Addison Road is part of the alpha test for a website that gives site stats specifically geared toward blogs. The site is http://www.measuremap.com, and so far, I’m blown away.
the home page
First things first: the design is fantastic. I’m a fan of the new push toward simpler icons, cleaner layouts, and MMap has that locked. The project was designed and built by Adaptive Path, the same design company that gave Brewster Kahle’s Creative Commons initiative it’s makeover. For me, the look and feel of a new tool has a lot to do with my willingness to use it. MMap looks and feels good.
the links interface
And, as it turns out, it also works well. Installation involves adding a few snippets of java script to the Addison Road page templates, which in turn allows MMap to track a vast array of stats about the site. One of the most useful aspects of the stats is the depth of detail: not only can I see which posts are the most linked to, I can see which links in generate the most traffic, which links out are most frequently taken by visitors, which visitors are new, and which ones are regulars (hey guys, keep the guiness warm for me, I’ll be there in a minute). Instead of static linking data that relies on web or RSS snapshots, like Technorati or Google BlogSearch, MMaps tracks which links in actually generate traffic.
most popular posts, by view
MMap is still in alpha, and it’s still going to be a while before it goes live, but for now, the first look is impressive. I’m excited to see what it will become. My wish list for the site would be:
* An RSS feed for each site category, so that I can quickly integrate that data into my own blog sidebar
* The ability to tie multiple blogs to a single account (so that I can click back and forth between the stats for Addison Road and http://www.thebiblepodcast.org)
* The ability to tie multiple accounts to a single blog, so that Aly, Chad, and I can all view the stats for Addison Road, without having to share a single account.
I’ve been chatting with the developers, and those three features look to be coming soon. Some that would be awesome, but might be a bit harder to implement:
* Integration with Google Adsense (which has a published API, so maybe!), so that I can track which posts generate the most income.
* Integration with Technorati, so that I can see which incoming links come from the most popular sites.
* Integration with Peet’s coffee, so that my blog can auto-magically fetch me a strong cup of coffee while I’m mid-post.
So far, so good. Keep up the good work, guys!
corey 7:26 am on 12 November 2005 Permalink
I think you’ve created a little community here. It feels like Central Perk. I’ve actually stopped posting to my blog because I’m torn between speaking my mind and being respectful with a blog that’s linked to my business site. And why think of stuff to write when I’m the only person to read it? (*cue crickets and tumbleweed here*) AR has released me from blog purgatory (a.k.a. Blorgatory). Thank You, Addison Road. Thank You. Can MMap measure how much you’re the wind beneath my wings?
aly hawkins 8:41 am on 12 November 2005 Permalink
Just sos you know, Corey, I read it…I just don’t know what to comment most of the time, since it IS your business blog and I know I should be respectful. And that’s really hard.
hash 12:21 pm on 12 November 2005 Permalink
Great looking tool. I can’t wait to try it out too.
hash 12:32 pm on 12 November 2005 Permalink
Corey, nice portfolio. I like your design style. At the interactive marketing firm that I used to work for, we put together a business blog and a “culture” blog called Cakeplow. One let’s you show that you know what you’re talking about, the other lets you vent and have fun.
White African :: a white african’s view of the world » Blog Archive » Measure Map Beta 12:54 pm on 12 November 2005 Permalink
[...] Michael over at Addison Road got into the beta for Measure Map. I’m extremely jealous – I really want to try that tool out. I’m so tired of using my current tool (sitemeter) that I refuse to even link to their 90’s era website. [...]
Matt 6:47 pm on 12 November 2005 Permalink
Just a small point: Brewster Kahle doesn’t have much to do with Creative Commons, it was co-founded by Lawrence Lessig, but AP did direct the redesign last year.
michael lee 8:59 pm on 12 November 2005 Permalink
Matt – thanks for the clarification. Poor assumption on my part; I had lumped CC together with Internet Archive, which he helped underwrite.
.
BTW, for those of you who don’t know, Matt is something of a celebrity. He’s the founder of MetaFilter, one of the temples at which the geek of the earth worship. Glad to have you pop by, Matt.
Johan 9:36 am on 16 November 2005 Permalink
Me too! I also would like to have the ability to tie multiple blogs to a single account.
And while they are on it, a nice clean overview page of all basic stats for my various blogs would be cool too!
Sorry to compare, but for instance in Google Analytics I really do not like the fact that you have to be clicking all the time to see some any stats. I want to see my basic stats data right away after logging in!
State of the Blog, December 2005 at Addison Road 10:56 pm on 17 December 2005 Permalink
[...] Fortunately, Measure Map has found a way to aggregate all of these neato stats into one big Fischer Price looking stats site. Seeing as how I enjoy it so much, I thought it might be interesting to share some of the info with all ya’lls (corey, am I using that right? all ya’ll is plural, right?). [...]