The Importance Of Web Traffic Statistics

Author: JeffAlderson
Total views: 55
Word Count: 706
View PDF

Add2Netvouz

Having the ability to comprehend web traffic statistics can be vital for webmasters for a variety of reasons. To do this, however, it is important to know how to interpret these reports.

The most accurate data on traffic tends to come from the web hosting companies themselves. They, unfortunately, can provide so much information that it might overwhelm at first. Look for the data that applies to the business or website at hand. One of the first things to consider is the typical amount of visitors that stop at a site on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

These particular numbers are the most accurate you'll be able to get about your site's activity level. Although it might seem like the more visitors that come, the better the site is doing, this isn't always the case. It's important to dig a little deeper to see what visitors do once they arrive. This can help measure the real effectiveness.

A lot of people confuse the actual hits with the quality of traffic. In reality, hits just describe the number of requests for information a server gets. This can break down to nothing more than the number of images on a page. If, for example, you have 5 images on a page, a single visit can register as five hits. Considering this, hits alone aren't the only thing to pay attention to in analyzing traffic.

These numbers do tend to become a little more accurate with more traffic. The lower this traffic number is, the more likely the analysis will be skewed.

The key is taking the stats and using them to determine how effective a site is. One number to focus on is the length of time visitors stay on a site. If they don't stay long, there could be a problem.

Sometimes the problem is nothing more than poorly chosen keywords drawing in the wrong kind of traffic. The visual design of the site could be off, as well. If your site looks too confusing, visitors might steer away quickly. If you work to tweak things a little, check this number again down the road to see if the tweak worked.

Stats can also be helpful to see if sections of a site work like you want them to. Should visitors navigate too quickly away from a page you think is important, you might need to improve the page or its incoming links. This works in the opposite, too. If a page that isn't that important is getting more attention than it deserves, consider moving better content to it since visitors seem to visit there naturally.

Stats are important for all sites, but they can be especially useful tools for those who want to make their pages work more effectively for making more money from all of your pages. Using stats to find out what is wrong or right with a site can be incredibly helpful.

Another place these stats can be important is in regard to exit pages. While you might have designated exit pages, such as order forms, other pages might show up on stats as exit points. These are normal to an extent. If a page that isn't meant to be an exit point shows up too much as one, it might be time to tweak it. Look for weaknesses and try to improve them.

Once visitor stats have been closely examined, the next thing to look at is keywords. See which keywords are working to bring in specific kinds of traffic. The more focused and targeted the visitors, the better. If a particular keyword is bringing in traffic that fills out forms, buys or so on, that keyword is very important to your site.

Should you find a big number of visitors being pulled in by a particular keyword or phrase that doesn't relate, make changes. Keywords are what draws in quality visitors. Traffic that isn't targeted won't do you any good.

When it comes to figuring out a site's effectiveness, stats are very helpful. They can also point out weak spots and assist in fixing them. Those who read stats with care can really supercharge their sites and revenue.

About the Author

Author Jeff Alderson is an expert on search engines and SEO. To increase online traffic, Jeff suggests using a variety of SEO tools and techniques to increase online traffic fast.