18 July 2009

Talking to myself!!!

I've often wondered how and where you find out how many visitors you've had to your blog.

Yesterday I was 'forced' to dust off brain cell # 3 again as Tatting Chic posted about her giveaway. This is to celebrate her 50,000 visitor.

Now I'm somewhat curious to know how you find out how many have visited a blog. On my dashboard it says I've made 769 posts. I'm sure I've made more than that as the blog has been around since the dinosaurs. Sorry, I exagerate - since May 2006.

Now by my reckoning that's more than three years. I try to post most days but the maths doesn't add up to me.

Then in my profile it says there have been 3,400 views. So, what does that mean and where to I find the visit count?!?!?!?


Ah, I put a counter on the blog not long ago and I get a report from that each week but I still am mildly curious to know how people find out how many have visited. It's not important but I'd love to know!!!

8 comments:

Lace-lovin' Librarian ~ Diane said...

Funny, I have a counter on my blog because I was curious about how many people visited. When I first put it on, I was amazed to see how many people were visiting. Then, I found Google Reader... I hardly ever look at my own blog page any more! I wonder how many visitors I've had? Profile views... hmmm... haven't checked that one out lately either! Maybe I'll feel curious later on and check it out!

Ladytats said...

you always come up with interesting ideas.
have fun finding out.

Gina said...

I added "sitemeter" from sitemeter.com many years ago. It's free altho there is a paid version if you're really into promoting your blog for sales, etc. There are a few others and blogger even has one but I found it cumbersome to read. With sitemeter, I can ignore my own isp so it doesn't count me. Since it's free, I don't get some of the details I could get but I don't really care. It was fun in the beginning but I don't check it all that much. I'm nearing 200,000 visitors but don't plan to celebrate. Too busy elsewhere! It's just fun to see where the visitors come from and know that tatting interest is GLOBAL!

Teresa said...

I got my counter from blogpatrol.com- it works fine. It can be set- so, of course, mine is- to ignore me when I check in. Thus I know how many visitors I've had- which, btw ladies, is miniscule compared to the incredible numbers of visitors you get.

I have a second counter on my blog sidebar which tells me which countries my visitors are from. This one is just fun- I keep watch to see when I "get" a new country. The blog count here is "off" as it was started well after I started the blog.

I also have Feedjit on my sidebar- this tells me exactly where my visitors are from. It is fun as I know WHO has been to my blog when I know some of my friends' home towns. (It also came in handy when my principal- who thinks the Internet is "evil and dangerous" and should be banned- decided to try and get me fired for having a blog- not what was ON my blog, just the fact that I had one! I was able to tweak him with "I didn't know you were interested in card-making" or other similar snide remarks whenever I saw that he was checking out my blog- since Feedjit will record ISPs if you want.)

I wish I knew a way to tell you how to find out how many visitors you've already had, but as far as I know, only having a blog counter installed from the beginning will get you that information.

3,400 profile views means that's how many people have looked at your profile. There are two common ways this occurs- either someone clicked on the "view my complete profile" link next to your picture on the sidebar, or you posted on someone else's blog and they wanted to track back to yours. In a comment, the name of the commenter is highlighted and is a link, and that link takes you to their profile. From there you can get back to their blog. I use it whenever someone new I don't know comments on my blog so I can go to theirs and reciprocate.

Usually the number of profile views is a fraction of the number of blog visitors. I've had 7450 visitors and 1400 profile views. A friend of mine shows 68,245 visitors and 1800 profile views, so there's really no way to guess.

One of the things you can do with some counters is mark the date the count started- as in "xxxxx visitors since ....." Using this would give you an estimate of how many you might have had previously but not an accurate count.

I wish I could give you more help, but hope this helps some.

Carol Schockling Lawecki said...

You are Definetly not talking to yourself. I visit your blog everyday. I enjoy reading about what you are tatting or contemplating. You always have such good ideas. I wish I could be more interesting in my blog posts. But I have always been on the quiet side. I think I'd be interested in knowing how many people visit my blog too. I know that more people visit than I know, because not everyone leaves a message.

So talk away Jane! I'm listening....

Needledreams said...

My lil counter is from Bravenet.com and it's free also and have some customization as well. It ignores my ISP so I get the visitors number. I had a country counter but eliminate it because was a trial offer. I want to find a free one. I'm always curious to know where my visitors are from.

Ridgewoman said...

I have a map counter (free) which is interesting because it lists how many folks from each country visit and running totals. I'm up to 10,000 + since October of 08 to 09. It's fun to see all the pins where folks live; and, sometimes I look up on my IPod Atlas, which areas of the country are visiting. With all these answers, you definitley weren't talking to yourself. BTW, I visit your blog each time you post ~ since I'm a "follower." LOL
X Mate, Bev

Carol said...

I too am the quiet type, rarely commenting but I follow anonymously and read every post. I don't know about the counters except that on some blogs that tell where your visitor is from my visit lists different cities on different counters and although all the cities are nearby it isn't usually the town I actually live in so I don't consider those terribly accurate.

This is good food for thought as I and a friend are both new to blogging and will consider all of your input. I also love all your patterns. You motivate me to practice and learn new techniques!

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