On one hand, I am saddened by the fact that we're basically handing over all of our Internet data to Google--a company which may one day make Microsoft look like a mom-and-pop operation. On the other hand, Google Analytics offers a dirt-cheap (read: free) and easy way to compile some useful statistics about our Web sites.
Before we set up Google Analytics on TAMMIES.com, we had no way of compiling stats on the site, because we didn't build TAMMIES.com from scratch, but instead used a dirt-cheap (read: basically free), existing platform to set it up. But now, I can tell you that according to Google, TAMMIES.com has received four visits from France between late last week and Monday night (March 24). Three visits were from Paris; one came from Toulouse.
Meanwhile, the blog received four visits from India over the last week: two from Bangalore, and one each from Hyderabad and New Dehli. And our main Web site, tucsonweekly.com, is huge in Britain, receiving 310 visits from 166 different towns/cities in the United Kingdom.
Within the last week, so says Google, people in 107 countries visited tucsonweekly.com. About 63 percent of the Web site visits came from people using Internet Explorer, with Firefox used in about 27 percent of the visits, and Safari in 9 percent. Three visits came on PlayStation Portable. About 84 percent of the visitors used Windows; 14 percent used a Mac.
I could go on, but I won't. Just know this: This is just one tool we'll be using to make sure that all of our online readers are served as well as they possibly can.
And if you're reading this from Hyderabad ... please, drop us a line and say hello.
