Web Analytics Tips

Analyzing Website Traffic

Analyzing Website Traffic

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Analyzing your web traffic statistics can be an invaluable

tool for a number of different reasons. But before you can

make full use of this tool, you need to understand how to

interpret the data.

Most web hosting companies will provide you with basic web

traffic information that you then have to interpret and

make pertinent use of. However, the data you receive from

your host company can be overwhelming if you don't

understand how to apply it to your particular business and

website. Let's start by examining the most basic data - the

average visitors to your site on a daily, weekly, and

monthly basis.

These figures are the most accurate measure of your

website's activity. It would appear on the surface that the

more traffic you see recorded, the better you can assume

your website is doing, but this is an inaccurate

perception. You must also look at the behavior of your

visitors once they come to your website to accurately gauge

the effectiveness of your site.

There is often a great misconception about what is commonly

known as 'hits' and what is really effective, quality

traffic to your site. Hits simply means the number of

information requests received by the server. If you think

about the fact that a hit can simply equate to the number

of graphics per page, you will get an idea of how overblown

the concept of hits can be. For example, if your homepage

has 15 graphics on it, the server records this as 15 hits,

when in reality we are talking about a single visitor

checking out a single page on your site. As you can see,

hits are not useful in analyzing your website traffic.

The more visitors that come to your website, the more

accurate your interpretation will become. The greater the

traffic is to your website, the more precise your analysis

will be of overall trends in visitor behavior. The smaller

the number of visitors, the more a few anomalous visitors

can distort the analysis.

The aim is to use the web traffic statistics to figure out

how well or how poorly your site is working for your

visitors. One way to determine this is to find out how long

on average your visitors spend on your site. If the time

spent is relatively brief, it usually indicates an

underlying problem. Then the challenge is to figure out

what that problem is.

It could be that your keywords are directing the wrong type

of visitors to your website, or that your graphics are

confusing or intimidating, causing the visitor to exit

rapidly. Use the knowledge of how much time visitors are

spending on your site to pinpoint specific problems, and

after you fix those problems, continue to use time spent as

a gauge of how effective your fix has been.

Additionally, web traffic stats can help you determine

effective and ineffective areas of your website. If you

have a page that you believe is important, but visitors are

exiting it rapidly, that page needs attention. You could,

for example, consider improving the link to this page by

making the link more noticeable and enticing, or you could

improve the look of the page or the ease that your visitors

can access the necessary information on that page.

If, on the other hand, you notice that visitors are

spending a lot of time on pages that you think are less

important, you might consider moving some of your sales

copy and marketing focus to that particular page.

As you can see, these statistics will reveal vital

information about the effectiveness of individual pages,

and visitor habits and motivation. This is essential

information to any successful Internet marketing campaign.

Your website undoubtedly has exit pages, such as a final

order or contact form. This is a page you can expect your

visitor to exit rapidly. However, not every visitor to your

site is going to find exactly what he or she is looking

for, so statistics may show you a number of different exit

pages. This is normal unless you notice a exit trend on a

particular page that is not intended as an exit page. In

the case that a significant percentage of visitors are

exiting your website on a page not designed for that

purpose, you must closely examine that particular page to

discern what the problem is. Once you pinpoint potential

weaknesses on that page, minor modifications in content or

graphic may have a significant impact on the keeping

visitors moving through your site instead of exiting at the

wrong page.

After you have analyzed your visitor statistics, it's time

to turn to your keywords and phrases. Notice if particular

keywords are directing a specific type of visitor to your

site. The more targeted the visitor - meaning that they

find what they are looking for on your site, and even

better, fill out your contact form or make a purchase - the

more valuable that keyword is.

However, if you find a large number of visitors are being

directed - or should I say misdirected - to your site by a

particular keyword or phrase, that keyword demands

adjustment. Keywords are vital to bringing quality visitors

to your site who are ready to do business with you. Close

analysis of the keywords your visitors are using to find

your site will give you a vital understanding of your

visitor's needs and motivations.

Finally, if you notice that users are finding your website

by typing in your company name, break open the champagne!

It means you have achieved a significant level of brand

recognition, and this is a sure sign of burgeoning success.


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Charles Preston is President of Click Response a website marketing firm that focuses on better ROI for small businesses and affordable search engine optimization solutions. Search engine optimization and compelling marketing copy is the key to small business success online.

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