When we set out to monetize our blogs we need to be equipped with the proper knowledge. Implementing ad services like Google AdSense and WidgetBucks helps generate money. Social networking sites like StumbleUpon will help drive traffic to our site. But how exactly do we monitor our progress? Are we supposed to rely on our good looks to get by?



I don’t think so.

We need tools that we can rely on daily to monitor our blogs. It’s important for us to answer questions like: How many people viewed my site? What pages were they interested in? Is my traffic this month better than the last? Will Michael Jackson make another comeback?



Ok, so maybe we won't answer the last question.

Here are my top 3 FREE website monitoring tools:

3.) Google Webmaster

By registering with this service you can find out:

• When Google last indexed your blog for searching.


• What the top search queries are for your site.


• Details about who is linking to you from external sites.

The Webmaster tool suite (this is just one) is essential in identifying how Google sees your blog and what, if any adjustments need to be made.

2.) Google Analytics

Google Analytics is another free service that is provided with the tool suite. The reports displayed here are easily the most comprehensive set that you will see – especially for free. Here are just some of the statistics that you can monitor:

• Page visits by day, week, month, and year.


• Your traffic sources – what sites they came from.


• Visitor loyalty – how many repeat visitors do you have?


• Absolute unique visitors.


• Browsers that your visitors are using.

These statistics are really just the tip of iceberg. Anyone who is trying make money with their blog should have this page bookmarked.

1.) HiTail

There’s no question that Google Analytics is the king of blog monitoring. But personally, I find HitTail to be an absolute blast.

HitTail will actually show a chart of your visitors and how they got there – IN REAL TIME! So let’s say someone types “make money to blog” in Google and hits my site. If I have HitTail open, it will show that at 10:40am a visitor found my site by typing in “make money to blog” in Google search. How cool is that?

If you’re interested in a step-by-step tutorial to get started with HiTail, check out my article here.

So there you have it - Three excellent tools to help you monitor your blogs progress. By taking the time to understand these free services you can help generate more money from your blog. You’ll be able to see what’s popular and what’s not. And you can even start to make tweaks to your site by following real time stats! These tools are a must have if you’re serious about monetizing your content.