Google Blogger with real-time stats: why?

This morning I stumbled (literally - as well as mashable) on a post mentioning the availability of real-time analytics in Google Blogger, the platform I've been using since October 2002 to host my blog.

The good

Availability: Stats are showing up in Google Blogger in Draft under the Stats item and data is available since July 1st. Blog owners do not have to do implement any tags or change their configuration.

Metrics: Near real-time stats are available for a number of metrics: post pageviews, referring URLs, Referring Sites, Search Keywords, Countries, Browser and OS.

Dashboard: There is a single dashboard under Overview which uses the same UI as Google Analytics.

The bad

This is a very light weight and toned down reporting tool - I wouldn't even call it "analytics" as their is virtually no actionable data. Notice the absence of several simple metrics such as: Visits, Time on Site, New vs Repeat visitors, any of the Loyalty metrics.

More importantly, there are no campaigns or AdWords integration (or AdSense), no content categorization  (the reason why we use tags on blogs!) and of course, no Goals.

There is a single dashboard without any customization, no filtering, no custom report...

The ugly

In this day and age of social media, how could they miss integrating Feedburner stats? Google acquired Feedburner ages ago and it's pretty much still in the same state it was then. How could they miss integrating any type of engagement information such as number of comments per post or number of mentions on social media? What about creating a special traffic source category for social media: Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, YouTube, etc.???

My take: why?

My first impression is... well... how can I say: what the heck?! Don't even bother with this. If you are using Blogger out of the box  without any customization, maybe I can understand. But seriously, integrating Google Analytics to Blogger can be done in a snap.

In doing so, maybe Google is setting the stage for other stuff, here's two ideas:

1. Real-time data in Google Analytics? I doubt it because the collection method are really different and the sub-set of metrics offered are much easier to offer in real time
2. Pay for Google Analytics: Based on market data collected with the Web Analytics Solution Profiler (WASP), Google Analytics enjoys a huge market penetration. Although there are large sites using GA, the number of smaller blogs using it is astronomic. The owner of all those small blogs are probably not very important for AdWords revenues and must drag significant resources... Google could also come up with a paid version of GA but this is a stretch...

My recommendation: GA + PostRank

If you are serious about analytics on your blog, install Google Analytics and use PostRank Analytics. See my review of PostRank from September of last year - still using it, still loving it!

Their infographics are very useful and tailored for blog owners, they integrate useful data from multiple social media sources and provide useful "engagement" data. The per-post Conversion Feed provides details about every social media mention and the new Activity Stream offers a real-time view of our social presence.

Blog modification: DisqUS comments/forum

I have discovered DISQUS, from a startup offering better comments tracking and integrated forums into blogs. I will give it a try but the concept looks promising and enhance the basic commenting system offered by Blogger. In the coming weeks (and with the Holiday season coming up!) I will work on revamping my blog and offering new features for the Web Analytics community.

Everything is relative, number of feed subscribers too

Yesterday I noticed the new headline on my Blogger dashboard "Attention FeedBurner Fans". Simply put, we can now indicate to Blogger that our RSS feed is really served by Feedburner, thus, leading to a more accurate account of the number of subscribers.

The result

A picture is worth a thousand words!

I provide two feeds on my blog:

• immeria.net subscription only
• Web Analytics conversations subscription, over 50 web analytics blogs & feeds agregated into one handy master feed

Suddenly, the total number of my own blog subscribers jumped from about 12 to 84 subscribers (I've got more subscribers to the agregated feed...). That's quite an increase overnight!

Some explanation

I can't be sure about it, but maybe there's some explanation to this sudden increase. I started blogging in October of 2002, before RSS and Feedburner where really popular, and there was no ways of measuring subscriptions. Overtime, I changed to Feedburner but a number of subscribers stayed on the older feed.

The other possibility is I'm suddenly getting much more popular :)

The consequence

Again, it highlights how important it is to look at the trends, patterns and correlations rather than specific numbers. And to be cautious when comparing numbers even between similar blogs, sites, companies or industries.

More info at: "FeedBurner Integration for Blogspot Blogs"

From shamel.blogspot.com to immeria.net

Welcome "immeria.net"

I decided to switch from Blogger's free hosting at shamel.blogspot.com to my own domain at immeria.net. A few years ago I owned immeria.com but didn't renew it... this was a mistake since getting it back now would be much more difficult.

Once again, the excellent blogging tips on Avinash Kaushik web site was an inspiration. I've been generally satisfied with Blogger since I started blogging in the autumn of 2002. The new Blogger version also looks very promising and while changing my configurations, I decided to switch to it immediately. In the meantime, immeria.net will simply redirect to shamel.blogspot.com, hopefully Blogger will release its new software version soon!

What's in a name?

The word immeria refers to the notion of immersion or flow: an experience that is at once demanding and rewarding. (Flow: The psychology of optimal experience). It is also inspired by the german word "immer", which mean "always", "forever". Combined together, this would mean being "constantly immersed in a rewarding experience", in this case, web analytics, which is the main subject of this blog and a key element in understanding the user experience on the web.

Ongoing projects

Being able to administer my own domain is also important for my ongoing and upcoming activities:

• I'm still pursuing my eBusiness MBA (in French) and was recently honored for achieving superior grades. I'm using my own hosting to provide Wiki and other group collaboration features to the remote team's I'm working with. For example, I worked with 5 other persons from around the world on a semester project. Although we never actually met face to face, we used Skype, MediaWiki and activeCollab and were able to achieve outstanding results.
  
• My involvement in the Web Analytics community can also benefit from the control of my own domain. Features such as the Web Analytics Google Co-Op Search, Google Calendar, Web Metric Quebec, Web Analytics Conversations, and such will be revamped to take advantage of immeria.net
  
• WASP, the Web Analytics Solution Profiler, is getting closer to a first public beta and some features will be relayed trough immeria.net

If you notice some problems with the site, let me know, and stay tuned for the upcoming design refresh, new features, and new posts!

Blogspot hack: Amazon recommended readings

This hack shows a side-box with a random list of recommended readings from Amazon.
It uses your Amazon Associate ID and a list of ASIN/ISBN. The user can go back and forth through the list. You can see it working on the bottom-right of this page.

1. The parameters in oAMZ are pretty much self explanatory
2. It actually uses my own Amazon Associate ID, you can tweak it by looking for immeleblogdes-20 and stephahamelim-20
   

Blogger Beta

Create a new HTML/JavaScript Page Element and give it a meaningful title such as "Recommended Reading". Then copy the code below:

<!-- Begin Amazon Readings Blogger Scriptlet -->
<a style="float:left" href="javascript:arzPrev()">< Previous</a>
<a style="float:right" href="javascript:arzNext()">Next ></a>
<center><iframe scrolling="no" width="120" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" name="fAmazon" height="172" marginwidth="0"></iframe></center>
<script type="text/javascript">
<!-- Begin Amazon Recommended Readings
var oAMZ = {
sLocale:"CA", // {US|CA}
bImage: "Large", // (Large|Small|None)
bPrice: "None", // (All|New|None)
sTextColor: "000000",
sLinkColor: "000000",
sBorderColor:"ffffff",
sBackgroundColor:"ffffff",
sWindow:"_blank",
asASIN:[
  "078521965X", // Call to Action
  "0072257024", // Google AdWords
  "0470053852", // Google Analytics
  "0785218971", // Waiting for your cat to bark
  "0321344758", // Don't make me think
]
};
function arzSet(i){fAmazon.location.href=oAMZ.sURL+"&asins="+oAMZ.asASIN[oAMZ.iPos]}
function arzNext(i){oAMZ.iPos=oAMZ.iPos==oAMZ.asASIN.length-1?0:oAMZ.iPos+1;arzSet(i)}
function arzPrev(i){oAMZ.iPos=(!oAMZ.iPos?oAMZ.asASIN.length-1:oAMZ.iPos-1);arzSet(i)}
oAMZ.sURL="http://rcm"+(oAMZ.sLocale=="CA"?"-ca.amazon.ca/e/cm?t=immeleblogdes-20&o=15":".amazon.com/e/cm?t=stephahamelim-20&amp;amp;amp;o=1")+(oAMZ.bPrice=="New"?"&nou=1":(oAMZ.bPrice=="None"?"&npa=1":""))+(oAMZ.bImage=="Large"?"&IS2=1&p=8":(oAMZ.bImage=="Small"?"&IS1=1&amp;amp;amp;p=8":"&noImg=1&p=6"))+"&fc1="+oAMZ.sTextColor+"&lc1="+oAMZ.sLinkColor+"&bc1="+oAMZ.sBorderColor+"&bg1="+oAMZ.sBackgroundColor+"&f=ifr&l=as1<1="+oAMZ.sWindow;
oAMZ.iPos = Math.round(Math.random()*(oAMZ.asASIN.length-1));
arzSet(oAMZ.iPos);
// End Amazon Recommended Readings -->
</script>

Classic Blogger

This hack shows a side-box with a random list of recommended readings from Amazon.
It uses your Amazon Associate ID and a list of ASIN/ISBN. The user can go back and forth through the list. You can see it working on the bottom-right of this page.

1. Change the sAmazonAssociateID to your own account
2. Change the list of ASIN/ISBN in asAmazon.
3. You might want to tweak the colors to your own side design where it says
   "fAmazon.location.href=..."
• fc1=99ddbb // text color
• lc1=99ddbb // link color
• bc1=223344 // border color
• bg1=223344 // background color
You might want to build a sample Product Link at Amazon Associate Central for easier preview and tweaking of the colors.

<!-- Begin .box #2 -->
<div class="box"><div class="box2"><div class="box3">
<h2 class="sidebar-title">Recommended Readings</h2>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">
<iframe name=fAmazon width="120" height="240" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br/>
</td></tr>
<tr><td> <input type="button" value="<<" onclick="azPrevious()"></td>
<td align="right"><input type="button" value=">>" onclick="azNext()"> </td>
</tr>
</table>
<script language="javascript">
var sAmazonAssociatesID = "immeleblogdes-20"; // Change this to your own Amazon Associate ID
var asAmazon = new Array(
"0735710627", // Change the list below to your own list of ASIN/ISBN
"1568303823",
"0131854615" // Make sure last entry doesn't end with a comma
);
var azPos = Math.round(Math.random()*(asAmazon.length-1));azSet();
function azSet(){fAmazon.location.href="http://rcm-ca.amazon.ca/e/cm"+"?t="+sAmazonAssociatesID+"&o=15&p=8&l=as1&asins="+asAmazon[azPos]+"&fc1=99ddbb&amp;amp;amp;=1&lc1=99ddbb&bc1=223344<1=_blank&IS2=1&f=ifr&amp;amp;amp;bg1=223344";}
function azNext(){azPos = azPos == asAmazon.length-1?0:azPos+1;azSet();}
function azPrevious(){azPos = !azPos?asAmazon.length-1:azPos-1;azSet();}
</script>
</div></div></div>
<!-- End .box #2 -->

See my other Blogger hacks:

• Reverse, year based archive list
• Simultaneously publish Blogger to MSN Space
• Random quotes in sub-header

Blogspot hack: publish to MSN Spaces

My main blog is located at Blogspot (which I like more than MSN Spaces). However, MSN Messenger will let my contacts know whenever I publish something to MSN Spaces, which is very useful.

So! I said. Why not find a way to continue using Blogspot and use the MSN Spaces feature! I turned out to be easy. Here's a summary:

• In MSN Spaces settings, under the E-Mail Publishing tab, turn on e-mail publishing using the address you specified in your Blogspot profile. Selet "Publish entries immediately". You might want to disable comments and trackback under the MSN Spaces Blog Settings tab to avoid having people link or comment on MSN Spaces instead of Blogspot.
  
• In Blogspot settings, under the Email tab, set the BlogSend Address to the address specified by MSN Spaces 5th step (Update your address book).
  

Anytime you publish something on Blogspot, it will automatically show on MSN Spaces, and let your MSN Messenger contacts know about it!

P.S. I will look for a way to simply tell MSN Spaces about the update (without posting the whole message) in order to bring people directly to Blogspot.

See my other Blogger hacks:

• Reverse, year based archive list
  
• Amazon recommended readings
  
  
• Random quotes in sub-header
  

Blogspot hack: random quotes in sub-header

I wanted to put random quotes instead of the same old blog description. Here's how I did it.

Classic Blogger

Find the $BlogDescription$ tag in your template and replace with the sample code below.

Blogger Beta

While in Edit HTML, click on the Expand Widget Templates checkbox, then look for <data:description/> where you will replace this tag by the sample code below. Don't forget to replace $BlogDescription$ by <data:description/>.

Sample code

<p id="description">
<script language="javascript">
var asText=new Array(
'quote1:simple text',
'quote2:<i>embeded HTML</i>',
'quote3:<A href="http://somelink.com/"
target="_new">with hyperlink</A>'
);
document.write(
asText[
Math.round(Math.random()*(asText.length-1))
]
);
</script>
<noscript><$BlogDescription$></noscript></p>

How does it work?

• We want to keep the same formating for the sub-header (the blog description), so we keep the <p id="description"> tag.
• the JavaScript asText array can be as short or contain as many entries as you want, as long as you take care of enclosing each one in single quotes, and separate them with commas (excet the last one). You can embed HTML syntax within the text to alter its display (quote2), and even links (quote3).
  
• Once the array is defined, the last thing to do is simply to write one of the quotes randomly. Lets look at this closer:
  1. Math.random() generates a random number between 0 and 1.
  2. When multipled by the number of entries in our array (asText.length-1), we get a random number between 0 and the number of entries in the array (we substract 1 because the first position of an array, in JavaScript, is 0, not 1).
  3. asText[n] provides the text of the element n of the array
  4. Finally, document.write is the JavaScript function used to output the text.
     
• We keep the original $BlogDescription$ within <noscript> so crawlers (like Google), will see your original text and take it into account in search results (you could also remove the <noscript> tags if you still want to show your original Blogger description).

See my other Blogger hacks:

• Reverse, year based archive list
• Amazon recommended readings
• Simultaneously publish Blogger to MSN Space