App of the week: phonealytics – measure blog success with WP7
Filed under: app of the week, apps, technology, Windows Phone 7
For the last few years I have been obsessed with blogging, and part of that obsession has to do with the rush that comes from measuring success. I am talking about page views – lots of them!
It’s also no secret that I am fairly obsessed with Windows Phone. It took me a while to merge my geek lifestyle with WP7 but over the last few updates, notably the Mango update I’ve spoken about at length, things really just clicked for me.
And what really tipped me over the edge from my iPhone app obsession called ‘Ego’ was the tip off by the notable WP7 expert, Sheeds, of WP Down Under to the most excellent app ‘phonealtyics’.
PhoneaIytics is an app that pulls data in from Google Analytics, so if you are a blogger or Webmaster of any sort interested in traffic to your site then this is for you.
Fast, intuitive and easy to use, this is my favourite WP7 app. There are two versions a free version and a $2.49 version. I paid for the full version because I really like the interactive live tile function of WP7 that is missing from the free version. For me it just makes sense to pay for the quick hit info you get from seeing exactly how your website is tracking on your homescreen.
Diving into the app, you have an abundance of live site information right at your fingertips.
On the front page you have site usage, a quick tap on the bottom right hand corner of the screen allows you to tap and switch between day, week, month and year views, and also gives you the option to pin this page to your home screen – with live tile action!
The next page gives you source view in a nice pie chart (not a big fan on this, but some people like charts) then you have top content by page view, moving on you get to the good stuff. Search Engine results and referral sites, commonly called referral links.
Tapping into either of those icons pulls up a range of different information about referral links, the volume of visits, page views and bounce rate. Again, all of this insight is really handy for helping you understand what makes your blog work.
If you want to optimise for key words, the info is included within Search Engine results too. One tap reveals the most search traffic you are getting defined by keyword – really good to know for writing content that gets searched!
I really like this app because it is accurate, and very simple to use. It’s intuitive right from the get go, slide tap and refresh is all you need to know.
Goodbye Ego, hello Phonealytics!
Related Links
- Phonealytics: The free one. (no funky automatic updating live tiles)
- Phonealytics: The paid version. (like a hamburger with the lot)
- WP Down Under
- Peter’s Kitchen
Dan,
Thanks for the kind mention. It really is a great Aussie made App
Having the stats delivered via Live Tiles on your home screen is a real plus and time saver.
Nice article, and good to see your support (and Telstra’s) of the platform as a viable alternative.
Cheers,
Sheeds.
No worries Sheeds, thanks for the app tip!
While I used this when I first bought my Lumia, i’ve since moved on to using “InTheKnow” as its a much more complete app for Google Analytics.
Phonealytics simply doesn’t have enough reports for me to get good value from the app.
Another tip off! Thanks Gabe, I hadn’t heard of this one either until now *scurries off to Marketplace*
=)
Cheers Dan,
still one of my faves, like the simplicity of phonealytics. Like how direct it is, and that you can visit where links are coming from in browser on the phone.
It’s great to see Windows Phone featured, it gets overlooked often.
Thanks for your help with screen grabs too Peter! I am not geeky enough to dev-unlock my device
I really like cruising the app on a daily basis, it has heaps of excellent and relevant data to consider when thinking about optimisation and traffic.