How To Really Understand The Basics of Website Traffic Statistics

Do You Really Understand The Basics of Website Traffic?

By: Warren Little

 

There are lots of terms used in internet marketing that are foreign to those new to online business. The truth is even those have been around awhile may still need clarity on the critical terminology used when talking about website traffic. Let me begin by asking you this,

 

Do you know the difference between hits and visitors on your site?

 

 

Are you able to interpret the figures when you see your web traffic statistics? Let's say that you have had 10 visitors and 600 hits? Ramping up your website traffic can be very complicated if you don’t know what all the terms mean. But after you understand the concept, your stats will be much easier to read & thus your internet marketing business in a position to grow

First of all, you will need to have a good counter installed on your website. Some web hosts come with a web counter pre-installed, though you might want to find a new one. Most counters are quite easy to install, using copy and paste HTML style. While a host-based stats system will provide you with all your stats right there on your web site, you will need to use the stats of an outside counter. There, you can set up all you need for each website or blog that you operate and monitor your stats.

Now that you have a good statistic counter, you need to know what all those graphics and numbers mean. The best way to do this is to first find out the terminology used. Then you can start looking at the numbers.

If you need help wisdom says get a successful internet marketing coach/mentor.

Website Hits. These are the number of objects that have been loaded onto a browser. This means that if you have ten objects on your page, plus the HTML file, you will register 22 hits every time someone looks at that page. An object can be anything from a picture or graphic to a widget or text box. Most web pages have several objects, some have thousands! So, hits are not the indication of how many people actually visited your website.

Website Visitors. A visitor is someone who looks at your site and receives a cookie to mark them. That way you will know if they are a return visitor (someone coming back to take a second look) or a unique visitor. browsers that don’t allow cookies will register as a unique visitor each time the person returns to your page.

Page Visits. These are how many times people have arrived at your site. They may be visits from a returning visitors or unique ones. Therefore, the visits number can be much higher than your visitors, especially if you have a blog that is updated often.

Page Views. Page views differ from hits in that they only register the page as a whole. So if someone looks through your home page which has 20 objects, it would only appear as one page view, whereas it would show 20 hits every time someone looks at your web page.

Here are  some more terms that are helpful to know, if your stat counter is able to give them to you.

Referral Site: This will tell you know how people are finding your website.If they are clicking through from a forum that you posted on or a search engine. It is good to see if your back links are working.

Main Entry Page: Your stat counter may show you what pages your visitors arrived on. Although we usually think of the home page as the entry page, it is not always so. Many times, when an interior page is indexed on a search engine, a relevant search will turn up only that page and send visitors directly to an article or catalog page. Knowing where people are coming to your website allows you to adjust the pages.

Exit Page: This is the page people are leaving your website from. Are they running for the hills when they go to your sales page? Maybe you might need to tweak it. Changing the pages that people usually click away from is a good way to keep your visitors longer.

Now that you know the basics of your website traffic, it will be easier to fix your website. Knowing when and where visitors are entering and exiting will help you make your site more efficient and useful, and in the long run, earn you more money online.

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[Authors note:One of the biggest reasons people fail to make money online is the inability to manage the overwhelm of all the necessary tasks to be successful. You don't have to be a statistic.Learning to effectively work with virtual assistants has revolutionized my entire life & business. Even traffic generation can be outsourced.Click here to see how this is done.]

[About the Author] Warren Little is a  successful Internet Network Marketing Consultant/Trainer and motivational speaker. He is an expert at empowering internet marketers to achieve greater levels of success quickly. His "Network Marketing Solutions Newsletter" has become one of most highly subscribed to internet marketing resources.