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"From them [web statistics] we learn more about our customers than any brick-and-mortar shop owner could dream of." |
Personal computers and the Internet make so many things easy. PCs have enabled us to free ourselves from the bondage of brick-and-mortar enterprise. We don’t to need leave our homes to do our jobs because the web brings the jobs to our homes. We set up shop on the net. We buy our products from the net. We market and sell to customers on the net. We’re able to run our businesses efficiently and cheaply because of the personal computer and the Internet.
One of the most convenient and helpful tools available to the Internet entrepreneur are web statistics. From them we learn more about our customers than any brick-and-mortar shop owner could dream of. Statistics tell us what we need to know -that is- as long as we know how decipher them.
As an adult webmaster, you will usually encounter three basic types of statistics: sponsor stats, counter stats and server stats.
When you sign up for a sponsor they give you a special user ID that is to be included in any affiliate links you put on your site or page. Through that ID, your sponsor is able to track your sales and the activities of your surfers on their sites. When you log in to your affiliate account you’re able to see those sales and activities. You can use those statistics to determine your productivity and profitability.
Each sponsor has their own way of presenting affiliate statistics. Whatever console or stats page template they use, the statistics they provide are fairly similar. Affiliate stats provide you with details on your number of sales/signups, clicks on banners or text links as well as your payout amount. Sponsor stats show you how many sales or signups or clicks you’ve received. They show you the URLs of the pages where surfers spent money or time. If you’re promoting more than one of your sponsor’s sites, your stats will delineate between programs. From sponsor stats you can ascertain how many times surfers clicked the ad banners and text links of your sponsor You can compare those numbers against your actual sales in order to tabulate your conversion ratio.
For example your affiliate stats might show that that text link on your gallery page was clicked 7000 times and that you generated 20 signups to your sponsor. That would give you a conversion ratio of 20:7000. Twenty sales from seven thousand hits might be a decent ratio but there is also room for improvement. Sponsor stats inform you of your strengths and weaknesses and let you know how much money you’re going to earn from your sponsor.
There some really great site counters out there which give you elaborate detailed statistics about your website or page. The primo counters cost money and they’re well worth it for the analyses they give you. When you can’t afford to buy a counter script or service you’re in luck because there are several free site counters you can use to track your website traffic.
You must keep in mind everything costs you something. When you use a free counter there’s a trade-off. A free site counter is basically an advertisement for the site or service of your counter provider. You’re going to lose some of your surfers to your counter provider. If you are willing to make the concession then a free counter is for you.
Free counters are cut and paste codes or scripts that will trace the activity of the page on which they are placed. When you sign up for a free counter, you’re assigned an ID that is included in your counter script. Your free counter provider analyzes and logs the surfer visits on your page via your ID and sends that information back to your provider’s server. You then log onto your account and view your traffic statistics.
Some counters are simple. They only tell you how many hits your page received and whether or not those hits come from unique surfers or revisiting surfers. Other counters you give a more complex traffic breakdown. These advanced counters can tell you what URL a surfer used to arrive at your page. This is known as a referring link. Referring links can show if your surfer came to you from a search engine or from a link on someone else’s site. These counters can tell you how many visits you had at certain hours of the day or week. They can also show you what countries your traffic is coming from and what browser software the surfers are using. A free counter can even tell you where a surfer goes when they leave your site. This is known as an exit link.
When you pay for web hosting, one of the benefits of such an account is the server statistics. Even the smallest virtual hosting plan includes access to server logs and statistics. You can view your server stats without even logging in to your hosting account simply by typing in a URL like "www.yourpage.com/stats" in your address bar. The benefit to this (aside from the detail) is that you receive a totally accurate accounting of your traffic. No lost hits eaten by a free counter. You get nice clean stats without ever having to add a banner or code to your page.
Different web hosts will display your server stats in slightly different ways but the information is relatively the same from host to host.
You get to see a monthly/daily/hourly visitor count. You see what search engine spiders and crawlers have been to your page. You get to find out what keywords the searchers used to find your site. You’re shown what files were requested and whether or not those files were retrieved successfully.
Some hosts set up server stats so you can tell how long an average surfer spent looking at your site. In addition, if you get the right host account (a dedicated or leased server) you can install and manage your own statistics scripts or scripts you buy.
The stats are there whether they come from a sponsor, a free counter or from your own hosting account. Study them. Learn where your customers are coming from and how they got to your page. Figure out which sponsor ads are selling and which ones need improvement. See who is a new surfer and who is a return visitor. Find out if you have surfers from other countries. Determine what time of day you get the most traffic. Use your computer and the Internet to the full advantage. Check your stats!
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