The ability to analyze your web traffic statistics can be an invaluable tool for many reasons.But before you can make full use of this tool, you need to understand how to interpret the data.
Almost all the web hosting companies will provide you with basic web traffic information that can interpret and make full use of.
However, the data you receive from the 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.
Many would assumed that the more traffic you see recorded, the better your website is doing.
But this is an inaccurate assumption.
You must actually look at the behavior of your visitors once they come to your website, so to accurately gauge the effectiveness of your site.
It is a great misconception about what is commonly known as “hits” and what is really effective, quality traffic to your site.
Hits simply refer to the number of information requests received by the server.
A hit can simply equate to the number of graphics per page, so now you will get an idea of how overblown the concept of hits can be.
Let’s take an example, if your homepage has 10 graphics on it, the server records this as 10 hits, when in reality we are only 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 truth is, 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 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.
It would then be a challenge to find out what that problem is.
- It could be that your keywords are directing the wrong type of visitors to your website;
- The graphics that are used on your website are confusing or intimidating, causing the visitor to exit rapidly.
Using the knowledge of how much time visitors are spending on your site helps 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 the effectiveness areas of your website.
If you have a page that is important, but visitors are exiting it rapidly, then that page needs attention.
- You could 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 the other hand, if you notice that visitors are spending a lot of time on pages that 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 visitors’ habits and motivation.
This is an essential information to any successful Internet marketing campaign.
Your website undoubtedly must have exit pages, such as a order or contact form.
This is a page you can expect your visitor to exit rapidly.
However, not every visitor to your site is able 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 understand what the problem is.
Once you have pinpointed the 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 take a look at your keywords and phrases.
Take note of particular keywords that 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, or 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 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, it means you have achieved a significant level of brand recognition, and this is a sure sign of growing success.
So break open the champagne!
