Savor the Success - Business Network for women entrepreneurs

My name is Alisa Bowman and I am addicted to Google Analytics. I've been addicted for about six months, since the very first time I opened it. This addiction has, of course, caused some undesirable problems, most of which are related to an incredible drop in my overall productivity. Still, I like to see the glass half full, and the positive thinker that I am has this to say: I've learned a lot from this addiction. I've learned:

• Most people read blogs while they are at work. This is why your blog traffic will predictably take a nosedive on weekends and national holidays. Don't cry on Christmas. They will come back.

• StumbleUpon can bring you a lot of traffic, but it mostly comes from people who stay on your site for less than a minute and never come back.

• Google Analytics defaults to give you a month of traffic at a time, but you can find out how you are doing on any given day by clicking on the little calendar and narrowing it down to that date you want. These numbers, however, will always be slightly off. I've, for instance, gone to bed thinking that no one loves me anymore because my traffic for that day was 100 visitors lower than usual. Then I've woken, checked Analytics, and determined that people think I am so the bomb and then some because my traffic from the day before was actually double what I'd thought it was.

• Some days your traffic will be down, but the number of comments on your site will be up. On those days, you should tell yourself, "The true mark of a successful blogger is the number of comments one receives. Plus, Google Analytics is notoriously unreliable."

• On other days, your traffic will be sky high, but no one will comment. On those days, you should tell yourself, "Google Analytics is the best invention ever. And it's so totally accurate. The true mark of a successful blogger is the number of people who come to that blogger's site. Who cares about comments? Not me."

• On some days your traffic will be up and so will your comments. On those days you should wear a cape.

• On some days your traffic will be down and so will your comments. On those days you should call your mother and ask her to read and comment on your blog.

• If you write anything with the word "sex" in it, a lot of people will come to your blog to read it. You should write about sex whenever your self confidence as a blogger is low.
  

• When people type a keyword into Google, they are much more likely to type in something negative, such as "bad marriage" than something positive, such as "happily ever after."

• There are quite a few people who want to know how to spank their husbands. Although I'm somewhat perplexed by why Google takes them to my site when they type this in as a search term, I think I might make the best of the situation and write a blog about the proper way to do it.
  
  
  
• There are also people who want to know how to have sex with their dogs. I don't plan to write about this--ever.
  
  

• There are also quite a few people who'd like to know about "women's favorite sex toys." I'm thinking about it.
  

• Some keywords are easier to nab than others. For instance, "James Bond Marathon"? It's so easy to rank high with that keyword. I mentioned that phrase once in a blog that was about something completely different and now 22 people a month come to my blog in search of the James Bond Marathon. Unfortunately, my blog is a disappointment to them. Nearly all of them leave as soon as my land page loads. The phrase "marriage advice," however, has proven much more elusive, but the people who come to my site after typing that in are much more likely to stay.

If you liked this blog, then you wil simply love Alisa's blog about her plans for how she would conduct business were she the First Lady. "Why I Wish Michelle Obama Would Wear Fleece" is the must-read of the week, say other members of Savor the Success. To date, it has generated many comments, but not so much traffic, because Alisa made the dire mistake of posting it on a National Holiday. Please allow Alisa to wear her Blogging Cape. Click through and generate some traffic. Leave a comment. Count it as your good deed of the day.