MuseNexus Members Series - Internet Marketing
Articles like this and much more is available at our Music Business Mastery website - launching soon.
Analysing Website Traffic
Analyzing your web traffic statistics can be an invaluable tool for a number of different reasons. Although, before you can make full use of that information, it's wise to know exactly how to understand and interpret this data.
Most web hosting companies will provide you with basic web traffic information. Usually called 'web stats' or 'website statistics' which you then need to interpret. This information that you receive from your host company can be overwhelming and it's not always easy to understand how to apply it to your particular business or website. Here's where I can help you! We'll take it step-by-step.
1. Site Visitors
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 your website is doing, but this is not always the case. You must also look at the behavior of your visitors once they arrive at your website, to accurately gauge the effectiveness of your site.
Hits
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.
Unique Visitors
Unique visitors on the other hand are the actual number of individuals that visit your site. This type of statistic is now commonly available and should appear alongside your number of website hits. This statistic is usually measured by recording the individual IP address of the computer that visits your website. Theoretically, each unique IP address is a seperate person or at least, a unique computer, that visits your site. Most good hosters will have software that can provide this information to you.
So, the more visitors to your website, the more accurate your interpretation of your website statistics will be. 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.
2. Average Visitor Time Spent on Site
The aim is to use the web traffic statistics to work out how well or how poorly your site is working for you and your website 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.
3. Visitor Habits
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 an 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.
4. Keywords
After you have analysed your visitor statistics, it's time to turn your attention to your keywords and phrases. Again, your host should provide you with web stats on what keywords people are using in the search engines to arrive at your website. 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 name or band name, break open the champagne! It means you have achieved a significant level of brand recognition, and this is a sure sign of continued success.
Article by: Debra Carey
Internet Marketing Specialist
www.netusorganicus.co.uk
