Blogging: BlogBeat, a Critical Look

I’m rapidly becoming known on my political blog for critical and satirical looks at the political spectrum.  I’m going to attempt my first crit/sat look at a blogging application. (Hat tip to amblogger.net for this one.)

Blogbeat is a tracking application, much like Google Analytics.  Although BlogBeat does not include all of the pretty graphs, and multiple types of statistics that Analytics contains.  BlogBeat appears to be designed for the lowest common denominator, writing things so it’s easy to understand what the statistics mean.  Thus far, it appears BlogBeat tracks the following:

• General Summary
• Recent Visitors
• Recently Viewed Posts
• Recent Referrers
• Recent Searches
• Recent Clicks (on links?)
• Visitors by Day (total and new), Time of Day, and Day of Week
• Browsers, Languages, OS, and Screen Resolutions

It’s much like SiteMeter on crack.

I signed up for the system, and immediately implanted the javascript code on my website.  I then loaded my blog, and looked at the stats.  It immediately picked up on my visit, and displayed it in the statistics, however it showed the visit as having been six hours ago, when - in fact - it had been only about two minutes.

Signing up for BlogBeat is an interesting experience.  There are a few discrepancies in the system, as well.  For instance, on their home page, they list a link called “blog.”  One would assume this is a link to their blog.  The address for their “blog” is http://blog.blogbeat.net.  Notice a discrepancy, yet?  Yep.  The sign-up page is .org.  The blog is .net.  That’s not all.  Upon going to their “blog,” I am presented with their pretty front page. Again. 
No blog, just more drivel to get you to sign up.

Oh, one other little thing?  BlogBeat is only free for the first 30 days.  Then, pricing is based on the number of page views per month (with up to 500,000 (which would cover most blogs) being a scant $6.00(USD) per month).  The only problem?  I cannot find a link to purchase an account, anywhere.  Ah well, I guess they’ll send me a link in e-mail once my free trial expires.

Oh, yes, before we go further, let’s break down their FAQ, shall we?  It’s given me cause for pause.  I’m sure you’ll understand why.  The below blockquotes are direct copy and paste from their FAQ page:

What is Blogbeat?

Blogbeat is an online service that can tell you all sorts of cool things about your blog, like who’s reading it, what posts they’re reading, what posts are your most popular, what other blogs are talking about you, how people find you, even what links people click on when they visit your blog. Simply register with us in a few simple steps, and you instantly get tons of cool stats on your blog! Everything is done in real-time, so as soon as someone reads a post on your blog, you will know about it.

Okay… so “We’re supa cool”?  Gotcha.  Though the way that answer reads, you’d think they were like Technorati crossed with Analytics.  Nope.  No blog/conversation tracking, at all.  Only referral tracking.

Why would I pay for this when other services are free?

Well, for starters, because the “free” services are limited to a set number of page views (Blogbeat is not), they are filled with ads (Blogbeat has no ads), and they weren’t designed to keep up with blogs (Blogbeat was). Plus Blogbeat offers API access, RSS tracking, and a lot more blog-specific features those other guys don’t offer.

Hmmm…  Blogbeat offers blog-specific features?  The only “blog-specific” feature I’ve seen is that BlogBeat can access Feedburner’s API and tell you your feedburner stats.  Speaking of, BlogBeat’s own RSS feed is Feedburner powered.

What blog software does this work with?

We work with any blog software that supports blogging.

As opposed to a blog software that doesn’t support blogging?  Wouldn’t that be… a static website?  (By the way, I’m pretty sure they’ll work with static websites, too. heh.)

How do I use your tracking script?

Simply place the javascript tag from your registration email somewhere in the HTML of your blog software. The best place is a header or footer template. If you’re stuck and need help, please email us and we’ll be glad to help you get set up.

Okay….  Oh, and WordPress users?  What they don’t tell you is “don’t place this in ‘the loop’.”  I highly suggest placing it at the very bottom of your footer template.  That way, if their service fails to respond, or takes a while, the rest of your page will still display.

I forgot my password.

That’s really more of a statement than a question, right? This is “frequently asked questions“, afterall. Anyway, go to the lost password page and you’ll be all square soon.

Yes, people, it is a statement.  However, it is a statement that is asking an understood question.  In other words, by saying “I forgot my password,” they are actually saying, “I forgot my password, how do I get it back?“  In other words, don’t be pains.  (Just wait, the pain progresses to actual a–holiness in a moment…)

Why would I hook your script up to my blog?

We already know about how you rip all your post ideas from Slashdot and make like you found them. So it’s not such a big deal for us to keep track of your blog stats, is it? Besides, read our privacy policy and you’ll see that we’re all about your privacy.

Uh, say what?!  Excuse me?  Hmm… I sign up for what is supposedly a great service, look at the FAQ, and not only get a holier-than-thou attitude, I get insulted.  Nooooot a good business model.

Will you make me have a tacky image on my blog with your name all over it?

Um, no. If you want one, we can certainly provide you with one. Otherwise we are completely invisible on your blog.

WRONG!  Let’s see.  In loading my blog six times, after installing their code, I have gotten stuck twice, waiting for their code to execute before the rest of the page loaded (which is why I moved it to the footer).  On the status bar for the web browser?  Their URL, waiting… … … and finally, the word “done.”  Technically, they are invisible on the blog, itsself… just not in the browser. heh.

Oh, yes, one other little drawback to their service?  They will only track users who have javascript enabled.  Non-javascript users (and I often surf without it) will not. show. up.

BlogBeat, in my opinion, is simply trying too much, too quickly.  Drop the “we kick so much a$$” attitude, work on what you offer (blog centric? heh), and then come out in a blaze of marketing.

For now, my rating for BlogBeat is a three out of ten (2 of 10).  It would have been a four of ten, but the attitude got me.  They’re really not offering much more than is out there, already, except the ability to track FeedBurner, as well.  Then again, perhaps I’ve just missed it?  Doubt it.

Technorati Tags: BlogBeat, Blog Beat, statistics

Help spread the love and Share This