[Blogger] Stats missing / Reset

The other day bloggers logged onto their blogs to notice that all of their stats had zero'd out. This was just a temporary bug. You should now see your stats back as they were.

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Blogger Spam Messages

Been receiving quite a few of messages like this lately. This will be common for you if you share email addresses on your blog publicly.  The messages come with a LinkedIn link to the supposed person, with a few connections and some random info.

---

Hi,

Please let me introduce myself, my name is Melinda 

and I work as a link development manager for euSERP.

While doing research for one of my partners I noticed  ***blog url***

and I would like to tell you more about what I can do for you.

In my portfolio I have collection of well maintained websites that can

match your site in terms of subject, quality and relationship.

I would like that both my sites and yours will gain more traffic,

visibility and higher rankings in search engines. If you are interested

and would like to get more information about my proposal I would be happy to send

you all the details necessary to make it happen, just drop me a line.

Melinda Leary

euserp.com

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Easiest Blogger insert code snippets methods

These sites let you paste code in and get html-escaped colored code back that is easy to read.

#1 - http://hilite.me/

#2 - http://formatmysourcecode.blogspot.co.uk/

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How to remove referral spam from Google Analytics

Sites like www.trafficfaker.com , domar.ru , etc. are all annoying as they add nonsense to our blog traffic data. While there is no immediate way to block them from showing in our stats page, we can hide them from Google analytics. 

Here is a step by step process to do that:

1. Login to google analytics

2. Under the website profiles, click on "Edit"

3. Click on "Add Filter"

   a. Enter the name of the filter (ex: "Banned sites")

   b. Select "predefined filter"

   c. Select "Exclude"

   d. Select "Traffic from the domains"

   e. Select "That contain"

   f. Enter "trafficfaker.com"

   g. Select not case sensitive

And click on 'save changes'

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How to add a Paypal Donate button to your blog or site

Here is how to add a paypal donate button to your blog :

1. Log in to your PayPal account.

2. Click Merchant Services.

3. Click Donations.

4. Complete the form with the details of your item and select the Donation button you wish to use. For assistance with this process, click More Resources in the upper right corner of this page.

5. In the Currency drop down box, select the type of currency you would like to receive your payments in.

6. If you need to specify additional details, click Add More Options and fill out the appropriate fields, otherwise click Create Button Now.

7. If you selected Add More Options, click Create Button Now.

8. Copy the HTML code into a text file in Notepad and save it. Click Done if you are finished creating buttons, or click on Create Another Button if you want to make additional buttons.

9. Login at Blogger.com.

10. Click on Layout link on Dashboard.

11. Click the Add page Element link in sidebar on the Page Elements subtab of Template tab.

12. Choose the Html/Javascript option in the popup window.

13. Paste the code from Paypal under the Contents window. Save.

14. Clear Cache and view Blog.

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Blogger: How to change the title of the view comments link on blog posts

You have a blog and you want to change the comments link as shown above. It is very simple, and only involves editing a portion of the code where the comments information is used.

1. Go to Templates, then Edit HTML

2. Select "Expand Widgit Templates"

Now hit ctrl+f to start a search on the page. Look up "meta_comments"

It will bring you to this section

From here you will see in the paragraph "No comments" " comment" and "comments" (for 0, 1, and >=2 comments respectively)

Edit those sections however you choose (see above for example)

Your posts will now have the changed comment titles! Enjoy!

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Why Isn't my Blog getting any Hits ? Views? Comments? Likes?

The tirade of blogs out there all have one goal in mind; getting hits. Some do, many don't. Here are some tips to help boost your hits:

1. Have an attractive website. Nothing is more offputting than an ugly distorted website. If your site design is garbage, your content is probably garbage too.
   FIX: Download templates
2. Allow interaction and social networking. People like to be the ones to be informed. Sharing cool and new things on Facebook gives them that aura of independence and intelligence. Sure it is your information, but they found it and shared it. So give them the ability to do so. And make it easy. Each blog post should have Like/1+/Tweet this, and other social networks if you so choose to engage. But those are the top 3. Maybe add reddit in there too.
3. Promote social interactions on your site. That means, allow anonymous comments, delete spam, and reply to user comments. Nothing appeals less to a site visitor than a blog without any social interaction. It tells them that the blog is not very known, popular, important, or relevant to the data or information they are seeking.
4. Search keywords. For examples of how to name your blogs, try searching the topic that you're writing on in google. You will get a list of similar search items as you type. Copy those to your blog post. Those are previous searches and popular ones. Alternatively, use keyword research https://adwords.google.com
5. Dont be fooled by spambots (referral spam). They will hit your blog to get you to visit their site. Does not represent an actual person.
6. DONT CLICK YOUR ADS. If you want to lose your ad privileges altogether, click them. Google has been around the block with cheaters and fake clicks. They can easily spot fake clicks. So don't try and outsmart your ads provider; it is a losing battle. On the same note, you can probably get away with your friends clicking your ads, but again, Google has excellent detection methods for fraud clicks. Play it safe and play it legit, dont click them.
7. If you accidentally click an ad, it will usually be 'forgiven' and not counted. It has happened to me, the click has $0.00 payout. Just be careful not to keep doing it, otherwise google will think youre trying to cheat.
8. 
   

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Devdef.com does not represent real traffic on Blogger Stats

If you are a blogger owner then you've probably been subject to http://www.devdef.com hits to your blog, even as early as days after creating a new blog. You are curious as to who is linking to your blog, so you visit the site only to be presented with a stupid video or get rich quick scheme. 


The numbers reflected in our Stats logs do not represent any actual traffic against our blogs, or any websites with links to our blogs. The only person who benefits from referer spam is the owner of the advertised (fake referer URL) sites - and that happens only when we click on the links in the Stats display.

Only Stats, which builds its pageview counts and graphs using the Blogger server activity logs, is subject to referer spam. All third party visitor logs and meters, which depend upon snippets or widgets added to the blog template, are not subject to this problem.

What you can do:

1. Don't click on the links.

2. Get a third party visitor log / meter, for accurate and comprehensive pageview counts.

Here are two great alternatives to Stats:

1.  www.revolvermaps.com - Get a spinning globe that shows real-time hits and overall hits (like the one you see on the right panel of this website!)

2. http://whos.amung.us/ - Get a counter that shows up on your website for all users, who can click on it to navigate to the stats website to see more in-depth statistics. You can pay for upgraded services and additional statistics (but free works great too!)

List of Common Referral Spam URLS

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You Wont Make Any Money With A Bullshit Blog

A blog is just a blog until you make it unique. So many startup blogs on "Black hat" "white hat" bullshit seo websites/forums/etc. Every guy and his friend have started up a shitty blog with generic, bullshit content that only gets hits from keywords. You might have made it here for the same reason, but let's hope not.

Adsense - an easy way to make money online! Sure is, if youre not a douche about it. Here is a prime example of the bullshit im talking about: http://blogs.ewebpedia.com/

Are you asking "why? why is that site douchy?" If you're not... you should be. Easy. The site is an attempt to make money, with content links and a littering of ads. Not only that, the information is shot straight out of the content writer's (or copier's) ass. Take a look at it for yourself. You see a giant blob of text. Real engaging right? No.

Pointless shitty websites whose sole interest is for the creator to make some money. You want to find more, just head over to the DigitalPoint forums; every guy from India and Pakistan has posted a thread on those boards asking why their sites get no hits.

So what are all these guys doing wrong? Theyre thinking about THEMSELVES. They take a look at the design and say "Hey, this has a lot of links, social networking opportunities,  and content! Why no one like my website?"

Here is why; Because your website SUCKS. There are good websites and bad websites. Ones that are easy to use and attractive and ones that are ugly and hard to use. But no one has the heart to tell you that. Your friends wont let you down; they're your friends. They have to be supportive. Forums will do the same at the users' fright to be banned for flaming. This shit continues to populate our internet because of how easy it is for any Joe Jerkoff to make a blog or website.

Here's the deal. You want your website to catch on, you got to give it some real fucking content. Like this. Right here. Im not saying find real content and copy it. Im saying make your content. Only start blogs on content you know about. Content that you will continually expand upon or develop. If you dont have important insight to offer, then delete your blog. It will be useless because there are 20 more blogs that offer the same exact articles.

End rant


More reasons:

Bullshit Blogging: 15 reasons you’ll never have an A-List blog

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List of Blogger targeted Stats Spammers

These are spam referrals. They are links that appear to link to your blog, but really dont. A macro or botting program is instead used and hits your blog page and many other blogs with their referring url. Then, blog owners, eager to see the increase in statistics, see that a lot is coming from one of these websites. Curiosity strikes and they choose to visit the webpage, only to be subject to the spam referrers content. Beware!!!

#1 http://domar.ru/
#2 http://ow.ly/7Md0Z
#3 http://ow.ly/7OeAd
#4 http://getdentalimplantsinfo.com/
#5 http://aromatherapycourse.blogspot.com/
#6 http://freebiescom.org/
#7 http://latestnewstoday.org/amazon-best-buy-open-cyber-monday-deals-on-sunday/
#8 http://purecosmeticstips.com/how-to-choose-the-best-natural-cosmetics-for-your-skin/
#9 http://www.777seo.com/seo.php?username=martyxmas&format=ptp
#10 alipbatasaja-blogspot.cx.cc/02cara-internet-percuma.ph
#11 http://www.777seo.com/seo.php?username=martyxmas&format=ptp
#12 http://www.googlecorrection.com/
#13 http://www.justforlaughsgags.tv/
#14 http://www.roznica.com.ua/

http://www.roznica.com.ua/goodsdetails_pliti-gorenje-gi-63293-aw-gi_37195.html
http://www.roznica.com.ua/goodsdetails_flesh-pamyat-usb-transcend-jetflash-v30_6051.html
http://www.roznica.com.ua/goodsdetails_sumki-chehli-futlyari-hp-basic-carrying_22308.html
http://www.roznica.com.ua/goodsdetails_vnutrennie-hdd-ssd-samsung-spinpoint-f3_11128.html
http://www.roznica.com.ua/goodsdetails_akkumulyatori-craftmann-standarts-lgip-580a-1500mah_28959.html
http://www.roznica.com.ua/goodsdetails_mikrovolnovie-pechi-gorenje-mo20dw-mo20dw_15375.html
http://www.roznica.com.ua/goodsdetails_kofevarki-scarlett-sc-1032-sc-1032_9870.html
http://www.roznica.com.ua/goodsdetails_flesh-pamyat-usb-silicon-power-touch_9762.html
http://www.roznica.com.ua/goodsdetails_uvlazhniteli-ergo-hu-0801-hu-0801_29927.html
http://www.roznica.com.ua/goodsdetails_shini-goodyear-ultragrip-8-185-60_39747.html
http://boardreader.com/domain/lovendar.com?na_fw_id=%271593770

http://70.32.81.92/url/:lovendar.com/photos/mandolux/
http://ow.ly/8wDjj
seolog.info
buyhomehere.info
http://t.co/tGItCVBZ
http://boardreader.com/domain/lovendar.com?na_fw_id=%271593770

Known Spammers:

martyxmas

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http://www.justforlaughsgags.tv/ Referrer Spam does Not Represent Real Traffic To Blogs

If you are a blogger owner then you've probably been subject to 777seo hits to your blog, even as early as days after creating a new blog. You are curious as to who is linking to your blog, so you visit the site only to be presented with a stupid video or get rich quick scheme. 

Problem:  I have a lot of traffic by the above locations, what I find on the internet is that this is a problem. Popups too are irritating How do I get rid of all these idiots? I only have a simple blog and not a wizz with computers........

Probably this link: (dont click it)
(http://www.justforlaughsgags.tv/)

The numbers reflected in our Stats logs do not represent any actual traffic against blogs, or any websites with links to our blogs. The only person who benefits from referer spam is the owner of the advertised (fake referer URL) sites - and that happens only when we click on the links in the Stats display.

Only Stats, which builds its pageview counts and graphs using the Blogger server activity logs, is subject to referer spam. All third party visitor logs and meters, which depend upon snippets or widgets added to the blog template, are not subject to this problem.


What you can do:


1. Don't click on the links.
2. Get a third party visitor log / meter, for accurate and comprehensive pageview counts.

Here are two great alternatives:

1.  www.revolvermaps.com - Get a spinning globe that shows real-time hits and overall hits (like the one you see on the right panel of this website!)

2. http://whos.amung.us/ - Get a counter that shows up on your website for all users, who can click on it to navigate to the stats website to see more in-depth statistics. You can pay for upgraded services and additional statistics (but free works great too!)


List of Common Referral Spam URLS

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www.googlecorrection.com Referrer Spam does Not Represent Real Traffic To Blogs

If you are a blogger owner then you've probably been subject to www.googlecorrection.com hits to your blog, even as early as days after creating a new blog. You are curious as to who is linking to your blog, so you visit the site only to be presented with a stupid video or get rich quick scheme. 

Probably this link: (dont click it)
(www.googlecorrection.com)

The numbers reflected in our Stats logs do not represent any actual traffic against blogs, or any websites with links to blogs. The only person who benefits from referer spam is the owner of the advertised (fake referer URL) sites - and that happens only when we click on the links in the Stats display.

Only Stats, which builds its pageview counts and graphs using the Blogger server activity logs, is subject to referer spam. All third party visitor logs and meters, which depend upon snippets or widgets added to the blog template, are not subject to this problem.What you can do:

1. Don't click on the links.

2. Get a third party visitor log / meter, for accurate and comprehensive pageview counts.

Here are two great alternatives:

1.  www.revolvermaps.com - Get a spinning globe that shows real-time hits and overall hits (like the one you see on the right panel of this website!)

2. http://whos.amung.us/ - Get a counter that shows up on your website for all users, who can click on it to navigate to the stats website to see more in-depth statistics. You can pay for upgraded services and additional statistics (but free works great too!)


List of Common Referral Spam URLS

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777seo Referrer Spam does Not Represent Real Traffic To Blogs

If you are a blogger owner then you've probably been subject to 777seo hits to your blog, even as early as days after creating a new blog. You are curious as to who is linking to your blog, so you visit the site only to be presented with a stupid video or get rich quick scheme. 

Probably this link: (dont click it)
(http://www.777seo.com/seo.php?username=martyxmas&format=ptp)

The numbers reflected in our Stats logs do not represent any actual traffic against blogs, or any websites with links to blogs. The only person who benefits from referer spam is the owner of the advertised (fake referer URL) sites - and that happens only when we click on the links in the Stats display.

Only Stats, which builds its pageview counts and graphs using the Blogger server activity logs, is subject to referer spam. All third party visitor logs and meters, which depend upon snippets or widgets added to the blog template, are not subject to this problem.What you can do:

1. Don't click on the links.

2. Get a third party visitor log / meter, for accurate and comprehensive pageview counts.

Here are two great alternatives:

1.  www.revolvermaps.com - Get a spinning globe that shows real-time hits and overall hits (like the one you see on the right panel of this website!)

2. http://whos.amung.us/ - Get a counter that shows up on your website for all users, who can click on it to navigate to the stats website to see more in-depth statistics. You can pay for upgraded services and additional statistics (but free works great too!)


List of Common Referral Spam URLS

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Be Fucking Patient To Reap The Most Out Of Blogging...Fuck!

DON’T RAISE YOUR HOPES TOO HIGH

Don’t dream too big.

"Don’t be in a hurry, because the more you expect with impatience the more disappointment you will get. This will take a toll on your incentive in the initial months because it is the hardest time to keep up."

PROVIDE YOUR VISITORS WITH CAPTIVATING CONTENT

 "You should also add charm to appeal your readers and keep a habit of writing intriguing content with crisp and catchy titles."

Adding personality to your blog sets it apart. Do this.

TAKE TIME BEFORE WRITING ANYTHING

"You just can’t provide your audience with anything and expect them to flood in to read your blog."


Give good indepth content. Know what you are writing about. People visit blogs to learn things or find data.

PUBLISH YOUR IDEAS

Your blog doesnt have to be strictly what the title implies. If you have ideas, good ideas, write about them. Don't be afraid to share them!

ADD DESIGN TO APPEAL TO YOUR VIEWERS

Add diverse and clever designs matching with the style and topic of your blog. Add templates and graphics according to the need. See how it works out. You can impress your readers with the design you create for your blog. This will be appealing to your readers’ mind while they go through your captivating content.

ALWAYS MODIFY YOUR BLOG

Add changes not only to your design but also to everything that is related to your blog. The same appearance of your blog can have a negative impact on your readers and they can gradually lose interest. So keep on revising. However, do not jump-start, first notice how a change is working out before applying another change.

BE PATIENT BEFORE EXPECTING RESULTS

Blogging will NEVER make you rich instantly. Keep this in mind and all your unnecessary restlessness and stress will subside. It takes more than a month to receive organic traffic. Choose a niche that you are passionate about, so that it reflects on your posts. You probably won’t get any result before six months. However, after you cross this phase you can have amazing results, provided you wait patiently for it.

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How to Add A TweetQuote To Your Blogger Blog

In HTML/CSS, when you quote a piece of text from other websites/web pages, then it is usually done through customized quote boxes, called as blockquotes.

 

Now, in this tutorial you will be able to add a sub-type of blockquotes: Tweetquote, to your blog.
Many tweets go viral on Twitter and many a times, we do find tweets worth sharing with our readers on our blogs. So, here is a creative & professional way to (re)publish tweets on your blogs:

@BillGates congratulating Warren Buffett, for being awarded with National Medal of Fredom:

Congratulations to my dear friend Warren Buffett on National Medal of Freedom - http://bit.ly/eN9rh1

-@BillGates
There are just two steps to follow, in this tutorial:

STEP #1
Log in to Blogger, go to Design -> Edit HTML and find this code:

</head>

And immediately ABOVE/BEFORE it, paste this code:

<style type="text/css">
blockquote.tweetquote {
border-top: 1px solid #FFF;
border-left: 1px solid #FFF;
border-right: 1px solid #46A8B8;
border-bottom: 1px solid #46A8B8;
background: #D1D0C6 url(http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/twitterquote1.jpg);
background-position:top left;
background-repeat:repeat-y;
margin: 0 20px;
padding: 10px 20px 10px 45px;
font-size: 0.9em;
}
</style>

You may use a different background image in your blog by editing the code highlighted in BLUE color in the above code. And SAVE the template.
STEP #2
Now, while publishing a post on your blog, whenever you want to quote a tweet, do it in this way:

<blockquote class="tweetquote">PASTE THE TWEET HERE</blockquote>
-<a href="http://LINK_TO_TWEET">@TWIT_ID</a>

NOTE: Remember the code highlighted in RED, that has to be used everytime you want to quote a tweet.
Your tweet can be of any length (you may use tweets from twitlonger too, as the background cloud pattern will keep on repeating itself). That's it...Publish the post.

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The Top Five Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Website

1. Bookmarking Sites

Sign up for Bookmarking sites like Digg, Facebook, Stumbleupon, and Twitter.
Facebook and Twitter are not Bookmarking sites but will assist in promoting your work. Post your URL on your "Facebook Wall" and "Tweet it" on Twitter.
There are more than 150 Bookmarking sites on the Internet. Find the top 10 from the resource link below and start posting.

2. Join a Blogging Community

If you have a Blog then you're part of a blogging community. Introduce yourself by commenting on the various blogs that are part of your network. Commenting on other blogs is a great way to increase traffic to your blog or website.

3. Forums and Bulletin Boards

There are a plethora of forums and bulletin boards throughout the Internet. You can not only leave a comment about a specific topic but most will allow you to post your website or Blog URL.

4. Sign Up For Newsletters

When you sign up for a newsletter you're obviously helping the owner to promote his or her business. A good newsletter however, will create a win-win situation because your site gets exposure as well. Only sign up for a few quality newsletters that don't resort to spamming, otherwise your mailbox will be cluttered with junk.

5. Write About It

There are hundreds of writing sites that you can sign up for at no cost. Focus on the major writing sites like Hubpages, Squidoo, Helium, Bukisa, InfoBarel, Text Broker, and ListMy5. Write articles that highlight your website and your blog. Add a resource link to some of the articles you write, this creates a back link to your website. Make sure the link is relevant to the article otherwise it falls under the guise of spamming.

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Three Quick Tips for Attracting Traffic to Your Blog

Here is a pretty good blog article I found:

Search engine optimization (SEO) has been the hot topic in all areas of the blogosphere for years now. Now that creating and maintaining a blog has become fairly simple, bloggers and wannabe bloggers are all about getting readers and creating traffic. While there are dozens and dozens of tips and tricks to mastering SEO available on the web, these three tips are simple and often overlooked.

One of the most important aspects of optimizing your blog is learning to link intelligently. This is an area that people have significant trouble with (and for good reason). Linking in a way that appears both natural and unobtrusive can be tricky. When you link out in your blog posts, you should always be aware of how the links are related to the content you provide. Not everything that you discuss in you blog will warrant a link. You must determine where it is appropriate to use convention to link and where a little more creativity is necessary. The biggest deterrent in a blog is over-linking, however it is also important to realize that under-linking can have very dire consequences as well. If you mention Wikipedia in a blog post, it is obviously not necessary to link to Wikipedia in general because everyone on the internet knows what it is. However, if you mention a specific page from Wikipedia it is not only good that you link to that page, in fact it is necessary.

Another great tip for optimizing your blog is launching your blog posts without comments enabled initially. Unfortunately, many readers will base what they read on how many other people have read it. We've all done it. You click on a post that has an interesting looking title, scan the page, see that there are no comments, and decide that it's not worth reading. Obviously, this doesn’t always happen, but there is something kind of sad about a blog with 0 comments on every single post. The site looks dead and unpopular. The simple solution turn off the commenting option. This way no one can see that there are 0 comments on your blog. After you submit a post, pay close attention to the number of RSS subscribers you have and the number of unique visitors you have each day. Once your RSS subscribers tops 100 or you get more than 300 unique visits a day open up the comments. Using this technique keeps particularly tech-savvy visitors from judging your blog based on popularity.

Finally, many bloggers underestimate the value of guest bloggers for their site. Having already established bloggers write content for your site will help attract their readers to your page and will strengthen your SEO. Of course, it is important that you choose your guest posts and guest posters carefully. The guest posts that you choose should be relevant to your blog's interests and aims. However, it may also be useful to support guest posts that counter something that you have discussed previously. This way you are catering to all spectrums of the general audience and you demonstrate that you are open to discussion. Fostering varied discussion in your blog can be important to generating more interest in it. Another important thing to look for in guest blogs is links or direct references to other posts from your page. If a guest blogger discusses other blog posts you have written, it will encourage readers to read more of your work and it establishes that that guest writer is familiar with your blog.

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Domar . ru Referrer Spam Is Not Real Traffic

If you are a blog owner then you've probably received hits from Domar.ru, even as early as days after creating a new blog. You are curious as to who is linking to your blog, so you visit the site only to be presented with a stupid video or get rich quick scheme. 

The numbers that you see in your Blogger Stats does not always indicate you are receiving actual traffic from those websites. The spammers use bots to visit your site with their site as the referring url. Curious bloggers like to see who is linking to their content, and end up clicking the links to see where it takes them. This is how they get traffic to their websites that are usually scam sites. 

Blogger Stats seems to be the only stat tracker with this problem. Alternative stat systems do a much better job of showing you actual traffic data.
What you can do:

1. Don't click on the links.

2. Use an alternative to Stats that you manually add to your blog.

Here are GREAT alternatives to Stats:

1.  www.revolvermaps.com - Get a spinning globe that shows real-time hits and overall hits (like the one you see on the right panel of this website!)

2. http://whos.amung.us/ - Get a counter that shows up on your website for all users, who can click on it to navigate to the stats website to see more in-depth statistics. You can pay for upgraded services and additional statistics (but free works great too!)

3. Use Google Analytics (provides much better information about your site visitors as well)

List of Common Referral Spam URLS

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10 Things Every Blogger Needs

Being a professional blogger isn’t as simple as waking up one morning and stating, “I am a blogger, look out world!” Like any other discipline or endeavor, being a successful blogger means that you have to take the job seriously. That means working with dedication, planning and forethought. Having the right tools is an essential part of being a blogger, as you need the right tools in order to get the job done.

1. Computer or Laptop: There is no doubt one of the key tools of the modern journalist and the pro blogger is the computer. After all, the computer has become the informational link to the world. Blogging is all about information and staying current with what is happening in the world around us. This means that your computer is an essential tool in your blogging toolkit. While it is not necessary to have a top of the line gaming computer, you should have one that can get the job done or you will lose hours and hours on productivity. Making sure that you have a quality anti-virus program and firewall might be savvy addition as well.

2. Top-Notch Monitor: A reasonably large high quality monitor is an essential tool not just for bloggers, but also for anyone spending a lot of time at the computer. Eyestrain can greatly impair your productivity and make working nothing short of unpleasant. Spending a little extra money for a quality monitor is a savvy move.

3. Broadband Access: It should come as no surprise that access to a broadband connection is essential for blogging. While some people do still use dial-up Internet, you will experience major setbacks if you don’t have access to a fast connection. If you are using a laptop computer, be sure that you have a 3G dongle device for your mobile broadband access.

4. The Smartphone: A good smartphone is an absolute essential for the blogger. This is particularly true if you have one with a good deal of functionality and apps. A smartphone can function something like a modern Swiss army knife and may include GPS, recording capability, note taking capability, as well as essential features such as a camera and video capability. Also a smartphone allows you to connect to the Internet whenever you like from virtually wherever you like. This can prove invaluable for any number of important reasons. Of course, your trusted smartphone also functions as a phone too! All of these factors combine to make the smartphone a simply essential tool.

5. The Notebook or Notepad: Sure a notebook or notepad might be a bit “old school,” but you never have to worry about the battery on your notepad running out! This makes the time honored, battled tested notepad something of a practical real world essential. It is something that you should not be without for quickly jotting down ideas on good old-fashioned paper.

6. Pens, Pens and More Pens: Pens are always a must for the blogger. Not all note taking is digital... at least not yet.

6. A Good Desk: Having a good desk might seem like a no-brainer, but if you are going to be spending hours upon hours writing, you need to keep the importance of a good desk in mind. A good desk will also help keep you organized and enhance your productivity.

7. The Chair: A comfortable chair, one that you can spend hours in, is probably even more important than having a good desk. After all, back problems will quickly end your workday.

9. A Bookcase: You never know when you might want to include a reference to a book in your blogging endeavors. A bookcase is important for staying organized. Don’t skip this inexpensive item that is essential for keeping books in order.

10. A Quality Keyboard: Lots of blogging means lots of typing. This makes an investment in a comfortable keyboard a must. Don’t just assume that the keyboard you received with your computer is adequate.

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The Top Five Ways to Turn Blogger into a Product Website

Blogger is a great, free blogging platform that with a few tweaks, can have the look and feel of a website instead of a blog.

 

1. Use a Professional Looking Template

You can create this template with the built-in template designer, or get one at any number of free online sites, but your layout needs to look like something a pro would create. Take your time and do this right.

2. Only Allow One Post Per Page

Most product websites, unless they are magazine style, only have one major article per page. In your Settings, you can set Blogger to only allow one post per page, so that each post seems to be a separate page.

3. Do Away With the Archive Widget

Nothing screams "blog" like an archive widget. You don't want chronological posts, you want subject based posts. By using Labels and customizing your Labels widget, you can guide people where they need to go.

4. Use the Pages Feature

Blogger allows you up to 10 stand-alone pages. These should be used wisely for things such as the FAQ's, About, Site Map, Product Descriptions, etc. Look at a website in your business, and see how they set up their top tabs and copy them.

5. Skip the Adsense

If you are looking to sell a product, you don't need to have anything leading people off of your site. Ads should lead to another page on the site, or to an order form, not to someone else's site.

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