Google Analytics is a great way to compile and compare statistics for website visits. Here’s a summary of my stats for 2011:
Unique visitors: 97,134 (+4.7%)
Page views: 154,385 (+6.6%)
Average time on site: 47 seconds (-14.5%)
New visits: 90.02% (+1.3%)

Most read articles:

1. Kalgoorlie Miner online: 12,016 unique page views
2. Cloudstreet by Tim Winton: 7158
3. Yahoo! Mail Australia: 6886
4. Kalgoorlie Miner website: 4604
5. Sir Henry Parkes: 2368
6. Google Finance Australia: 2252
7. Moving to Kalgoorlie: 2029
8. Mathemagic Computer Tutor: 2002
9. Mount Lofty summit walk: 1963
10. Magpie swooping season: 1798

Country of origin

1. Australia: 79,455 visits (+3.22%)
2. United States: 7808 (-6.99%)
3. United Kingdom 3458 (-5.56%)
4. New Zealand: 1666 (+11.96%)
5. Canada: 1613 (+6.61%)
6. India: 1165 (+36.74%)
7. South Africa: 912 (+45.45%)
8. France: 723 (+14.76%)
9. Singapore: 624 (+31.92%)
10. Malaysia: 579 (+40.88%)

Visitor’s browser

• Internet Explorer: 52.67% (-4.76%)
• Firefox: 20% (-4.45%)
• Chrome: 14.09% (+4.8%)
• Safari: 10.94% (+3.25%)
• Opera: 0.6% (-0.04%)

Mobile visits

3539 (3.31% of total) in 2011 compared with 529 visits (0.51% of total) in 2010.

• Apple iPad: 1909 visits
• Apple iPhone: 475
• Unknown: 375
• Samsung Galaxy SII: 56
• Samsung Galaxy S: 33

Traffic sources

• Google: 81,150 (+5.8%)
• Direct: 9342 (+30.05%)
• Bing: 6154 (-4.5%)
• Yahoo: 2628 (-6.67%)

Top search queries

1. y7mail
2. google finance
3. yakedi
4. stephanie rice
5. mount gambier

Comments

• More visitors (+4.7%) but they’re not staying as long (-14.4%).
• I hope to achieve 100,000 unique visitors in 2012.
• Fewer visitors are using Internet Explorer or Firefox; more using Chrome and Safari.
• Growth in visitors from Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa; decline from USA and UK.
• Growth in visits from mobile devices, especially iPad.
• Only one new post in the top 10 (Mount Lofty summit walk).

With Google Adsense I have picked up A$28.27 so far in May, of which $13.34 has come from content ads.

The figures don’t lie:

I have now disabled Infolinks.

Default Text Styling: This enables a user to change the default font and text size.

Got the wrong Bob? “Doh, have you ever addressed an email too quickly, and included Bob (your boss) instead of Bob (your friend) by accident? If you’re emailing more than two people at once, Gmail will check if you meant to include Bob Smith rather than Bob Jones based on the groups of people you email most often.”

Message Sneak Peek: “Peek into a conversation without opening it by right-clicking on a message in your inbox.”

The Labs features I use most are:

Send & Archive: “Adds a button to the compose form that lets you send a reply message and archive the email conversation in a single action.” This is really useful if you receive a mail which already has a label filter. When you reply to the message you effectively archive it at the same time.

Mark as Read Button: If you receive an automated message and couldn’t be bothered reading it, this helps you to clear it from the inbox.

I now forward all my email accounts to Gmail while using a personalised address as the default sender.

I’m starting to use Gmail filters a lot more to avoid automated messages clogging my inbox.

These are typically messages from subscriber lists where I have registered somewhere and forgotten about it. I don’t necessarily want to unsubscribe or can’t, in some cases. They now go to a general “Mail” folder and I browse through them once a week.

Given that I use Chrome or Firefox for Gmail alerts, it’s dropped the number of items I need to read significantly, perhaps by 80 percent.

I also use Gmail on my Android phone while away from the desk. Filters minimise the time spent checking messages.

I hope to see the Clint Eastwood-directed Invictus this weekend.

It’s a movie about Nelson Mandela’s support for the Springboks in the 1995 rugby World Cup. Sport was divisive in post-apartheid South Africa until Mandela defied his own supporters to back the Springbok name, jersey and team in the cause of reconciliation and national unity.

I searched Google for “Oatmill Cinema, Mount Gambier” and magically was given session times (pictured above). Amazing.

The same search for “Oatmill Cinema” only gave me a link to the website.

Previously, to install Chrome extensions you needed a development version of the software and had to to visit a third-party repository.

I imagine that now the floodgates have opened there will be a rush of practical add-ons to enhance the browsing experience.

The only one I’m missing from Firefox is Gmail Manager, which enables the checking of multiple accounts, including Google Apps domain addresses (now available).

The Twitter and Facebook extensions for Chrome are great for following social media and AdBlock is a powerful tool for blocking ads.

The Google Tasks extension is handy for writing little reminders. I finally got the in tray cleared after shaming myself to do it through gentle nudges.

Chrome extensions are likely to proliferate, adding to the browser’s appeal. I’m at the stage now where I can wean myself off Firefox and make the switch full time.

I’ve been concerned for months now that Firefox hogs too much system resources, freezes and generally slows down the PC.

Chrome is now an attractive alternative.

Well, thanks to the assistance of regular American commenters Sue and Delmer, I’ve at least been able to play experiment with it.

Delmer from Ohio left a voicemail on my Google Voice number (276) 546-7390.

GV has this neat transcription feature. I received an email telling me that a message had been left, with the following text:

Hey Michael, This is Debra Wells from Ohio. Just separately for all the other down there, you know. Hello why it i just replied email and a minute ago and thought I’d go ahead and give you a call when your Google Voice. It’s a 2:45. Here in the morning all that with the time setback. It’s now a 1:45. But in any case, I’m gonna go to bed, so you’re welcome to call me, but at your leisure. If you could call me right away. I’m gonna be groggy. Anyway, talk to you later. Bye.

There were obviously a couple of glitches there, but it was a pretty good effort.

Delmer speaks clearly, with a mellifluous accent. I like the way he says “leesure” for leisure.

But if Google can’t transcribe his voice 95 percent accurately, what hope is there for an Australian? Maybe that’s why GV hasn’t been released here yet.

I then sent an SMS to Sue in Pennsylvania, who replied to the GV number. Again, I received an email alert of the message.

For a free service it’s very good.

Unfortunately, I can’t use it to call anyone, but I can receive phone calls and send and receive SMS.

Google Voice gives you one number for all your phones — a number that is tied to you, not to a device or a location. Google Voice seeks to simplify the way phones are used, making using voicemail as easy as email.

Google Voice works with mobile phones, desk phones, work phones, and VoIP lines. There’s nothing to download, upload, or install, and you don’t have to make or take calls using a computer.

Google Voice will let you define which phones ring, based on who’s calling. It also makes transcripts of voicemail messages.

I like the feature whereby calls can be recorded as well.

So how did I get it?

First of all download Invisible Browsing software. It’s free for three days. I’ve already uninstalled the program.

It enables you to use an American proxy server to give your browser a US IP address.

Second, register at Sipgate for a free account to gain a United States phone number. You need this for Google Voice verification.

Sipgate itself looks very interesting. “Sipgate One” is a fully-functional phone service. It replaces an existing line or adds a second line at no cost. It comes with a free phone number, voicemail and fax capabilities.

My Sipgate number is (707) 356-0946. The area code is from California and includes such places as Napa, Sebastopol, Vallejo, Benicia, Fairfield, Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Fort Bragg, Crescent City, Eureka, Clearlake, Vacaville and Ukiah.

I don’t know how to pronounce Ukiah, but it sounds like a nice place. In 1996 it was voted the sixth best American town to live in.

Equipped with a Sipgate number and an invitation to join Google Voice, click on the invitation link while using Invisible Browser set to an American proxy server and follow the prompts.

You will also need the Sipgate desktop software to receive the call.

My Google Voice number is (276) 546-7390. The area code is from Virginia, including such places as Bristol, which has the state border running down the middle of its main street and Galax, which is famous for the Old Fiddlers Convention.

Now that I have a Google Voice number I’ve got no idea what to do with it. Could be handy if I visit the States, I suppose.

Checking out call charges, I saw it only costs three cents a minute to dial Australia.

I rang my home number from Google Voice and it connected via the Sipgate software. Sound quality was okay, but there was a terrible delay.