Analyzing traffic to a site is a key factor in tweaking search engine optimization and marketing campaigns. Determining how people get to your site is critical. Surprisingly, few sites take advantage of the data available on their servers.
Server Logs
Typically, there are two server tools available to you. Server logs are on your server and analyze site activity. The log keeps track of the files created on the server, the number of times there is a request for the file, where the hit came from and the exact phrase typed in by the person accessing the page of the site. Every system is different, but these basic elements should be included.
The second tool, a traffic analysis program, is pretty standard for most hosting companies, but you may have to ask them to turn it on. The programs analyze the raw data from your server and convert it into fascinating charts, diagrams and statistics. Most of the information is overkill. You have to be careful not to get overwhelmed by numerous ways to look at the data. Try to focus on the following information:
1. What sites are sending you visitors?
2. What search engines are sending you traffic?
3. What keyword phrases are people using to find your site?
4. How often are major search engine indexing robots visiting your site?
As you access the data, you are going to find some very surprising things. Actually, you are probably going to be stunned.
Initially, you are going to be amazed when you see which keyword phrases that are sending traffic to your site. Many of the keywords will not match your meta tags. Instead, they will be a combination of various keywords on a particular page. This is reflection of the fact that search engines mix and match your keywords as they see fit. So, should you change your meta tags to reflect the phrases shown in the data? No. The data you are seeing typically reflects keywords with little competition. Since you are already getting traffic from them, keep focusing on your original goals.
In looking at your data, the second key piece of data is identifying where the traffic is coming from. This data often falls under the "referrer" heading. By reviewing the data, you can see what search engines are producing data for you. If you are running advertising on a site, you should also be able to track the campaign.
The final area to analyze is the robot visit information. Depending on the program, the robot information may appear under "robots" or "user agents" headings. Robots are programs used by search engines to index web sites on the net. In reviewing your data, you should be able to determine how often the robots are coming to your site. If at all possible, make sure you add new content to your site before the next visit. The robots for the top search engines are Yahoo ? Slurp, Google ? Googlebot, and MSN ? MSNbot.
In Closing
Analyzing the traffic to your site is a key element to marketing your site. The more you know about your customers, the more you can cater to their needs.
Halstatt Pires is with MarketingTitan.com - http://www.marketingtitan.com - an Internet marketing and advertising company. Visit our article section - http://www.marketingtitan.com - to read more internet marketing articles.
one time home cleaning Highland Park ..If you are living in a country that its native... Read More
Building a new website can be a lengthy task. From... Read More
Designing and creating your own website does not have to... Read More
1. Be clear on your purpose.Building a website can be... Read More
First, using a lot of web graphics, flash, banners and... Read More
The following is a list of patterns that many visitors... Read More
Do you make your website just to entertain yourself or... Read More
Directory Generator, a product from Armand Morin and Marc Quarles,... Read More
1) A marketing necessityI still hear it said from time... Read More
You know exactly what your organisation does and what your... Read More
A professional online reputation is essential to the flourishing of... Read More
Developing a website with content that entices visitors to return... Read More
If you're looking for better web site ROI, chances are,... Read More
How many Web Sites did you stumble over telling you... Read More
When I started my company in 2002, I knew I... Read More
Go to any internet marketing forum you want these days... Read More
The needs of screen magnifier users are overlooked when implementing... Read More
Customer service questionnaires can help your clients better understand their... Read More
When people think about the Internet, they think about technology.... Read More
You've put up a website to promote a product or... Read More
What is web accessibility & why is it important?Web accessibility... Read More
Although there are significant differences among the various types of... Read More
How popular is online shopping? And is there room for... Read More
Revenues are often lost because many business owners don't see... Read More
While most marketers are beginning to understand the critical importance... Read More
licensed cleaning services Park Ridge ..When we review the sites of potential clients, there are... Read More
In a previous ezinearticles.com article,"I Need real visitors, Not Search... Read More
You don't believe in astrology but you check your horoscope... Read More
If one more business owner tells me their website sucks... Read More
To the starting internet entrepreneur, there is nothing more discouraging... Read More
When you started reading this sentence you assumed lo acabar?a... Read More
Starting and maintaining a business is challenging enough without the... Read More
A website lets you put your products in front of... Read More
Right after the thought, "I need a website," people usually... Read More
Internet Marketing is not a miracle marketing strategy ? competition... Read More
Think up a name and check if yourname.com is available.... Read More
QUESTION: Should I build and maintain my business Web... Read More
The "robots" meta tag, when used properly, will tell the... Read More
Although designing a great web site is an important part... Read More
I recently received an unsolicited e-mail from some company offering... Read More
A PHP Redirect automatically transfers a web user from one... Read More
Your website conversion rate should concern you. This simply refers... Read More
When you publish a content site there are times when... Read More
In the time that I have been using the Internet,... Read More
Let's begin by setting some limits. If you're like me,... Read More
If you're anything like most small business owners, you probably... Read More
Are you aware that 90% of the websites on the... Read More
How popular is online shopping? And is there room for... Read More
Before you jump into spending coutnless hours on designing and... Read More
There are hundreds of millions of Web surfers today. Each... Read More
Web Development |