Analyzing Website Traffic
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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