According to Wikipedia - "Web traffic can be analysed by viewing the traffic statistics found in the web server log file, an automatically-generated list of all the pages served. A hit is generated when any file is served. The page itself is considered a file, but images are also files, thus a page with 5 images could generate 6 hits (the 5 images and the page itself). A page view is generated when a visitor requests any page within the web site – a visitor will always generate at least one page view (the main page) but could generate many more." So as you can see it is just not hits. This article discusses the need and how to trck your website statistics get get a better grasp on what your website is doing or not doing for you.

You've spent all kinds of time figuring out the proper keyword usage for your website. You've done a thousand things to make your site more attractive to search engine spiders and humans alike. Now it's time to start using a traffic measurement tool. It is as important for you to get into traffic measurement as it is for you to boost traffic on your website in the first place. Traffic measurement is how you can tell if your efforts to improve website traffic stats are paying off. How will you know if you never look at the stats?

You can't look at the stats without a traffic measurement tool like WebCEO. Different kinds offer different things. For example, if all you want to do is find out how many returning and new visitors you have coming to your site, then all you need is a small invisible counter. You can get one of those free, or you can pay a little for a few extra benefits. StatCounter.com offers free invisible web trackers that will allow you to look at some of your website traffic stats. ShinyStat.com offers a free one also, but only if you intend to use it for a non-profit website. Generally, the more you pay, the more website traffic stats reports you get to see per month. My favorite is WebCEO which has a service called Hitlens that which does an excellent job of giving you a god's eye view of your sites performance.

For traffic measurement tools that do more than the basics, you can purchase software that analyzes all kinds of website traffic stats. These programs will tell you how many visitors came to your site and lists behavioral statistics of each person. When you buy tracking software, you can track search engines and ad campaigns as well. Some software will monitor your server, network, and the website, alerting you immediately if something goes wrong. Boosting traffic to your site means making sure you have as little downtime as possible.
 
Another traffic measurement option is Google Analytics. Although you have to purchase strategic support and consultation services, the actual package itself is free to all site owners, advertisers, and publishers. In fact, they just unveiled a new version on May 8, 2007 at the Emetrics Summit, a conference exploring issues surrounding the optimization of websites. Whichever traffic measurement tool you opt for, it's a good idea to keep an eye on your website's traffic. Not doing so is like studying as hard as you can, but never receiving a grade. You wouldn't have liked it if your professors had told you to just wait until the end of your college career to see if you wound up with a degree or not — so don't turn a blind eye to your site's progress.

Tags: website content management, website content, website development, internet promotion marketing, internet marketing

Tags: website development, website content, internet promotion marketing, website content management, internet marketing