The most important thing for you to know is how many people are coming to your site -- and what they're doing there. But discovering this information is trickier than you may think, even when you have a comprehensive stat package, like Google Analytics. That's because there are a number of different stats you can look at -- and they all tell you different things.
1. Hits: Your "hits" count is the LEAST reliable statistic available. Hits occur any time someone downloads a file from the server hosting your website. But most web pages are made up of more than one file. A "hit" could be anything from a banner ad... a graphic... a digital photo... or the web page itself.Some of your web pages might register as two hits. Some might count as twenty! That's why we don't recommend you track your hits. They simply aren't a good way to measure how many people are coming to your site.
2. Page ViewsPage views: This give you a better idea of the level of activity on your site. They show you how many of your web pages are being viewed by your visitors. However, to make this kind of information meaningful, you have to think of it in terms of relative numbers instead of absolutes. Discovering your site received 20,000-page views in a week doesn't tell you a whole lot.
But knowing your site had 4.29 page views per visitor during that week tells you a lot more. You now know that your visitors clicked to four different pages on your site (on average).
This gives you an idea of how "sticky" your site is.
3. Unique visitors, or visits: This stat is most likely to equal a real person on your site. But even it
doesn't tell you exactly how many people are coming to your site.For example, let's say a bunch of your visitors are using the same computer in a library or online cafe. Because they're all coming from the same IP address, all those visitors will be counted as one person. Still, it's as accurate a count as you're going to get. New visitors, these are visitors who have never come to your site before.
Or have they?
It's possible the same people are coming to your site from different IP addresses, and therefore being counted as "new." Maybe they're using a different computer or using IP "masking" software that shows them coming from a rotating number of different IP addresses.
4. Returning visitors: This is a good number to keep your eye on. It tells you what percentage of your visitors have been to your site before. If they're coming back, it's a good sign that they like what they're finding on your site. So generally speaking, the higher the percentage of returning visitors, the "stickier" your site is the Average time on site. This shows you how long your visitors tend to stay on your site. If the average time is less than a minute, then clearly your visitors aren't finding what they're looking for on your site. If they stick around for five or more minutes, however, they're obviously finding something to interest them.
5. Percentage of sales per visit: When it comes to stats, this one is KING. It tells you what percentage of your visitors are actually buying from you. If you only track one number, this is the one to watch.
Clearly you want to do whatever you can to make that number go up!
6. Referring sites: These numbers show you where your traffic is coming from. This information is essential for your traffic generation strategies. Focus on the traffic sources that are giving you the highest visitor/sales conversion rates. Are they search engines? Affiliates? Article directories? Spend more time getting MORE traffic coming from those places.
7. Top keywords: Most stats analysis packages will tell you which keywords are generating the
highest-converting traffic for you.Be sure to doublecheck them with a keyword research tool like
Wordtracker. You'll want to make sure lots of people are actually doing searches on those keywords. You don't want to waste your time optimizing your site for keywords no one is
searching on!
If you're just starting out and need to know the basics about your site, this should give you a good start.
I wish You Great Success.
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