===================================================
The Add Me! Newsletter *** ISSUE #65 ***
"Free tips for promoting your website and business"
Add Me, Inc http://www.addme.com
The newsletter is only sent to the users of Add Me!
===================================================
...TODAY'S ARTICLE...
>> Tracking your Stats <<
........................................................
October 1st, 1999 *** ISSUE #65 ***
........................................................
Message from our sponsor:
==================================================
EXCLUSIVE INVITATION!!!!
For Add Me Subscribers Only
You are cordially invited to attend FREE this
Special Global World Wide Teleconference.
"Own Your Own Banner Exchange
and Never Have to Buy Banners Again"
http://www.BannerCo-op.com/globalconference.html
==================================================
..............................
***************************************************
The Add Me! Newsletter is a high quality newsletter
created to help everyone promote their website and
business on the Internet. The Add Me! Newsletter is
one of the largest newsletters available on the web
focusing on this topic. It is read twice a week by
over 220,000 webmasters and website owners.
Please forward this newsletter to all your friends
and co-workers who might be interested!
Interested in writing an article for this Newsletter?
Go to http://www.addme.com/list.htm for more info!
To un/subscribe, please refer to the end of the message!
***************************************************
.....TODAY'S ARTICLE.....
Tracking your Stats
=====================
by Steve White
You have created the most spectacular web site on the
Internet that downloads in less than 2.3 seconds on a
9600 baud modem (yes there are probably still a few of
them out there). You have set up your Meta Tags and
registered all your web pages with over 2000 search
engines and indexes. You must now have the most popular
site on the Internet!
How popular is your site? How do you know how many
people are visiting it and just who are your visitors?
How effective are your marketing efforts? Which ads
are working and which are expensive flops? Has someone
added a link to your site that generates almost half
your visitors? Why does it work so well for you and
what would happen if they removed the link?
Promoting your site means marketing and half of
marketing is knowledge of who, what, where and why.
The most basic requirement when promoting your web
site is access to a good Web Site visitor analysis
program. Without one you are whistling in the dark.
There would simply be no way to know how well your
site and your site promotion efforts are doing.
Just about everyone has access to site analysis
software. If you are running a commercial site on a
Windows NT or Unix host or have your own server, you
may find that your system already includes access to
a site analysis program. The two most popular that I
am aware of are Web Trends and Analogue. The former
is a commercial product that includes excellent Visual
Feedback. The latter is a freeware program with access
to most of the same information although you may have
to do a little of your own analysis to understand the
data.
=============================================================
ATTENTION! ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS NOW - THE "BETTER WAY"
INCREASE YOUR SALES by taking Visa, MasterCard, Amex, and Discover!
* Our service includes *EVERYTHING* - your own Merchant Account,
Real-Time Web Terminal, PLUS a Powerful Shopping Cart & Web Hosting
- Don't be fooled into buying only a partial solution elsewhere!
* Best of all - it COSTS LESS than ANY other provider and we are now
offering FREE SETUPS! (PLUS the most competitive monthly fees, too!)
VISIT HTTP://cdgcommerce.com/addme.html TODAY! (PROMO ENDS OCT 30TH)
Or call us at 1-310-406-8434, e-mail to: sales@cdgcommerce.com
=============================================================
If you are using a free site, a site hosted by your
access provider or a commercial site that does not
include a daily log file (why not?) then you can use
one of several excellent free site statistic programs.
One that I am familiar with is Site Meter available at
http://www.sitemeter.com/ . There are more. These free
analyzers work by including code (usually Javascript)
on your web page and sending hit statistics to a data
base that you can view at any time. They do not provide
the detail of a commercial program like Web Trends and
are not completely private but they are much better
than no feedback at all.
The information you can gather with your analysis program
is extensive and can be invaluable in your promotion
effort. It will list the number of Hits, User Sessions,
Page Views, Referring Sites, Referring URL's, Most
Accessed Page, Least Accessed Page, Top Referring Search
Engine, Search Keywords, Search Phrases and much more.
With a little knowledge you can add codes to your links
to get even more feedback about your promotion efforts.
So just what do these stats tell you?
The information can be quite extensive. Probably the
most overused and least useful information is the number
of Hits. A Hit is actually a request for a file. If you
have a web page that includes 4 pictures your log will
report 5 hits when a visitor views the page. If the user
selects the Refresh button, you will suddenly have 10
hits. Another site with no pictures will report only 1
hit as a user visits. Reporting hits of 10 to 1 is
consequently quite uninformative.
If you advertise on your site, most advertisers (as
should you) will want to know how many people visit
your site. Where do they enter and leave? Where do
they go? What do they look at? How long do they stay?
Where did they come from? Who referred them? And as
much additional information about your visitors and
advertising campaigns as possible.
Think of your site as a department store and think
about what your visitors are doing. Knowing this will
help you design your store and advertising to accommodate
them and hopefully improve your sales or visitor
satisfaction depending upon your purpose. Understanding
your stats will tell you all this and more.
====================================================
Promote your business with desktop calendars !!
The Falcon Cards promotional desk calendars are of
a valuable service and excellent publicity for your
company. Mounted on elegant personalised supports,
they carry your name and logo. They guarante your
presence on your client's desk all year round.
Don't wait, visit our site: http://www.falconcards.com
Or email us: mailto:info@falconcards.com
(We also offer Arabic versions of our calendars)
====================================================
If you think of your site as a department store, User
Sessions will tell you how many people actually
visited the store. Page Views will tell you how many
web pages (or departments) where visited. By dividing
the number of User Session with the number of Page
Views (which most good stats programs will do for
you), you will know how many pages or departments a
visitor went to before leaving. If most visitors
leave after viewing one page you will know that your
site does not have much holding power. This may be
fine but it may also be an indication that your pages
are not very appealing to your visitors.
Which is the main entry page to your site? You may
think that it is your home page but maybe it is not.
It may not be uncommon for people to enter your site
through a backdoor page. This could be because it is
better listed in a search engine or because another
site has a link to it. A department store may have a
Grand Entrance on Main Street but get most of its
visitors from the subway station connected to the
basement. In either case this may be the best place
to post a list of your daily specials. Which is the
most common exit page? Is it a good place to post a
reminder to come again or mention a page with some
exciting experience that they may have missed? Most
stats programs will tell you both with the Entry Page
and Exit Page lists.
The Least Requested Page "stat" may tell you which
page is least appealing to your visitors. It may also
tell you that your navigation method is too complex
for people to find it. If it is your Purchase Page
you definitely want to know. Maybe you just forgot
to add the link or you orphaned the link when you
deleted or changed another page.
Most stats will tell you the URL of your visitor.
What? You thought you were completely anonymous?
Maybe somewhat but not completely. You can find out
the country, city, URL and referral for your visitors.
This last is especially useful since it will identify
the source of many of your visitors. If it is another
site with a link, you should show your appreciation.
You may also wish to find other similar sites to see
if you can get a referral from them as well. Did you
just pay $1000 for a Banner Add that referred two
visitors in the last month. Maybe you have two Adds
on two similar sites but one performs significantly
better than the other. Why is one working and not
the other?
Here are a few Commercial and Free Analysis Programs
that I am aware of. Check with your Hosting Company.
They may already provide free access to one.
FastStats $99.00
http://www.mach5.com/
WebTrends $399.00
http://www.webtrends.com/
WebSuccess $288.00
http://www.websuccess.de/english/whats_new.html/
FlashStats $99.00
http://www.maximized.com/products/flashstats/
Analog freeware
http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~sret1/analog/
Site Counters and Analysis
Site Meter free
http://www.sitemeter.com/
Hitometer $4.99 month
http://websitegarage.netscape.com/
(Note from the publisher: the prices above are here
as a reference only, actual prices might differ. Also
the author of this article has no affiliation with any
of the referenced companies)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Steve G. White is the lead software designer at Virtual
Mechanics which develops HTML and Dynamic HTML applications.
Steve also publishes IMS Web Tips, a weekly newsletter of
tips and tricks on web site design and promotion.
Newsletter: http://www.IMSWebTips.htm
Home Page: http://www.VirtualMechanics.com
-------------------------------------------------------------
This newsletter is sent to you as part of the free Add Me!
submission service you have used recently.
If you have missed previous issues of the Add Me! Newsletter
you can find them at: http://www.addme.com/previous.htm
The contents of this newsletter do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of Add Me, Inc. Add Me, Inc makes no warranties,
either expressed or implied, about the truth or accuracy
of the contents of the Add Me! newsletter.
We want this newsletter to be the best one around. If you
have suggestions, ideas, or feedback about this newsletter,
feel free to email us at mailto:suggest-list@addme.com
To subscribe to this newsletter, please go to
http://www.addme.com/list.htm
Interested in writing an article for this Newsletter?
Go to http://www.addme.com/list.htm for more info!
If you are interested in sponsoring this newsletter,
place your order online: http://www.addme.com/list.htm
==================================================
(c) Copyright 1998-1999 Add Me, Inc
==================================================
