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In the early days of of the Internet, the only traffic reporting tool that was well known were those tacky page counters at the bottom of the page. In today's world we need reporting tools that gives us a lot more information if we are to manage our websites intelligently.
Website statistic programs come in a variety of configurations ranging in price from free to over $10,000. There are basically two kinds of reporting methods used, log file analysis and what I call dynamic analysis. With log file analysis tools, the statistics program reads the entries in the server's log files and reports the who, what, when, and where of traffic stats. The dynamic analysis tools require a snippet of code to be placed on every web page that you want to track. When the tracked page is viewed, an entry is made into a collection file or database recording the traffic stats.
In my experience the log file analysis tools have not only been more inaccurate, but if the hosting company you are using decides to wipe out your log files, then there goes your statistics. This has happened to me on a couple of different times and is quite frustrating.
The other basic decision you have to make is whether to install and manage the tracking and reporting software yourself or have it hosted on a third-party server. If you are comfortable installing software on your own then I would go with this option. Otherwise, paying a monthly fee to someone else to host your data is quite acceptable. Personally, I prefer to be in control and host the data myself.
The more sophisticated the program you purchase, the more information that will be available to you. At a minimum, here is the information you should expect to see reported:
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Summary statistics reported monthly, weekly, and daily
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Number of unique visitors
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Total pages viewed
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Top websites referring traffic to your site
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Top Search Engines referring traffic to your site
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Top keywords used by your visitors
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Top entry and exit pages
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Most viewed pages
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Statistics such as browsers, operating systems, and screen resolution used to view your site
Website statistic reporting tools come in all shapes and sizes as well as price ranges. Some of these tools are industry leaders and some I have used in the past. Please be advised that I am not making recommendations here, my purpose is to open up the world of website statistic reporting to you.
Any decent web host will provide you with some sort of free website statistics program. Since I work on Linux servers, the most popular programs installed are Analog and Webalizer. Both of these programs are free to the web host and function by reading and reporting your your site's log files. Of these two programs, I prefer Webalizer because of its better reporting system.
If you are fortunate, your web host may have AWStats installed. I have used this and am very impressed with its detailed reporting.
If your budget allows, here are a couple of high-end statistic reporting tools to investigate. WebTrends and ClickTracks. In addition to reporting the basic website traffic reports, these programs can also report on visitor paths through your website, Return on Investment (ROI) calculations from your ad campaigns, and e-mail campaign analysis. The detailed reporting facility and ability to track just about anything on your website is what separates these tools from the freebies.
Both of these products offer either software for you to install on your server or a hosted solution for a monthly fee.
With Google's recent purchase of Urchin, Google now offers a fantastic website traffic reporting tool for free. It is a hosted solution and not the easiest to set up and get running, but the reports are far and away the best I have ever seen from a free product.
To conclude, everyone's needs are different when it comes to website statistic reporting. There are literally hundreds of statistic reporting tools available and it's a good practice to see what other people use and recommend. I hope I have offered you a good understanding of what is involved and some of the products that are available. |
