I recently added some accessories to my blog to track visitors. A Cluster Map displays the location of visitors to my blog, very cool. Visitors don’t have to click on it or enter any data, it just automatically recognizes a visitor and indicates his/her location on the world map. Up to this point, I’ve hesitated to have such a widget on my site, fearing the map would have only 3 dots. For the past few days the map has been totally blank, with just a message saying it would be updated soon. You can only imagine my joy when I viewed the updated Cluster Map today and saw the far fling dots all across the globe. I am truly surprised.

The other new accessory is MyBlogLog, which shows other MyBlogLog members who have visited my blog. If I understand this tool, any visitors not registered at MyBlogLog won’t show up in the widget. The idea is that I can connect with my readers. By clicking on a visitor’s image in MyBlogLog, I can see their profile which includes information about their on-line presence (blog, social network, photo-sharing, etc).

Continuing with this blogging topic, I came across a great slideshare show, The 25 Basic Styles of Blogging, on Mark Wagner’s Educational Technology and Life Blog. Rohit Bhargava and Jesse Thomas of 360 Digital Influence Blog published the show. Now that I know I have visitors, I will have to apply some of their recommendations.

[slideshare id=37589&doc=the-25-basic-styles-of-blogging-and-when-to-use-each-one-14243&w=425]

Technorati Tags: Cluster+Map blogging MyBlogLog Mark+Wagner Educational+Technology+and+Life Rohit+Bhargava Jesse+Thomas 360+Digital Influence+Blog