Analyzing Website Traffic
By James Williams
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.
