Analyzing Website Traffic
by Michael
Rasmussen
(C) Michael
Rasmussen
All Rights Reserved
http://www.search-engines-revealed.com
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.
Michael Rasmussen is a successful Internet Marketing Consultant and
author of many top-selling eBooks. Michael has been marketing online
since the early days and he knows what it takes to make money and
succeed online. Stop by his Web site and subscribe to his Fr*e monthly
newsletter full strategies and techniques for successful web site
promotions that can help YOU!
Go to http://www.search-engines-revealed.com
