The first step is to not rely on a "hit counter" (ESPECIALLY the "free" hit counters. I have seen more malware on servers from free hit counters than from any other source). Counters are misleading and basically useless for determining the success of your website.
A lot of web-hosting services offer Webalizer. There may be different "server-side" statistic programs like AWStats installed as well. It is up to you what to use, or you may even have multiple tracking systems simultaneously, if your host allows. (Statistics software causes a lot of work for the server, and many hosts do not allow more than one at a time.)
Figuring out Webalizer. (This is a partial list of the most useful stats only)
Where to Find the Statistics
As you connect to Webalizer, it displays a bar-diagram of the amount of traffic, typically for a year's time. For more information, just click on the month in the chart beneath the graph. After clicking on a given month, it displays a variety of statistical analyses of the traffic to your site. Much of the data you will not need unless you are a true guru.
Referrers: A "referral" is when a user reaches your site by clicking a link on a different site. Webalizer will document which site led them to you. If they discovered you during a Google search, it will inform you that it was from Google, but not what they were searching for when they discovered you. If you want to see what visitors were looking for when they clicked, then register for Google Analytics. Every page your are trying to track should have a code snippet (script) in the footer if you use Analytics.
Files and Hits: These statistics are the most misleading. Every time a URL is put in, it is considered a "hit". This is still true if the URL has stopped working or if it was misspelled. A "file" is every completed download whether it be pages, images, sounds, or videos.
Page: Pages are "hits" for existing pages, not including pictures or flash objects that aren't actually embedded within a page. "Page" filenames usually end in "html", "php" or "asp", for instance.
Visitor: Visitors are generally identified via their IP address. This is misleading since some visitors might use the same ISP or might have a firewall that prevents them being correctly identified. If a visitor to a page does not quickly navigate to another, he may be counted as two visitors. The host typically is the one who decides the time limit, which is usually thirty minutes.
Webalizer also counts the Web crawlers (bots) which "crawl" your site. These can found in the "sites" segment of the rundown. You may be be shocked with the amount of spiders on your site, and how much bandwidth they consume. Preventing unwanted bots and spiders from crawling your site is simple; all you have to do is create or edit a file called "robots.txt" and place it your site's home folder. The majority of crawlers will do what you tell them to, but they don't have to.
A lot of web-hosting services offer Webalizer. There may be different "server-side" statistic programs like AWStats installed as well. It is up to you what to use, or you may even have multiple tracking systems simultaneously, if your host allows. (Statistics software causes a lot of work for the server, and many hosts do not allow more than one at a time.)
Figuring out Webalizer. (This is a partial list of the most useful stats only)
Where to Find the Statistics
As you connect to Webalizer, it displays a bar-diagram of the amount of traffic, typically for a year's time. For more information, just click on the month in the chart beneath the graph. After clicking on a given month, it displays a variety of statistical analyses of the traffic to your site. Much of the data you will not need unless you are a true guru.
Referrers: A "referral" is when a user reaches your site by clicking a link on a different site. Webalizer will document which site led them to you. If they discovered you during a Google search, it will inform you that it was from Google, but not what they were searching for when they discovered you. If you want to see what visitors were looking for when they clicked, then register for Google Analytics. Every page your are trying to track should have a code snippet (script) in the footer if you use Analytics.
Files and Hits: These statistics are the most misleading. Every time a URL is put in, it is considered a "hit". This is still true if the URL has stopped working or if it was misspelled. A "file" is every completed download whether it be pages, images, sounds, or videos.
Page: Pages are "hits" for existing pages, not including pictures or flash objects that aren't actually embedded within a page. "Page" filenames usually end in "html", "php" or "asp", for instance.
Visitor: Visitors are generally identified via their IP address. This is misleading since some visitors might use the same ISP or might have a firewall that prevents them being correctly identified. If a visitor to a page does not quickly navigate to another, he may be counted as two visitors. The host typically is the one who decides the time limit, which is usually thirty minutes.
Webalizer also counts the Web crawlers (bots) which "crawl" your site. These can found in the "sites" segment of the rundown. You may be be shocked with the amount of spiders on your site, and how much bandwidth they consume. Preventing unwanted bots and spiders from crawling your site is simple; all you have to do is create or edit a file called "robots.txt" and place it your site's home folder. The majority of crawlers will do what you tell them to, but they don't have to.
About the Author:
Stephen Grisham, Sr. is a copy writer for InfoServe Media, LLC. If you are looking for web site design, Houston has it. If you just need a few changes to an existing site, InfoServe Media also offers website maintenance.
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