Reserve, Register Domain Name - Web Hosting Registration

Web Site Analysis 101

Eliminate guesswork and measure success ? that is what analysing your website visitors' behaviour [or web analytics] is all about. Understanding where they came from, where they land and what people are doing on your site.

Virtually all web-hosting services provide rudimentary analytics that can help you begin to understand what users are doing on your site. But most hosting services just don't provide more sophisticated tools. Tools such as funnel reports, which show how visitors are progressing through the various stages or levels of your site ? hopefully to become a lead / conversion / sale or navigation reports which give you visitor activity such as entry points; where they clicked; where they came from; where they went; how much time they spent on a page and their exit points. Then there are tools such as segmentation reports which track the behaviour of specific groups of visitors such as purchasers, those who came from Google etc. and robot reports which monitor when search engine spiders index your site

There are free packages you can use from ClickTracks or Google but you must apply to Google and it can take weeks for them to set you up whereas ClickTracks Appetizer is free, immediate and includes several of ClickTracks' most popular features like overlay view, path view, page analysis and basic visitor labeling.

But once you have a web analytics tool what do you do with it? To many people statistics can be daunting and interpreting what they mean can be painful; but hey, no pain, no gain.

The first thing you need to understand is some basic terms:

Hit: a request for a file from your web server noted in the log.

Page view: a request for a file whose type is defined as a page in log analysis or an occurrence of the page tagging script being run in page tagging. In log analysis, a single page view may generate multiple hits as all the resources required to view the page (images, .js and .css files) are also requested from your web server.

Visitor session: a series of requests from the same unique visitor with in a single visit. A visit is expected to contain multiple hits (in log analysis) and page views.

Unique visitor: the uniquely identified client generating requests on your web server (log analysis) or viewing pages (page tagging). A unique visitor can, of course, make many visits.

Repeat visitor: a visitor that has made at least one previous visit.

New visitor: a visitor that has not made any previous visits.

Referring search terms: the search phrases people are using to find your site.

Referring URLs: tell you which web sites are sending you traffic.

Content popularity: the list of most popular pages on your site.

Site overlay: displays your actual pages with a click level indicator next to each link showing the number of people who click on each link.

Bounce rate: reveals the number of visitors who left the site from a particular page.

OK most of those are obvious but they are still worth laying out. In future articles I?ll expand on some of these terms and on the whole subject.

Richard Hill is a Director of E-CRM Solutions, that specialises in CRM, direct and internet marketing [http://www.e-crm.co.uk] for SMEs. He is non-executive Chairman of Innovantage [http://www.innovantage.co.uk] a business intelligence company and a non-executive director of Innovecom [http://www.innovecom.com] a computer networking company.

MORE ARTICLES:

Nexx Cuts Price on .com Domain Names Web Host Offers Exceptional Value on Domain Names
Nexx Online Inc., an innovative North American web host and ICANN Accredited domain name registrar, today cut the price of their .com, .net, .org, .info and .biz domain names to only $7.95 per year.

The Steps Of Web Hosting Domain Registration
For the many millions of people who have decided to keep pace with the growing popularity of the Internet by launching their own website, they are faced with a variety of decisions necessary to make the most of their online presence. After deciding the nature and content of your website you must then tackle the decisions associated with web hosting domain registration.

Start Your Home Base Business With A Domain Name And Web Hosting
So you want to start an internet business where you can work at home and make tons of money The first part is easy to do

Cheap Domain Names, Hosting & Registration is Easy to Find Now Days
So you have a dream for a web site, an exciting idea or something you want to accomplish on the web Well in order to get started on the exciting Internet you must first find a domain name and hosting provider

Website Domain Name Registration Services from Access IT Solutions
Before you start building a website, choosing the right domain name is an important thing to do. Website domain name registration is necessary to have a website. The names are important because they enable clients or potential customers to know about your business or organization.

New Review Website for Web Hosting Services Web-Hosting-Info.com Launched
Known for websites such as FaxCompare.com, PBXCompare.com and Email-Marketing-Options.com, Zilker Ventures launches its newest comparison and review website for web hosting services, Web-Hosting-Info.com.

Website-Hosting-Offers.com Launches to Compare Leading Web Hosting Providers for Small Businesses
Website-Hosting-Offers.com announces the launch of a website featuring a select group of top web hosting providers, including reviews and side by side comparisons of all web hosting plans from these providers. Web hosting providers reviewed include Yahoo Web Hosting, 1&1 Web Hosting, iPowerWeb Hosting, and more. Site visitors can get informative web hosting reviews and articles that cater to everyone from beginning website builders to more experienced small business owners upgrading to a new web hosting plan.

DiscountASP.NET Named Best Hosting Service by asp.netPRO Readers for Fourth Consecutive Year
ASP.NET hosting and SQL hosting leader, DiscountASP.NET announces receiving the "Best Hosting Service" award in asp.netPRO Magazine's 2008 Readers' Choice poll, making it the fourth consecutive year to win this prestigious title.

The 'Website' CHECKLIST : Domains, Hosting, Web Design
This article is meant to all who already have a website or who propose to buy it. Website – the term comprises three things : Domain, Hosting (Web space) & Web DesignThere are numerous company offering these services.

The dos and don'ts of web hosting and domain names
When you make the decision to start a website for your business, it is a big step. Going from the world of offline business where clients are limited to geographical locations to online where the entire world is a potential client can be overwhelming.

Internet Domain Registration – Top 10 Most Frequently Asked Questions on Domain Name Registration
Here are the top ten most frequently asked questions regarding on Internet domain name registration:Q1. Which characters are allowed in Internet domain names?A: For normal ASCII domain names, the letters a-z, the numbers 0-9, and one special character, the hyphen or dash "-".

Web Hosting Service – What you Need to Know to Change Web Hosting Providers
When service at your web hosting company is lacking, or your web site grows in traffic so much that you outgrow your current account, you may find yourself needing to change hosting providers. It can be scary to think about everything you need to do.

Web Hosting And Domain Registration Basics
Web Hosting

Cheap Internet Hosting, Business Web Hosting - Choosing The Right Web Host Package
With literally hundreds of web hosting providers competing for your business, it may be confusing to find the one that's right for your web site. A few key considerations can help you narrow down your choices to the most affordable and best options to meet your personal, professional or business web page needs.

The Advantages Web Hosts Receive By Switching to ASP.NET Reseller Hosting
Many linux hosting resellers might find advantages of changing to a hosting service that sells Windows server hosting over Linux. While Linux is a very popular hosting solution, Windows offers multiple advantages that would benefit a number of customers. For this reason, it can be a very good product for hosts to resell.