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LogFiles Analysis | | | If you are a web site owner probably you need to know how many people have seen your site. There is a method developed to calculate web site visitors. The web site owner can measure the site attendance by calculating your log files. As well, there is some information in your log files that you have to check and analyze regularly.
Some people call the log file analysis site statistics. The log file analysis or the site statistics can help you to determine easily your web site attendance. Moreover, you can know the attendance per day, month or year. The log file analysis provides you with information such as how many people have visited your web site this month, where were they located, why were they visiting your site, who or what had referred them to your site and other valuable information.
The log file analysis helps you to determine the success of your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) campaign as well. This is the only way to find out which search engine you should choose or how to improve the existing one. There are specialized SEO firms which offer to analyze your web site statistics in order to provide you with the necessary data. For example, they will tell you where your search engine traffic is coming from and what keywords people usually use to find your web site.
In order to collect the statistics data you need to install certain software. A proper program for website statistics is AWStats (www.awstats.org). The good thing about it is that it offers good quality for free - everyone is free to download this software. It is user-friendly and easy to install.
Once you have the AWStats installed then you have to find out how to extract useful information using it. You will have a lot of hard work to do; you will need to investigate some factors and variables regularly (let's say every week or month). Log file analysis is the easiest way to determine the condition of your site design and if it is possible to acquire page optimization. There are two main groups of variable that you will need to investigate - factors making people visit your site and some variables determining your web pages. Even if you are acquainted with this factors and variables you can put some effort into changing and tracking them in order to increase the popularity and attendance of your website. I guess you will find the following information very helpful.
| | | Make sure that you are familiar with the main variables that determine your website. You need to search for the correct information about your web pages and their popularity and attendance. Always have in mind the following variables:
- Entry paths: The entry paths are usually other websites which the surfers use in order to get to your site. Such sites are shown at the first place in the search engine and then usually the visitors follow the link. Entry pages provide you with some valuable data about what kind of pages usually attracts people's attention. In this way you can think of an effective way to grab visitors' attention and to increase the popularity of your web site.
- Most Requested Pages and Top Entry Pages: These two are very important variables as well. You can think of improving your web site only if you have correct information about which the most visited pages on your site are and what attracts people's attention most. The most requested pages help you to find out what on your web pages is popular among visitors and what you need to improve about it. I'll give you an example. If your top entry pages statistics show that most visitors of your web site have requested to the newsletter signup script called newsletter.php then you will be aware that surfers are interested in receiving newsletter.
- Top exit pages: These are usually the pages that the visitor leaves your web site from. Top exit pages statistics provide you with precious information about what makes visitors lose interest on your site. Another example: in case you have noticed that most visitors leave your web site while they are on the shopping cart checkout page then probably you have to consider its change. Many different problems may have occurred but at least you will know that there is something wrong with it.
- Direct Pages: This kind of statistics tells you whether the visitors usually enter you web site by directly typing the web address on the address bar of the browser.
- Landing Pages for PPC/Affiliate Campaigns: In case you participate in a Pay-Per-Click or in an Affiliate campaign you can also use special landing pages or tracking ids. You will receive valuable data concerning the attendance of your web site, its popularity, how many visitors you have per month or per week, what they did after visiting your site, whether they have bought something and so on.
- Average number of HTML pages per visit: Another useful way to find out whether your web site is attractive for your visitors is to tract the number of pages the average visitor sees before leaving your website. If the statistics show that visitors see only one or two pages of your site then you have to be sure that there is something wrong with your web site. If the statistics show that visitors see more pages there is nothing to worry about.
| | | The other main group of variables that you need to consider concerns the visitors. Log file analysis helps you to receive valuable data about the visitors of your web site and about their interest of your web site, how they have encountered your site, what they have searched for, what type of browsers they use to get to websites, etc. In this article I'm going to present you some of the main variables concerning visitors:
- Search Phrases: The search phrases are keywords that your visitors usually type in search engines in order to find your website. If you notice that people manage to find the information they have been looking for by typing the same search phrases as the ones that you have chosen than you will know that the search phrases you have put are appropriate. On the other hand, you may notice that you get a large traffic from keywords typed by visitors that have no connection with the subject of your web site. In this way you will find out that the search phrases that you have put are not appropriate. That is why it is very important to receive information concerning which keywords make visitors see your site, whether they are relevant to the content, and whether you should change the site search phrases.
- Location of the visitors: Unfortunately, only highly developed software is able to provide you with such information. Such software can help you find out where the greatest part of your visitors is located. It can even sometimes tell you the even the town and the zip code of the certain state of his or her living place. This type of variables helps you adjust the content of your site to its regular visitors. For instance, if log file analysis shows that most of the visitors came from the south you can include in your site phrases and slang such as 'ya'll' and 'hound dog' or other specific words and expressions used in the south. In fact, this is very easy way to make people feel welcome to your site.
- Types of browsers your visitors use: This is a very important factor because some browsers have proven to be more effective when reaching certain sites than others. Moreover, in case you know what type of browser your visitors usually use you will know which browser you should use to check your pages before publishing them. As well, you will be sure which advanced HTML and plug in features you need to have on your site. In case most of the visitors use older browsers this will make you realize that you need less advanced features for your site.
- Visit Duration: This is probably the main variable that determines visitors' interest in your web site. I cannot think of any other stronger indicator of the quality of your web site than the visit duration. You will find out there is something wrong with your site that you need to consider if you notice that most people leave your web pages as soon as they have entered. Moreover, you will realize that you need large and profound improvements. As well, the reason for short visit duration could be wrong key search phrases that you are using. Anyway, in case the log file analysis reports short visit duration you will need to put some work and knowledge in order to make your web site more attractive to the visitors.
- The Referer or referring website, the Internet origin of your site: In short the Internet origin is the site they switched off from or the last site the visitors had seen before entering your site. Two main types of referers are known: Referring Domains and Referring URLs. I can simply explain the referring URL as the link on the website seen by the visitor, which led him or her to your site. It is very important for you to know where your traffic came from, from which search engines and directories because you will be able to focus your efforts on them.
However, the information that the log file analysis shows could be incorrect. Miscalculation is very often the reason for misleading results. Make sure that you won't slip on a misleading variable.
- Hits: Each click on a certain HTML page of your website is known as a hit. However, if each page of your site has five graphics and the visitor clicks on each of them this will count as six hits - five for the graphics and one for the page itself. You know that this result is incorrect. That is why it so important not to slip on a misleading results.
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