Tech Tuesdays #1: On the Look Out

Inspired by my recent posts on using Twitter and Google's AdWords to market my Etsy store, I thought I would start a new series - Tech Tuesdays. In this series, I'll explore some of the web-based tools that work-at-home moms are using to promote their websites and blogs.

Since setting shop, I've been trying to find ways to reach those who might be interested in my creative endeavors. In part, that's how this blog and my Babeecrafts Twitter account got started. But, how do I know if they're working? How do I know if anyone out there hears me? Hello!? Are you out there? Below are some tools that you can use in conjunction with your website or blog to check in on who's checking you out.

A Peek at Who's Peeking:

• Feedjit is a great and free little widget that you can customize and add to your site to track who accesses your site, when, and from where. By tracking the IP addresses that connect to your site, Feedjit "listens" to see who accesses your page, for how long, how they arrived, and how they leave your site. Check out my Feedjit at the bottom of this blog.


• Google Analytics is another free way to track who visits your website, when, and how long. As mentioned in an earlier post, Google Analytics can be used to see what keywords people have used to find your site. And as an added bonus, if you are using Google's AdWords to advertise your site, you can connect your Analytics page to your AdWords page which allows you to see what keywords some has used to both find your site and have resulted in a sale. Interested in learning more? Check out CraftyPod's video series - Google Analytics for Crafters.


• StatCounter, as described on their website, is a free yet reliable invisible web tracker, highly configurable hit counter, and real-time detailed web stats. Insert a simple piece of our code on your web page or blog and you will be able to analyze and monitor all the visitors to your website in real-time! It takes the best of Feedjit and Google Analytics and puts it in one place.


• ClustrMaps, in addition to adding a nifty little map to your website or blog, when ClustrMap loads on your site, it increments a counter and shows the locations of all visitors to your page, cumulatively (even for huge numbers). Clicking on it zooms in to a big world map, and lets you zoom in to the continents.

And, What Are They Saying?

• Social Mention crawls social media sites for mention of your search terms. Track what people are saying about you, your company, a new product, or any topic across 80+ social media sites.


• Who's Talkin (or if you look at their url, it could also be who stalkin) works much like Social Mention in that it crawls the web for mentions of your name or website on social media sources.


• Google Alerts are easy to set up searches that are sent directly to your email inbox. Set one up with your name, your shop's name, or your blog's web address. Any time someone mentions you on the web, Google will send you an email to let you know where to find the mention. Need help creating your first alert? Check out this handout.


• Pipl searches the "deep web" for information, pictures, and more. Plug your name into the search engine and see what Pipl pulls back.

Hopefully these tools will help you figure out who your audience is in order to better reach them. Stay tuned for more Tech Tuesday posts!