Analyzing Website Traffics

Analyzing your web traffic statistics can be an invaluable
tool for a number of different reasons.

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.

There is often a great misconception about what is commonly
known as "hits" and what is really effective, quality
traffic to your site.

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 aim is to use the web traffic statistics to figure out
how well or how poorly your site is working for your
visitors.

 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.

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.

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. 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, 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.

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

Also, 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, pop open the champagne!
It means you have achieved a significant level of brand
recognition, and this is a sure sign of burgeoning success.