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Analyzing Website Traffic
(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 Free monthly newsletter full strategies and techniques for
successful web site promotions that can help YOU!
Go to http://www.search-engines-revealed.com
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