What is Web Analytics and Why is it Crucial for Online Marketing
Success? by Brian Offenberger
Do you know what your website is telling you? A crucial part of your online
marketing efforts lie in understanding your website traffic patterns. If you
don't know how people find your site, what they do once they're on your site,
how long they stay on the site, what they respond to and what they reject, you
won't achieve maximum online results.
Look at your website traffic logs
Information is collected as visitors find and move through your website. This
information is displayed on what is referred to as "traffic logs." This
marketing data is pure because it is collected mechanically as visitors move
freely throughout your website. Your website offers unprecedented opportunities
to gather visitor and customer behavior data. Keep reading to learn more about
this valuable information source.
Traffic logs provide key indicators of online marketing performance
Before diving into the wealth of data available through these logs, let's clear
up a common misconception that exists amongst most business executives: "hits"
really aren't a sound indicator of website traffic. A "hit" is counted every
time a visitor requests a page or every individual image that a visitor
requests. This means that the vast majority of visits generate multiple "hits"
per visit. Ratios of "hits" to individual visits can be quite high.
The first section of the traffic log shows visits and/or visitor sessions. This
is the indicator to use concerning site traffic measurements. This section also
shows the average time per visit spent with the website.
Pay attention to the most requested and least requested page information
contained within the traffic log. This is great information for business
development purposes as well as many other applications.
Traffic logs show what is known as "top entry pages." These are the first pages
that a visitor sees when coming to a website, and great sites drive entry
traffic to multiple pages, not just the home page. The information contained
here helps you determine what is driving the traffic to your site. It also
assists in helping make decisions concerning overall site navigation.
Logs also show what pages visitors use to exit your site. At a minimum, these
exit pages should match your expectations and should contain strong call to
action statements.
Some visitors only visit one page of a website and then go off the site. These
"single entry pages" again reveal a lot about your site. Your site may be too
slow in loading, may not have contained what the visitor is looking for etc.
There is a myriad of potential strategies and tactics revealed in the page
information within the traffic log.
Find out where visitors come from and what keywords drive the visit
Traffic logs will let you know which search engines send you website visitors.
They tell you what links generated site visitors for you. They'll tell you what
search keywords and phrases people use to find your site. They'll even let you
know what call-to-action initiatives on the site produce the best results.
Low cost data for online marketing and entire business marketing applications
Information from traffic logs is pure data that is gathered mechanically
through visitor actions. There is no outside human influence in data
collection, making it an invaluable part of your entire marketing efforts.
Web analytics value is found in the answers to these basic questions
The high value of regular review and analysis of your website traffic logs
(along with a few other key performance measurements we've previously written
about) is directly reflected in your online marketing ROI. To see the value in
another way, look at the answers analytics provides to necessary business
questions:
* What do people do when they visit your site?
* Is that what you want them to do?
* Where are they coming from?
* What terms are they using to find you?
* What other websites send visitors to yours?
* What activities generate the most sales or lower costs of sales?
* How long are people staying on your site?
* Much More
It's nearly impossible to reach your full potential in anything without
measurement and analysis of performance and accomplishments. A website is no
different. Take the time to regularly review and analyze these logs for
improved internet marketing results.
About the Author
Brian Offenberger is a certified eMarketer and host of weekly radio program
"Online Marketing with RSS Ray." He is also the founder of search engine
marketing and web analytics company, BizGrowth Search Engine Solutions. He can
be reached at 877.837.8803. Visit Brian's website website at
http://www.bizgrowthseo.com for
more details and to view his other free reprint articles.
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