Is there a way to have decent statistics for how many times a podcast has been downloaded? That is the question the guys at Watir Podcast had for me. Since I to do a podcast for the masses, this is an issue that has bugged me for some time too.
The problem isn’t with having a script, plugin or service count the downloads because everything tries to do that. The problem is that nothing counts all the downloads. For example, if you push your podcast through FeedBurner, it will tell you how many people downloaded a podcast from the RSS feed, but no where else. Same could be said for some podcasting plugins out there for WordPress and other publishing platforms, but in reverse. They tell you how many people downloaded the podcast from the web site, but not those who got it by other means.
Server Side Statistics
So with all that confusion, the best you can do is find an estimate of downloads. You need something to look at the server-side statistical data, so you can be sure nothing is missed. The best way to get this done would be the statistics scripts that come with your web hosting account. This is usually AWStats or Webalizer. You could also download your log files, and then plug them into a desktop statistics analyzer. The problem is I haven’t found one I like that doesn’t cost one million dollars.
Podtrac Measurement Tools
The people at Podtrac have a free third-party measurement service you can use too. The way it works is you rewrite the way your podcasts are linked so that the link gets pushed through their server-side counter first. For all mp3 episodes, you would have to use the prefix:
http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/
I never used it myself because I was always afraid of the negative effect it might have on other services like iTunes that scopes out my RSS feeds for data automatically. Might be worth trying out again.
Thanks to the Watir Podcast for the question, be sure to check them out at Watirpodcast.com. If you have a web hosting or development question, give me your name, URL and question over on the submit a question page!
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