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Free Website Content - Web Log Analysis
Web Log Analysis
By Sharon Housley
Everyone who understands Internet Marketing
will tell you to analyze your web logs... but what does
that really mean? What particular things should you pay
attention to when analyzing your web logs?
Errors - Page Not Found
How many visitors to your site experience
an incorrect or invalid URL? Perhaps you have links on your
website to a page that no longer exists. Reviewing the number
of "page not found" listings in your web logs will help
discern if you have any pages that are not accessible to
your visitors. If that is the case, you can then either
replace the missing page, or implement a system to automatically
redirect the visitor to an appropriate alternate page.
Top Referrers
Where is your traffic coming from? Reviewing
the sources of web traffic allows you to assess what advertising
campaigns have resulted in increased web traffic.
Top Exit Pages
Where are you losing your traffic? Are there
specific pages on the website that bleed traffic? This means
that, for whatever reason, website visitors choose to leave
your website after viewing a specific page. Evaluating which
pages lead visitors to leave your site might mean that the
content you are providing is not what the visitor expected.
Perhaps small changes can be made to specific webpages to
capture traffic and retain the website visitor's interest.
Top Incoming Pages
What pages are bringing visitors into your
website? Perhaps you have a webpage buried deep within your
site that unexpectedly generates a significant amount of
traffic. Perhaps you have an obscure page in your site that
contains odd or unusual phrases that perform surprisingly
well in the search engines. Can the results be reproduced
by using a related phrase on a similar webpage?
Top Search Words & Phrases
What keywords and phrases are customers using
to find your website? The keywords that do not appear prevalent
in the web logs can be just as important. Are there specific
phrases you are attempting to optimize for, but are not
generating the desired traffic? Perhaps renewed effort needs
to be applied to website optimization.
Unique Visitors
How many unique visitors does your website
receive? Is the trend increasing or decreasing? The number
of unique visitors (note: not the number of hits) can be
a good indicator of a website's popularity, and any trends
that might relate to that popularity.
Average Time Spent And Page Views
How much time is spent on the website? How
much time is spent on a specific webpage? Webmasters will
often attract traffic by using catchy titles, but then the
actual page content fails to deliver, and the website visitor
ends up simply clicking away. Take a close look at the length
of time your website visitors spend across a website and
on specific pages. Consider what tweaks can be made to better
harness and retain that web traffic.
Browsers
Evaluating the various web browsers being
used by your website visitors can tell you two things -
what browsers you should be testing your website in, AND,
what Operating System your customers have. Are you getting
a lot of Mac traffic but only offer a windows product? Maybe
you can partner with a competing Mac product and capture
some of that market.
Country of Origin
The country of origin might be helpful if
you are considering localization. It can also be helpful
if you see a lot of PPC (Pay Per Click) traffic coming from
a country that does not generate a lot sales. This means
you are paying for traffic which is NOT resulting in sales.
Log analysis is an ongoing process. Pay particular
attention to trends and traffic patterns. Understanding
web logs will give you an insight into what is working and
what is not working. The numbers seldom lie -- statistics
gleaned from web logs can give a true picture of how a website
is performing. By critically analyzing the numbers, webmasters
can effectively optimize their website to better capture
and hold on to web traffic.
While the information contained in web logs
is very helpful in discern what designs are working, and
what path users take in your website, keep in mind that
the MOST important information to evaluate is the traffic
that results in sales. Work with your order processing company
to determine what keywords and advertisements lead to sales.
The goal of any advertising campaign is not to just bring
web traffic, but to bring web traffic that ultimately decides
to buy your product or service.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and
podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll
http://www.recordforall.com
audio recording and editing software.
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This article may be used freely in opt-in
publications and websites, provided that the resource box
is included and the links are active. A courtesy copy of
the issue or a link to any online posting would be greatly
appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
.
Additional articles available for publication available
at http://www.small-business-software.net/free-website-content.htm
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