When it comes to running a WordPress blog or website, one of the first things you will want to do is setup a way to track your web traffic. Without this, you will have no idea how many visitors you are getting or where they are coming from.

Google Analytics is a great option and happens to be free of charge. Once installed, you can access your dashboard where you can see all sorts of data such as unique visitors, top content, and the top search queries that brought traffic to your site. You can even see your visitors on a map overlay and get a feel of where your visitors are in the world.

To set it up, here’s a great tutorial that walks you through the process of setting up Google Analytics on a self-hosted WordPress blog:

One of the most common questions we get from our clients and readers is which version of WordPress is best for them: the free WordPress.com version or the self-hosted WordPress.org version? There are many reasons why you might benefit from using one version over the other and it mainly comes down to your goals and what features you need to utilize.

Here’s a great video from the Montreal WordCamp that talks about the various differences and why one version might be better than the other for your website or blog:

For even more information on the differences, check out the official comparison page.

Quick summary of the two versions:

WordPress.com

The free version of WordPress is a breeze to setup and requires no investment on your part. The hosting is provided free of charge, along with a URL to your blog. You…

Now that WordPress 3.0 has been released, many people are wondering what to expect next. Here’s a great video that touches base on some of the things we can expect from WordPress in the near future: