Journal of a Minnesota Angler

My name is MNAngler and I am an analytics-aholic.

It all started in June of last year when I started this blog. I added a Google Analytics tracking code for visitor statistics. I was a little disappointed that the reports were a few hours behind. It was annoying, but bearable. Later I found out that WordPress had its own stats tracking plugin and I could have real time stats as soon as I logged in to my admin dashboard. I got immediate satisfaction rather than having to wait til the next day to see results. That was great.

But it didn’t stop there.

In my quest to get new readers and make a name for myself, I joined some blog listing sites. But many of these sites also double as statistical sites listing your blog with how many hits you get. Their badge is their tracking code. I started with two at first, then added another, and another. Before I knew it I had registered with 15 of them.

Before long I found sitemeter, which not only tells you how many visits and hits you get by the hour, but also where the visit came from and how many pages they viewed.

Then I stumbled upon statcounter which took it a step further. They do just as much as sitemeter, but give you the actual page path of each visitor. So then I could see exactly where they came from and which pages they jumped from and to. I was getting more addicted with each new stat tracker I added.

Now I’m not just checking my stats daily, but almost hourly. I hop from WordPress stats to sitemeter to statcounter, absorbing all the information they care to give me. I get a rush whenever I see a jump from my last check and am disappointed when it doesn’t change. I have to resist to keep from checking it more than once an hour.

Fortunately, the fan count on my Facebook Fan page doesn’t change that often, so I only have check that one every few days.

I started recognizing a problem when I started checking stats even before checking my personal email in the morning. And now I sit alone in a dark room late at night hitting refresh… refresh… refresh.

My work productivity is suffering. I’m ignoring my wife, my kids. Last night we were headed out and I heard myself say, “Wait! Just one more refresh!”

To make matters worse, while I was writing this article, I found Woopra and Clicky, both of which return real time results in a spiffy dashboard. Woopra is even a Windows-based app, so now I can have my stats at any time without even having to log into a web site.

I know I need help and that’s why I’ve come to Analytics Anonymous. Would anyone like to be my sponsor?