Building a Loyal Blog Following: Make Use of Available Tools
By now, you've put in a lot of work on your end. Make sure you take time to see what's happening on your readers' end, to see if your work is paying off. There are plenty of tools available online (many of them free) to keep track of stats such as number of pages views. One of the most popular is Google Analytics, a free and comprehensive tool which allows you visualize and track a wide range of metrics and data.
Other useful tools include:
- RSS Feed, a basic but essential tool to manage reader subscriptions
- FeedBurner, which enhances your RSS feed by adding functions like automatic links to Digg
- LinkWithin, to link to other related posts in your blog and keep readers more engaged with your site
- Disqus, to organize comments and join the conversation more easily
- Crazy Egg, to see where people are actually clicking on your blog
- Site Meter, to see how people found your site and where they came from
- Chartbeat, to set alerts that your site is down or experiencing a spike in traffic
You should also master Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It's a tricky topic within itself, but you want to make sure you write strong headlines, have high value links, include relevant meta descriptions, and have a clean site code.
There are many tools out there that will help you optimize traffic, but don't get too caught up in the numbers. "I really don't spend too much time looking at the analytics," Morgan says. "If my readership increases by 10 or 15 percent, that's great, but if I'm able to build ten more valuable business or personal relationships, to me that's more valuable."
Dig Deeper: Learn more about Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
