Web Development Information

Server Stats - Analyzing Traffic To Your Site


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/internet_marketing_articles - to read more internet marketing articles.


MORE RESOURCES:

ITProPortal

New Mozilla Programme to Teach Basics of Web Development
ITProPortal
The Mozilla Foundation, best known for its Firefox internet browser, has launched a web learning initiative aimed at teaching average users the basics of internet authoring and development. Webmaker is a dynamic programme that endeavours to "help ...

and more »


PR Web (press release)

Mobile+Web DevCon Announces Cisco Systems and Opera Software Keynote Speakers
PR Web (press release)
Mobile+Web DevCon features pre-conference labs and three dedicated tracks: iOS, Android and Mobile Web & Web Development. Global Strategic Management Institute (GSMI) is proud to present the Mobile+Web Developer Conference. Mobile+Web DevCon will be ...

and more »


Orion E Solutions- Providing One Stop Solutions to All Your Web Development Needs
SBWire (press release)
Chandigarh, Punjab -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/20/2012 -- Orion eSolutions is a web development company that is dedicated to providing the best services to clients. The company started back in 2007, and has since then grown from strength to strength to command a ...

and more »


Mobile Web Development Still Has Traction
Forbes
By Mac Slocum We're all well aware that mobile web development has gone through a complete metamorphosis over the last five years. We went from tiny screens with limited browsers to elegant multitouch displays with advanced web experiences.



Maxthon Advocates for Next Generation of Privacy and Web Development at W3C
MarketWatch (press release)
SAN FRANCISCO, May 18, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Maxthon ( www.maxthon.com ), a global software and web services company, led a spirited conversation about the need for China's Internet industries to proactively and aggressively seek to improve ...

and more »


Digital Arts Online

Panic announces Coda 2, Diet Coda for iPad
Macworld
by Lex Friedman, Macworld.com Coda is Panic's wide-ranging Web development editor. The original version offered a tabbed interface that let you write and edit HTML and other code, create and modify CSS, do command-line work, generate live previews, ...
Can Diet Coda make the iPad a leaner meaner business machine?Appolicious
Coda 2 For Mac And Diet Coda For iPad Launching On May 24thCult of Mac
Panic announces Code 2 for Mac, Diet Coda for iOSInsanely Great Mac
PadGadget
all 17 news articles »


SEOmoz (blog)

Cross-Browser Compatibility Testing for Website Owners
SEOmoz (blog)
And while this doesn't necessarily mean that you have to learn coding yourself or bury your head in an endless series of web design and web development courses, you do need to stay on top of changing trends around the internet.



College Classes

Facebook IPO: Motivation for Advanced Degrees in Web Development & Business ...
College Classes
While you can't relive the dorm room antics that led to Facebook's eventual creation, you can learn more about educational opportunities in computer science, web design, web development or business management. Earning a degree in technology related ...



Bop Design Identifies the Top 8 Firefox Add-ons for Web Development
San Francisco Chronicle (press release)
Bop Design selects the best Firefox add-ons to make web development faster and more efficient. San Diego, CA (PRWEB) May 03, 2012 A web developer can never have enough tools to help make web development faster and more efficient.

and more »


Outsourcing your web development work
PRWire
There's certainly no shortage of options for web development in Sydney. With online business booming and more consumers every week searching the web for products and services, there's been a corresponding surge in the number of companies offering web ...


Google News

home | site map
© 2006