Monitoring your Web Stats - How do you use them?

[greeneagle]

Those of you who minitor your and client web stats know what a valuable tool they are.

Hosting Companies that do not offer Statistical packages are a dieing breed.

NO ONE can effectively manage a Site without stats.

Some of the Sites we manage have Webalizer. Webalizer is better than nothing, but pales in comparison to AWS (Advanced Web Statistics).

Obviously there are many great and important features that can be utilized to show a webmaster or Site owner:

The effectiveness of any given marketing campaign.
Overall visitor preformance.
What needs improvement and what doesn't.

Web stats are the most effective tool we have, in that it is the nearest thing we have to "real time" performance data and visitor satisfaction.

One of the AWS stats I pay particular attention to is the "Save as a Favorite" reporting.

Our site is running a phenomenal 19% this month.

I believe that the higher this stat is, it reflects better overall visitor satisfaction, not to mention the fact there is at least residual indication of future traffic indicated.

Stats are important and are a lifeline into Site management. Without them Site management is nothing but..."Shooting in the dark".

I would like to discuss Stat packages and the ways we use them to help promote ourselves and clients in this thread.

I don't think there is a better optimization tool than Statistical reporting and the the developing analysis and action expresses thereby.

Everyone seems to develop their own technique.

Ken

[dawilliams]

I couldn't agree more with greeneagle.

Web stats have proven invaluable for both the client and developer providing quantifiable data that clearly illustrates what 'works' and 'what doesn't work' while marketing on the internet.

Those of our clients whom have chosen to plan future web site marketing actions based on this information have been truly rewarded for their attention to detail.

How better to determine the 'stickiness' of one's content than to measure it's success with unimpeachable data.

Affordable Web Design | Professional Web Development
www.DavidWilliams.Biz

[brian.mark]

We sell things, so our #1 metric is conversion rate. We want more visitors, more bookmarks, etc. - but our true measure is how many of the visitors we got (which we want to be more) acually bought something. That tells us if we're targeting the right terms or not.

Brian.

[wilderness]

I agree with you Greeneagle, regarding stats. Sites that are with my host have good information but I have actually set some of them up with Statcounter so that my clients can go look at their stats and have encouraged them to do so since there is no way that I can determine whether visitors to their sites have actually booked with them. Unfortunately, most of them don't. I have two questions for you. My host has excellent and thorough stats, but they don't match with Statcounter's. Do you know why this would be so?
Second question is related and will probably show my ignorance about SEO even though I try to read every newsletter I can get my hands on. One such newsletter suggested checking traffic ranking with Alexa. I did so today and the numbers just don't make sense. If I could direct you to http://www.alexa.com/data/details/re....resortsbc.com
you will see that resortsbc shows Traffic Rank for resortsbc.com: 4,887,136
The two sites listed below as related are far older and more established than mine, which is a fairly new site, yet their Traffic Rank numbers are lower. Do you know why? Does this mean that none of these numbers can really be trusted? Thanks ahead for your answer.
J Baker

[brian.mark]

First off, you're comparing apples to oranges by comparing statcounter and a logfile analyzer. One is JavaScript - run by browsers with JS enabled. Spiders, visitors who decide to turn it off, and some old browsers won't ever show up in a JavaScript tracker. On the other hand, logfile analysis only shows requests, so people hitting the back button show as another view in a JS solution and don't show the new view on a logfile stat package. JS and logfile won't ever be the same, no matter how much they work to get similar results.

Second question was about Alexa. Well, that only shows visits by people with the Alexa toolbar installed. I personally don't have it installed. Nobody that works here does (here or at home). That means that our visits aren't counted by their system. However, when we see visitors on our site from Amazon, they always have it installed. The fact that their employees all have it says that their numbers are naturally going to be higher.

It's a measure, but not the best. Most certainly something you can look at, but realize that it doesn't show you any facts - just some sort of a number as a guess. You could also look at the numbers from trustgauge, but that has the same problems.

Brian.

[wilderness]

Thank you Brian,
It never occurred to me about the javascript being the difference on statcounter, but it makes sense.
I don't have the Alexa toolbar installed either and won't but it doesn't quite answer my question as to why the numbers on a new site such as mine would be so much higher than on the two sites listed as being related. I don't understand how their numbers can be so far out of line and this would indicate to me that their information in other areas regarding SEO may not be accurate, however, I could be wrong. But thank you again for the information. I much appreciate it. I've learned a tremendous amount over the past few months reading all you guys' posts and it's been a great help to me.

J

[ronparrs]

We've been using SuperStats from Network solutions for about 2 years. It's been great even at the basic level especially when providing me information such as keywords and referrals. At the higher levels it's probably worthwhile if I didn't want a home life!

SuperStats is probably the single best tool in growing the web side of our business.

[Steve W]

Hi, how are you detecting the 'add to favourites' count please? Is that through a link on the site or is there some magic java way to do it?

Thanks :)

[Songwriters7]

On the subject of webstats, can someone please explain how it's possible for pages to have more visitors Exit than Enter? Seems illogical, but that's what our site stats say about some of our pages.

Thanks!

Songwriters7

[intelliot]

J Baker (wilderness),

"Rank" means that lower numbers are better, higher numbers are worse. According to your post, you're rank 4,887,136. The most popular site would be rank 1, then 2, then 3, etc. So it makes the most sense for more established sites to have a lower Traffic Rank number.

As your site gets more traffic, its Rank will approach 1st place (decrease).

The number cannot be trusted completely because there are limitations. However, it is a good estimate.

[brian.mark]

Originally Posted by Steve W

Hi, how are you detecting the 'add to favourites' count please? Is that through a link on the site or is there some magic java way to do it?

Thanks :)

That's a feature in awstats. It just counts how many times favicon.ico is accessed. This is really skewed now with FireFox using those icons for the tabs and in the address bar.

Brian.

[brian.mark]

Originally Posted by Songwriters7

On the subject of webstats, can someone please explain how it's possible for pages to have more visitors Exit than Enter? Seems illogical, but that's what our site stats say about some of our pages.

Thanks!

Songwriters7

Usually, what is reported as Entry is when someone enters the site through that page. What is reported as exit is when that's the last page viewed by that visitor.

It's very easy for a page to not be a landing page too often but be the last page that someone views.

Brian.

[Steve W]

Thanks for enlightening me Brian. I guess you have to consider % browser id=Gecko when tallying up hits and make that your error margin?

[Tubby]

Quote
'One of the AWS stats I pay particular attention to is the "Save as a Favorite" reporting.'

YES! This one is the King. .

I have not yet found a stats program that I like. But I do run stats programs on sections I am working on, outward bound exit links I like. Keyword information I like.

These latest 50 are from as new section today
they seem to say - 'Who are you aiming at ?'
You have to love stats, Its prime feedback..

- classic australian cars
- 1958 Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday Coupes
- michigan 1962 pontiac windshield
- "1957 cadillac" parts
- LOUISIANA CLASSICS
- (562) 762-8244
- 1971 Chevy. Impala parts front grill front lights
- cowl hood for 1979 malibu
- @us.cibc.com
- "1966 oldsmobile Tornado"
- chevelle for sale ga 1965 chevy
- 4 door willys wagon
- 1957 chevy parts in iowa
- impala 1963 to sell in louisiana
- custom mirrows for pickups
- 1948 ford f 100 truck parts
- 1973 volkswagon super beetle ragtop
- torana for sale
- PARTS FOR A 1979 OLDSMOBILE CUTLAS SUPREME
- 1950 pontiac chieftain convertible interior pictures
- dodge rampage
- 1981 mrecedes 500sl buy
- door 1978 trans am patch panel
- 1967 Datsun 1300 Pickup Truck
- 1958 pontiac starchief sale
- VW BUGS FOR SALE IN OREGON
- 1963 CHRYSLER IMPERIAL FOR SALE ALABAMA
- John Early Whitehall, PA 18052
- 69 cutlass sheet metal
- Triumph Herald sedan
- classic steering wheels australia
- 1967 chevrolet eye brows
- "1955 ford f-100"
- kannapolis nc used cars
- 64 ford fairlane bumbers
- 1963 ford nos parts wanted
- 94 oldsmobile cutlass cedar s
- 1957 F-100
- 1967 olds delta88 355
- 1979 cutlas bumper
- usa ebay nova console

Stats like this say to me oops, no prominant single words double word phrases yet..

[wilderness]

To Intelliot,
Thanks for the information on Alexis Ranking. I had no idea that is how it works but it definitely answered my question. Unfortunately, finding out I was that far down Alexis' list also ruined my supper so lots of work to do on the site this winter.
Thanks again guys!

J

[KenGalo]

This is all some great insight. Being in the marketing end only of the my biz, I use the stat counters to differentiate between surfers and customers. Since we target market based on geographical locations we can tell within a week or two if a particular marketing scheme is working or not by the traffic, which pages are visited and return visits.
Great info, thanks.

[mike]

I like getting stats from multiple sources and comparing. We use awstats like some of the other folks here and I like it quite a lot. I keep an eye on keywords, referring sites and unique visitors mostly.

[Tubby]

I love looking at other website stats, they can turn what you think is normal upside down, unfortunately you don't get the chance often, especialy cometitors stats, maybe somebody should start a new site 'Stat-swapping.com'.

But who would trust another webmasters stats, most of lie through our teeth when quoting visitor numbers etc.

Has anyone done any research on longer key-phrases in comparison to shorter key-phrases. are long phrase users more likely to buy because they are better targeted?. .

gonna have a look at awstats now,

[brian.mark]

Originally Posted by Tubby

I love looking at other website stats, they can turn what you think is normal upside down, unfortunately you don't get the chance often, especialy cometitors stats, maybe somebody should start a new site 'Stat-swapping.com'.

But who would trust another webmasters stats, most of lie through our teeth when quoting visitor numbers etc.

Has anyone done any research on longer key-phrases in comparison to shorter key-phrases. are long phrase users more likely to buy because they are better targeted?. .

gonna have a look at awstats now,

I've seen those stats at SES a few times. 1 - 2 words are considered "Browsing" terms. 3 - 4 is the "Consideration" phase. 4+ is considered the "Buying" phase. I think it's comscore that puts those out, but I haven't seen that presentation since Chicago last year, which was December, so I don't remember who published that for sure.

Brian.

[Tubby]

Quote
'1 - 2 words are considered "Browsing" terms. 3 - 4 is the "Consideration" phase. 4+ is considered the "Buying" phase.'

Yes that probably what I read. But I have done my fair share of writing and reading, often writers having wondered about something then create some 'facts'. as good reason to write an article. I would far sooner read a post from someone I knew that can state his own observations and where he observed them. There are far to many webmasters creating facts to post in return for traffic. I call it 'Concept spam' I do like to see or know the source. ( I used to write articles part time for womens magazines - does your man realy love you? type of thing where answer (a) was worth three points etc - just for the fun and some spare cash) I do know what crap some writers can come up with,, , just bunkum, but edited more carefully. . .

I would like to see more configurable stats, where a webmaster could punch in the combination he is curious about, something like - Exit links/ original search terms/ length of stay/ sort of thing. and only get stats for these items. Now somebody tell me I can get this.(then tell me it's only $*** per month)