The NewVista News

So… why should you analyze your web statistics instead of just using actual search engine results as the basis for success? The answer is very simple, the goal is NOT just making it to the top of the search engine results, NOR is it only to increase traffic. You need to bring qualified traffic to your site. Once you attract the targeted traffic, you need those visitors to make a purchase, or take the action you want.
 

You need to know the basics of web stats, how to read them, what they mean, how to analyze where your traffic is coming from, going to, and leaving from. You also need to know, — how to effectively use the statistics for search marketing, how “sticky” the pages are, as well as how well the search engine spiders are crawling your site. The goal being, — how to capture those visitors as potential customers, and help analyze why those potential customers either signup or buy, and why they do not.
 

In order to effectively track your rank in the search engines, you need to know about web stats. Every webmaster has viewed his or her web statistics from time to time. Some do it every day / every hour. In the search marketing arena, web stats are a vital part of SEO. Let’s start with the basics.
 

The Basics – “What are web stats?”
Web stats are the statistics of website activity, or data that is logged by your web server that can be analyzed and turned into reports. Every page or request results in a logged entry. This data can include information about visitors, like IP addresses, name of the requested file, date and time the file was requested, and so forth. Theses logged entries are extremely useful when you are comparing trends for your website over periods of time, and even how you can improve certain areas of your site to make it more attractive to both search engines and potential customers.
 

But… But… “What do they MEAN?
There are many statistics measured in your web stats program, either a script you installed, or provided by your web host. Some of these may seem self explanatory, or things you already know, but pointing out how they can improve your marketing efforts is what you want to concentrate on, - as well as how multiple results of combined stats can truly make a difference in how well your website is going and what needs to be changed.
 

There are five areas of interest in web statistics: Traffic, Referrers, Search Engines, Errors, and Visitor information. Many of these overlap, and some need to be used in conjunction with other stats in order to give you a better birds-eye view of what trends you should be following.