Are Blog Posts Read via RSS Feed Readers Tracked by Google Analytics?

A great question came up in class today: If someone reads your blog post through an RSS reader, will their activity be tracked by Google Analytics?

Photo by Robert Scoble

First of all, let's be sure you understand what an RSS feed is and how it is "read" by RSS readers.

This is the icon for an RSS Feed
(design by Stephen Horlander).

An RSS feed is an XML document that contains the raw data contained in your blog posts in a structured format that can be easily read and displayed in other applications.  The default setting on Blogger blog is to allow RSS feeds, so there is nothing special you need to set up.  

You can view the RSS file for the class blog at: http://unidigadv.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Note that this text file contains tags to describe the blog:

<title> The title of the blog
<description> The blog description
<link> The blog URL
<managingEditor> The editor of the blog's content

It also includes each blog post that has been published on your blog enclosed in <item> tags. 

<title> The title of your post
<description> The body text of your post (including HTML tags and links)
<link> The URL of your blog post
<author> The author of the blog's content 

This allows other applications (like Feedly) to download the RSS file and "re-publish" the posts.  But does Google Analytics track the user activity of viewers who are viewing the site via a Feed Reader?  The answer, according to Google, is unfortunately no.

Google's Analytics support page states:

Tracking visits from RSS feeds
In order for Google Analytics to track data, it is necessary that the Google Analytics tracking code gets executed. Since most RSS/atom readers cannot execute JavaScript, Analytics will not count pageviews that are loaded through an RSS reader. Analytics requires that the visitor execute a JavaScript file on Google's servers in order to track that pageview.

Since an RSS feed reader only downloads and displays the contents of the RSS file, and not the actual HTML and JavaScript code of the blog itself, Google Analytics cannot track pageviews of blog posts read in RSS feed readers.

Social Media Project Roundup, Fall 2013: Part 2

In my last post, I gave you a roundup of the collective social media stats of my Fall 2013 #unidigadv classes and highlighted some of their standout achievements on Twitter, Klout, and LinkedIn.  Now I'm going to showcase the blogs that were created as part of these projects.

Most Visited Blogs

Blogs are not a "build it and they will come" kind of deal.  It is very difficult and time consuming to attract traffic willing to read about what you have to say (and come back again for more).  Creating great content is only the first step - promoting the content so that it is seen is the really tough part.  

We had NINE students who earned over 1,000 pageviews to their blog during the course of the semester - they did a fantastic job attracting and engaging their visitors.  Browse through their blogs and see what they came up with:

1. Adonica Hennessy - Indi Indie Art - 1,627 pageviews
2. Bailey Anderson - Travel MerIT - 1,620 pageviews
3. Maria Mickelson - Spotlight On.. - 1,362 pageviews
4. Courtney Nagle - High-End Fashion in the World of Social Media - 1,341 pageviews
5. Janey Meyer - Fashion Flashback - 1,322 pageviews
6. Shauna Happel - Sports Psychology of Athletic Injuries - 1,275 pageviews
7. Amanda Vrieze - MarketSolarNRG - 1,223 pageviews
8. Grace Kammeyer - GracieKEvents - 1,187 pageviews
9. Kayla Wolthoff - Social Indulgence - 1,089 pageviews

Selected Student Blogs

I really enjoyed reading all of your blogs and presentations. Here are a few that I thought were strong:

Adonica Hennessy - Indi Indie Art
Adonica did a fantastic job finding independent indigenous artists from all around the world to write about.  She personally interviewed a wide range of "Indi Indie artists" such as musician Storm Seymour, beadwork artist Melissa Buffalo, and artist Edwin Conway.

Becca Flynn - A Touchdown on Digital Sports Advertising
Sports marketing is a topic that a lot of students are interested in - but few get beyond writing about favorite teams or players.  Becca did a great job looking at sports from the perspective of a marketer.  She focused on key corporate sponsors such as Gatorade and Under Armour and examined how they are utilizing social media and advertising.

Lindsay Hotze - Pinch Marketing
It's easy to get attention if you have a $100 million dollar budget - but what if you're a small business with a very limited marketing budget?  That's what Lindsay calls "Pinch Marketing" - and she blogs about the ways in which small businesses can take advantage of cost effective marketing techniques to stretch their budget.

Shane Rumpza - A Look at the World of Brand Characters and Ad Stories
Shane is a creative writer who looks at how ad agencies have created brand mascots with elaborate back stories as a way to foster engagement with the brand.  If characters like Mayhem (from Allstate Insurance) and Lucky the Leprechaun interest you - you'll love this blog!

Grace Kammeyer - Gracie K Events
Event planning and flowers with a good dose of Instagram and Pinterest integration.  Grace even created her own infographic!

Maria Mickelson - Spotlight On..
A fun introduction to the Christian music industry, complete with playlists, videos, and concert reviews (including this Switchfoot concert in Des Moines where Maria got to meet the band backstage).

Courtney Nagle - High-End Fashion in the World of Social Media
Courtney did a great job finding influential fashion bloggers, trending colors, and fashionable scarves. 

Clay Swanson - Major Trendage
Gets my vote for best blog name.  A blog about what's hot in the entertainment world - including a fun post on Bitstrips and one of the most honest excuses for not blogging I've read (that also made for great reading): a review of Grand Theft Auto V.

Taylor Henrichs - 1,000 Reasons Why the Minnesota Twins Suck will be Great Again
Taylor created a blog title that was both provocative and optimistic that resonated with Twins fans. It cut through the clutter and seemed to get attention very quickly. He also had some good engagement through his blog posts with fans on other forums.

Melissa Fager - Online Marketing - A Focus on the Midwest Travel Industry
Informative posts on digital marketing in the travel industry, 

Bailey Anderson - Travel MerIT
Travel and technology go together very well - think of all the ways mobile apps can enhance a visit to a new place. This blog also has the alltime #unidigadv record for MOST COMMENTS in a single project.  There were 52 comments on Bailey's blog - I definitely think she's onto something here!

Megan Buman - Marketing Socially Responsible Organizations
If your organization or business is interested in social responsibility and sustainability in your marketing - this is a great blog to take a look at!

There were many more I enjoyed as well - but I'm running out of time and space here! 

Thanks again for a great semester - if you get nostalgic you can always tune into #unidigadv on Twitter and help the newbies out!

Did you have a favorite blog this semester that I didn't mention?  Tell me about it in the comments!



 

Social Media Project Roundup, Fall 2013: Part 1

Every semester, my Digital Advertising students work very hard on a massive project: To develop a professional brand using social media. 

I just finished looking through all of the projects and wanted to take a moment to praise their work and note a few special honors.

The Big Picture

From August 30 - November 15, 2013, my 42 #unidigadv students accomplished the following:

• Posted a total of 13,184 tweets on Twitter
• Gained a total of 3,382 followers on Twitter
• Earned an average score of 45 on Klout
• Added 3,023 connections on LinkedIn
• Published 383 blog posts on Blogger
• Earned 28,625 pageviews from visitors to their blogs

Impressive numbers.  Tweet volume topped my Spring classes by nearly 60% and blog pageviews were up over 20%.  This is a class that has something to say - and has successfully connected with an audience.
 

TWITTER

Top 5 Most Voracious Tweeters

Tweeting is one of those things that seems very easy at first glance - until you do it every day in support of a professional brand.  That's hard work!  Here are the top five #unidigadv Tweeps by Tweet volume:

1. @flynn_becca - 2,580 Tweets
2. @kwolthoff - 1,792 Tweets
3. @ZachHanood - 1,173 Tweets
4. @Indi_indie_art - 1,018 Tweets
5. @allyswinton - 794 Tweets
    

Top 5 Most Added Followers

If you want to wield influence on Twitter, you need followers.  Here are the students who added the most followers during the semester.

1. @Indi_indie_art - added 303 followers
2. @NFLFantasyHub - added 253 followers
3. @flynn_becca - added 236 followers
4. @SchoolComes2nd - added 218 followers
5. @FroYoAndCardio - added 184 followers
    

KLOUT

Who has the most Klout?

Klout is not a perfect measure of social media influence (sometimes it seems to have a mind of its own), but for what it's worth, here are our five most influential class members according to Klout:  

(Note: Current scores are shown, but students are ranked in the order of their scores as of Nov 15, 2013)
 

LINKEDIN

Most Connected on LinkedIn
When job hunting, who you know is often as important as who you are.  Here are the top five most connected class members on LinkedIn:

1. Mandy Vrieze - 309 Connections
2. Adam VanDooren - 276 Connections
3. Shauna Happel - 219 Connections
4. Bailey Anderson - 211 Connections
5. Sarah Ormsby - 202 Connections

Most Skilled

Anyone can SAY that they are skilled in "Social Media Marketing", but an endorsed skill on LInkedIn means that another professional has vouched for you to confirm that you know your stuff. These four had the most number of skills that gained endorsements:

• Adam VanDooren (22 endorsed skills)
• Sarah Ormsby (21 endorsed skills)
• Mandy Vrieze (18 endorsed skills)
• Becca Flynn (16 endorsed skills) 

Most Recommended

These three had the greatest number of recommendations by others on LinkedIn:

• Mandy Vrieze (6 recommendations)
• Jake Ludwig (3 recommendations)
• Adam VanDooren (3 recommendations)

Did you have any favorite Tweeps or Linkedin connections that deserve special mention?  Tell me about why they're awesome in the comments!

Up next: A post on the best student blogs of Fall semester, 2013.  Stay tuned.

Photoshop (PSD) Templates for iPhone and Android Mobile App Previsualization

Before you start working in Photoshop, save yourself time and effort by finalizing your wireframes.  It's a lot easier to quickly change your hand-drawn wireframe sketches than modify a Photoshop file!

Once you have your wireframes where you want them, here are links to some design templates for Adobe Photoshop to help you create the pre-visualizations:

Teehan + Lax iPhone 6 Template
Updated Photoshop template for iOS 8 and iPhone 6 from Digital Experience agency Teehan + Lax.

Teehan + Lax Android Template
Photoshop template for Android devices (also from Teehan + Lax).  This one is a little outdated, but still useful.

If you like these templates, give a shout out to @teehanlax on Twitter.  They'll appreciate it.

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If these templates don't work for you (or if you are averse to sweater vests), here are a few other sources to try:

9 Highly Recommended Free Android UI Kit PSDs
Choose one that works for you.  From TwelveSkip, the blog of Web designer Pauline Cabrera.

Smashing Magazine iPhone PSD Vector Kit
Photoshop template with many of the iPhone 4 UI graphics. This is a little out of date.  From the awesome web publication Smashing Magazine.

If none of these work for you, try searching Google for "iPhone PSD template" or "Android PSD template".

- - -

Cool Mobile Marketing Campaigns

Mini Getaway Stockholm
A promotion for the launch of the Mini Countryman in Stockholm, Sweden in 2010.  Over 11,000 Swedes downloaded the app and participated in a massive multiplayer augmented reality game that involved "catching" a virtual Mini only visible through the app.  Created by creative agency Jung von Matt in Sweden.




Chok! Chok! Chok!
A fantastic campaign developed by McCann Hong Kong for Coca-Cola.




Mobile Medic App - Australian Defense Force
A recruitment campaign for the Australian Defense Force involving an augmented reality-driven medical diagnosis app.  Prospective recruits use the app to try and "diagnose" a patient's billboard.  The ad functions as a kind of entrance exam.  This campaign won several Cannes Lion awards in 2012 for GPY&R and VML.




Heineken Star Player
An engaging iPhone app for interacting and competing with UEFA Champion League football fans during games.  More info on game and results here.  Created by AKQA.

Band Aid Magic Vision
Award-winning augmented reality application produced by LA digital agency 9K9 and global agency JWT.




Diesel Jeans
QR Codes combined with Facebook integration make it easy for shoppers to "like" Diesel Jeans.