Ask a Jedi: Best way to handle feed stats

Che asks:

Ray, n00b RSS question. I have several hundred RSS feeds not related to blog content, but rather to auto classifieds... how can I tell how many people are subscribing to them? If there are subscribers, I don't see them in Google Analytics. Any ideas would be aprreciated.

Good question. If you are like me, you welcomed Google Analytics with open arms as it meant no more need to parse log files. Unfortunately, since Google Analytics requires a JavaScript file on the page, it doesn't help with things like RSS feeds.

You could go back to simply parsing logs. Analog (a free command line program) has always been pretty good at it. Back when I used to parse my DeathClock logs, it would go through them extremely quickly. (Back when I last ran DeathClock, it got around 4+ million hits per month.)

The second option is probably the easiest - use FeedBurner. I've been using FeedBurner for a while now and it's a handy way to get your feed stats. You can also use FeedBurner for site stats as well, preventing you from having to use both it and Google Analytics.

As always - I'm open to other suggestions here.

Comments (3) May 27, 2008 1:35 PM Views: 1333

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Ray

This is good stuff to know ... Doing SEO ... I have a bit of experience with on-page optimization. Yet, lately I have found that I need to increase my readership with newsletters, feeds and blogging.
# Posted By Edward Beckett | 5/27/08 2:36 PM
Ray: How about a simple query on the RSS feed page that records information about the client (Specific request, Time, IP address, etc.) to a SQL table? Then you'll have a compact, application-specific log file that only has the information you wish to track.
# Posted By Albert | 5/29/08 10:01 AM
Sure that would work. I'd worry about it though under load. "Possibly" worry I should say. RSS tends to get hit a LOT more then non-RSS, so you will greatly increase your db traffic. Also - it feels kinda wrong to me to log to the db at the same time your web server is logging as well.
# Posted By Raymond Camden | 5/29/08 11:39 AM
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