DEFINING WEB ANALYTICS TERMS
You need to understand what the terminology used by web analytics tools means. Following are descriptions of some of the most commonly used terms:
. Hits : A hit is counted by web analytics tools every time a file downloads from your blog. Each page on your blog can have multiple files on it. When a
person accesses a page on your blog, every file on that page downloads and counts as a hit. Example, if a page includes a blog post with multiple images
in it, each of these images downloads when a visitor accesses that page, which gives an inflated view of the popularity of your blog. Therefore, hits
are not commonly used to evaluate web traffic trends.
. Visits : Each time your blog is accessed, a visit is counted by your web analytics tool, meaning a person who accesses your blog more than once is
counted multiple times. Therefore, visits given an inflated view of your blog’s overall popularity and are not typically used to determine web traffic trends.
. Visitors : There are three forms of visitor statistics:
. Visitors : Anyone who visits any page of your blog is a visitor, so a person can be counted more than once if she visits multiple times.
. Return visitors : Anyone who visits your blog more than once is a return visitor.
. Unique visitors : Each individual visitor is counted once regardless of how many times they visit your blog.
The most important data is unique visitors because that statistic demonstrates a blog’s reach. However, unless visitors register and sign in to access your blog’s content (which is not recommended), it’s nearly impossible to ensure repeat visitors to your blog are counted one time only.
Web analytics tools use cookies (small pieces of text or code that are stored in your web browser when you visit a web page) to reduce the number of visitors who are counted twice, but if people clear their cookies from their web browsers, the web analytics tool has no way to identify them as repeat visitors. That is, if a visitor comes to your blog, clears the cookies from their web browser, and then returns to your blog, they’re counted as a new visitor (meaning they’re counted as two visitors; when in fact, they’re just one).
The opposite is true in terms of tracking return visitors. If people clear the cookies from their browsers, they won’t be tracked accurately. Therefore, tracking visitors is more accurate than tracking visits, but it’s still far from perfect.
. Page views : The page views statistic is the most common one for bloggers to track because it provides the clearest picture of how popular a blog is.
Each page viewed on your blog, regardless of who views it, counts as a page view. Online advertisers use page views as the standard of measurement
to calculate advertising rates. More page views equals more people seeing an ad and potentially clicking it or acting on it.
. Top pages viewed : Web analytics tools typically provide a report that shows your blog’s most viewed pages (including post pages). This statistic is also
referred to as Top Content. Monitoring top pages viewed can help you focus your content creation and marketing efforts.
. Top paths taken : Paths represent the way visitors navigate through your blog – the links they follow, the content that’s most interesting to them, and
the features that keep them on your blog longer.
. Top entry pages : Top entry pages represent the pages that people most frequently land on when they visit your blog. This statistic is helpful in terms
of finding where visitors are coming from. Using the Top Path’s Taken data with the Top Entry Pages data can provide valuable information.
. Top exit pages : Top exit pages represent the last pages that people view before leaving your blog. This statistic can help you identify content that
is underperforming.
. Bounce rate : The bounce rate tracks the percentage of people who leave your blog immediately after landing on it. The bounce rate represents people
who did not find what they were looking for when they were led to your blog. The lower this number is, the more effective your marketing and
search engine optimization efforts are, meaning the people who are finding your blog are the ones that you want to find it. In other words, your
SEO and marketing efforts are reaching your blog’s target audience.
. Referrers : One of the most useful statistics you can find using your web analytics tool is referrers, which identifies the web sites, blogs, and search
engines that lead visitors to your blog. Often the referrers statistic is broken down further into a category for search engines only and another
for non-search engines. You can find where traffic is coming from and determine where to focus your marketing efforts going forward by analyzing referrer statistics.
. Keywords and keyword phrases : Using your web analytics tool, you can learn which keywords and keyword phrases people are typing into their
preferred search engines that are leading them to your blog. Search engines can drive large amounts of visitors to your blog. By analyzing the
keywords and keyword phrases that people type into search engines, which lead them to your blog, you can focus your future SEO and content
creation efforts to target those keywords.
CHOOSING A WEB ANALYTICS TOOL
Most web analytics tools are easily integrated into your blogging application. Simply sign up for an account for the web analytics tool you choose, copy the HTML or JavaScript code provided to you, and paste it into your blog’s footer, sidebar, or other location as directed by the web analytics tool provider.
GOOGLE ANALYTICS (www.google.com/analytics)
Google Analytics has become one of the most popular web analytics tools for four reasons:
. It’s easy to integrate into your blog.
. It provides comprehensive results.
. It provides reasonably accurate results.
. It’s free.
Google Analytics provides a variety of reports, including custom reports, so you can easily track your blog’s statistics. You can also track advertising and promotional campaigns.
To use Google Analytics, you must create a free Google account (if you don’t already have one through another Google application such as Blogger, Gmail, Google Reader, Orkut, and so on.
StatCounter (www.statcounter.com)
Statcounter offers a free and paid web analytics tool. As you would expect, the free tool provides rudimentary statistics (although enough for most beginner bloggers). If you really want to delve into the analytics behind your blog, the paid version provides far more details.
The StatCounter web site offers a table that breaks down the tiered fee structure for the various packages offered based on monthly page loads and log size. In other words, the free tool provides only details on the most recent 500 page loads (which make up the log size) and is recommended for sites with fewer than 250,000 page loads per month. This is a big limitation if you want to track data on more page loads than the most recent 500 at any moment, because your statistics will never provide a truly accurate picture of your blog’s performance over time. You should take the log-size limitation into consideration before you rely too heavily on the statistics provided by StatCounter.
Site Meter (http://sitemeter.com)
Site Meter provides a basic amount of statistics for free but only the information from the last 100 visitors to your blog is included in those statistics. You can pay a fee to use the premium site meter features, which allows you to access more data and track the last 4,000 visitors to your site.
Depending on your blogging goals and metrics requirements, site meter might not provide the data you want at a price point you’re happy with. Be sure to research the current offerings before you make your decision.
Omniture (www.omniture.com)
Omniture is the web analytics tool often used by corporations and very popular web sites that depend on the most accurate and in-depth statistics possible. As such, pricing is not available unless you speak directly with a sales representative about your individual needs for a custom solution.
With that in mind, you can imagine how much higher the Omniture Site Catalyst price tag is than the other web analytics tools.
However, if your business or income is highly dependent on the success of your blog, you might want to consider investing in the depth and accuracy of the Omniture Site Catalyst web analytics tool.
USING YOUR BLOG DATA
Some common uses for blog data are included in the following sections.
Always be sure to set the data range you want to track within your web analytics tool.
HARNESSING THE POWER OF REFERRER STATISTICS
By visiting the sites that refer traffic to your blog, taking the time to comment or participate in the conversations on those sites (or emailing the sites owner if commenting is not available on the site), you not only acknowledge the other site, but also start a new relationship that can grow and be beneficial to both parties.