Setting up a blog can be time consuming, however, I find that micromanaging my blogs is even more time consuming.
Since starting my blogs, I have changed the theme, added advertising, familiarized myself with WordPress, Bluehost (my hosting company), and started to learn a lot of new computer language. I’m currently researching how to make my blog easier to navigate, plus I want to link articles together.
Finding, or rather, making the time to do all of this, can be overwhelming. I’ve been trying to discipline myself to spend a certain amount of time each day to direct my attention to this process. Since I have two blogs, more of my time is required, however, to be successful, I feel it’s a small price to pay.
Hint: If you’re feeling overwhelmed as a novice blogger, I think it helps to continue to work with what you know, and when you feel ready to increase your knowledge about the process, add only one element at a time. Then, move forward only after you’re comfortable with what you’ve learned.
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I recently applied to LinkShare’s affiliate program, and got accepted. Today I reviewed their site and picked a handful of companies to advertise. Click here to become a LinkShare.com
Affiliate!
LinkShare has different advertisers than Commission Junction. I think by using both, I will have a good variety of products to advertise. If you have favorite stores or sites that you frequent, chances are, one of the affiliate programs will have a contract with them.
I think both LinkShare and Commission Junction review your blog before they accept you, so I think it helps if you have quite a few posts for them to preview.
When adding advertising to your blog, check both Commission Junction and LinkShare. I think they both have a lot to offer as you expand your blog.
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In memory of the Virginia Tech victims, please take a moment of silence to pray for the families and friends of the victims, as they mourn the loss of their loved ones.
Their lives will never be the same, but may they find hope and comfort in knowing that people all around the world are praying for them. Their loved ones may be gone, but they will never be forgotten.
And, as you pray for the families and friends of the victims, take time to hold your own loved ones a little tigther, and remember to count your blessings.
In my previous article, I wrote about AWStats. Keep in mind, the progress of your blog can be seen in your AWStats.
As a new blogger, I have decided to have some fun and have made a copy of my awstats for my first 16 days. I’ve reached over 100 “unique visitors” (111 to be exact) and have had 313 “visits”, giving me a daily average of 20 visits. These numbers may seem small if you compare them to the pro bloggers (who get tens of thousands of visits a day), however, they had to start at the bottom, too. I’ve included my awstats copies in my “blogging binder”, and as I progress, will be able to look back and see where I came from. Granted, I will see hills and valleys in my awstats, however, my goal is to see an overall increase in my traffic numbers.
Since my goal is to average one post per day, I will hopefully build up a good clientèle of visitors. I realize my blog isn’t for everyone, as the information I post would be quite elementary for those who are knowledgeable in the computer language. However, with blogging getting more popular, everyone has to start somewhere. My hope is that new bloggers will be able to gain knowledge from what I’ve written, and find that it makes it easier for them to understand different terminology and procedures. I also want to alert new bloggers of problems I’ve encountered, and hopefully they can avoid repeating my mistakes.
Try this for yourself, and let me know how you’re doing. Are you having fun yet? I am.
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Only recently did I learn what AWStats are. AWStats are a free reporting tool that analyzes traffic to a website, or blog. It records the number of visits to your site, the number of unique visitors, the “hits” and “pages” numbers and gives you charts of very detailed information about these visitors.
Since I use Bluehost as my hosting server, I find the AWStats under the “Stats/Logs” section of the CPanel. Remember to go to “Stats Manager” page and enable the stats for your site. After the stats are enabled, then click on “Web/FTP Stats” and it will give you a list of options. Click on the “Awstats” and you’ll see the results of the traffic to your site. Since I have two sites, I also click on “Subdomain stats”. The stats are usually updated daily.
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I like looking at the “visits duration” section, as this tells you how long a visitor spent on your site. It tells you that you had “x” numbers of visitors, for an average of “x” s (or seconds). If you divide the seconds by 60, that will give you the average number of minutes spent on your site. If you see a high number after the “0s-30s”, this indicates that a visitor probably just clicked on your site, didn’t see what they were looking for, and clicked off. My goal is to reduce that number, but I haven’t figured out what a good percentage would be. I’m happy to see some visitors spending more time on my site, as hopefully they are gaining some information from what I’ve written.
Stats are fun to see, however, at this point in time, I’m not going to get too hung up on them. Some days my stats are discouraging, but I’m not going to let them affect my attitude about blogging. After all, they’re just numbers. I rate my blog on how much value I can pass onto others.
Hi. I'm Barbara Swafford & I'd like to welcome you to Blogging Without A Blog. Grab a seat, share your thoughts and join in the conversation. 
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