Janet Lee Johnson | The Art of Marketing

Tris and Andru are continuing to chat about metrics at the Blog Business Summit in Seattle. 

You can use either web-based (Javascript) tools or server-based tools for blog metrics.  All web hosting companies will offer you a metrics package.  Most people who blog will use web-based tools - but businesses who want to track things like how many people downloaded a video, pdf, etc. will want to use a server-based tool:

AWStats - Andru likes it because it’s visually appealing and laid out in an intuitive manner.
Urchin
Analog
ClickTracks - Tris likes ClickTracks a lot, and Urchin.

JavaScript tools:

Performancing - put a block of code into your blog template - you can see visitors, search engines, etc. at a glance.  The words they use are tailored to bloggers.

Google Analytics
MeasureMap
BlogBeat
MyBlogLog
Sitemeter

Tris recommends using two tools in order to make sure your metrics match up. And you’ll have to get a little geeky to set them up.

Search sites:
Technorati - will show you links, pages viewed, mentions, etc.
Feedster
PubSub
Alexa
BlogJuice - It gives you one number - it’ll build a metric and assign a number… 

Andru doesn’t like BlogJuice because it gives you faulty tools.  Like Alexa, which can only be installed on IE - not FireFox or Mac.

Dave Taylor mentioned Hittail.com, and I need to check that out.  I’ve never heard of it, but he’s so damn smart, I’ve got to believe it’s good.

Tris recommends FeedBurner.  Robert doesn’t like FeedBurner because we’re ceding control of our feeds to a third party… so what happens to feeds if something happens to FeedBurner.

Your total number of RSS subscribers is measured in big round numbers - probably understated by 20%.

Bloglines is good for measuring where subscribers come from.

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Tris and Andru are talking about how comments (the more the better?) are not necessarily an indicator of a blog that has lots of readers.  In fact, most people don’t comment on blogs…  unless they really either agree or disagree with you.

Instead, look at trends - of number of pageviews, links, comments, rankings, etc.  Watch them rise and fall over time.

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I am listening to Tris Hussey and Andru Edwards present on measuring audiences in the blogosphere.  They’re talking about blogrolls, and whether they’re effective or not.

Tris thinks they’re toast, Andru thinks that if you have several blogs, you should put your own blogs links to all the other blogs on your blogroll. Google loves that a lot.

Great idea…

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Now Jason is getting into the bad parts of the blogosphere.  I’m fraid!

We created this beautiful place where integrity and authenticity matter.  And people like Pay Per Post come along and “they take a piss right across main street.”

Thank god, since I’m up next, he’s off on PayPerPost, beyond Marqui.  Although it’ll be very interesting to walk up there and have to admit I was the one in his crosshairs a couple of years ago.  More fun at the Blog Business Summit for Janet!

His position:  Our bloggers know who the sponsor is.  You can see it in the ads on our site.  He keeps the advertisers away from the bloggers - like church and state.  (Remember his publishing background…)

He’s arguing today with the Pay Per Post people - and here are his arguments (which he makes with a big smile on his face):

1) PPP says we’re just a marketplace.  JC: if you are not being transparent, you’re not a marketplace, you’re enabling the lying - especially for the folks who will only pay for positive posts.

2)  PPP says the “a” list bloggers are pulling down the “z” list bloggers.  He poses, anyone who can be diligent and write well can be an “a” list blogger.  So there’s not a shred of truth there…

“Tim Draper - why did you put $3M into a company doing covert marketing?”

Jason also said he listens to three podcasts a day.  He’s listening to more radio every day than he ever had before, and he never turns on a radio… so he thinks it’s going to be huge.

Also, he said 20% of his posts are not accurate, so skip every fifth post.

Jason announced “CalacanisCasts” through the PodTech Network, and he’ll do 50 episodes in the next year.  The cool thing?  PodTech and YouTube paid $100,000 to sponsor it and he’s giving it (”media philanthropy”) to support two kids to go to one of the most elite private schools in New York.  The’ve selected the first girl who’s currently in foster care - it’ll change her life.

I’m very glad I’ve finally been able to see him in person.  He’s funny, engaging, and very very smart.

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Steve is introducing Jason as a legend in business blogging.  Jason is now onstage.  Laughing about the folly of gin tasting the night before the conference.

Cool - he’s going to talk about the evil forces at work in the blogosphere…

Just like the things you can make out of paper - from glossy magazines to toilet paper - blogs can take many forms. 

There’s a movie called “Homepage” - about Justin Hall - the first guy to blog on the internet.  He posted his thoughts on life on the web.  And he evangelized the habit…  He went from school to school teaching kids how to code in HTML so they could publish on the web - back in 1995 or so.

Jason believes that blogging became powerful was because publishing software was free - plus at the same time, a bunch of technology folks got laid off and those two things created a perfect storm.  Tech folks got into blogging in a big way.

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