increases your statistics and that it does not happen overnight.

It can take a long time to build up a solid blog with a decent audience.

Where do I find my Blogger statistics?

You will find the link for your Blogger statistics on the left-hand panel and when clicked will show you your statistics page.

What statistics are available on Blogger?

When your overview opens I suggest going to the bottom of the page and turning off your own page views. Blogger will track your own views which shouldn't matter once you reach a couple of thousand views but for a beginner, with 30 or 40 views it can mess things up.

It seems that you have to do this every time you are going to work on your blog.

I am using screenshots from a blog I started re-developing not so long ago and the statistics are not so great yet but this is the type of blogger statistics you can expect to see as a beginner.

Followers, blog posts, and comments

First, you will be shown how many followers, posts, and comments your blog has.

This can be handy if you are looking to build up a following or use your comments for future content ideas. Most bloggers will take note of these comments and use them as a base for future blog posts.

The intensity and quality of comments will also show the blogger how the post topic was received by the audience.

All-time summary of Blog

A quick summary of blog stats will show you your visits for certain time frames. This is the place where most bloggers will go first, and as a beginner, I call this the "disappointment corner." It can be disappointing to write a new post and after 24 hours, see no views.

However, it helps if you have set a monthly target, as this will give you an idea of how much blog content you need to produce to meet those goals. It also shows if your blog marketing strategies are reaching the right audience.

Post and Blog Performance Graphs

Below the summary, you’ll find a time period selection that affects the graphs displayed. This is useful if you are looking for consistently performing posts, as you can plan future content for your niche around popular topics.

The first graph will show you how your latest post is performing over the selected time period. In this case, it is showing nothing as it is set for 7 days and I haven't posted anything during that period.

Scrolling down I can view my statistics and blog performance for the last 7 days. In my case, I will go look deeper into the spikes and dips on the graphs to see what I have done on that specific day and rectify it or copy the successes.

Clicking on "More About This Blog" will open up more detailed information about your blog in general for the same time period.

On opening it up you will see the same graph indicating total blog performance over your selected time period. Not only that but it will provide a little bit more information.

Top Referrers for Blogger

This is where your visitors are coming from and can be very helpful in the beginning if you are marketing yourself on various platforms. Knowing where your audience is will make it so much easier to make a connection with your content type.

Top Referring URLs

The same can be said about the statistics you will find in the top referring URL section. Unfortunately, Blogger doesn't give you too much and you will have to rely on Google Analytics for specifics.

The same goes for the two next two sections which I cannot say much about because I have never found any use for them. These are the sections on Audiences and Keywords.

Top Locations of Visitors

This section can be very helpful if you are targeting specific audiences. I found at the beginning that I am not attracting the correct target market and then realized I post in the incorrect time zones. Your posts should be planned and shared at the correct time for the audiences you are looking for.

Top Posts Statistics

Returning to the previous page you will find the section on how your posts are performing over the specified time period you selected.

For me this is an important section as it will tell you as a beginner with Blogger:

• Which topics your audience is interested in for this niche
• Are you targeting the right platforms?
• Was it posted at the correct time?
• Can you expand on the post with more and better content?
• If your content needs improvement
• What topics are viewed most?
• Was it viewed from internal or external links?
• How does it compare with other time periods?
• Which posts were shared on social media at that specific time?

This is more useful in the sense that by looking deeper into it, you can see when your blog is the most active. Timing your posts for your audience plays a crucial role. If social media is your main source of traffic, it’s even more important to post at the right time, as social media posts have a short lifespan before becoming old news.

There isn’t much more information available here on Blogger, but once you gain some experience, you can set up Google Analytics and Google Search for more detailed insights. For beginners, focusing on content creation is key, as diving into statistics too early could be distracting.

Why are my Blogger statistics different from Google Analytics?

As a beginner, you’ll notice different traffic platforms provide varying figures. This isn’t an error on your part; each platform uses a unique algorithm for tracking traffic. Blogger counts each page visit individually, while Google Analytics may count multiple page views in one session as a single interaction.

Blogger also counts bot and spider visits, which inflates the numbers. Checking the referring URL stats can help filter out irrelevant traffic. You’ll likely never see identical figures across platforms.

What is your blog stats telling you? - Conclusion

Blogger’s statistics may not be the most precise, but tools like Google Analytics and Google Search can offer more comprehensive insights. As a beginner, however, it’s advisable to focus on quality content creation rather than obsessing over statistics too early on.