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!
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to
http://www.search-engines-revealed.com
