Don't Be a Slave to the Web Stats

Web stats are a tool and you need to know how to you that tool. Otherwise, you aren't accomplishing anything. At the very simplest level, your web stats should help you to figure out this overused business truism: 'Do more of what works. Do less of what doesn't.' But if you really want to derive value, you need to delve deeper. You need to understand what the numbers are telling you.

Improving Customer Experience (2006). Design>Web Design>Assessment>Log Analysis

How to Determine Monthly Web Site Visitors

If you pay another business to host your Web site, give them a call. Tell them you want monthly traffic reports delivered to you each month.

Costello, Rick. STC Chicago (2003). Articles>Web Design>Assessment>Log Analysis

Traffic Log Patterns

The relative popularity of a site's pages, the number of visitors referred by other sites, and the traffic from search queries continue to follow a Zipf distribution.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2006). Articles>Web Design>Assessment>Log Analysis

Web Analytics, Demystified

Measurement is a crucial part of a successful search marketing campaign, but understanding and using web analytics tools can be daunting. A new book demystifies the process, showing you how to implement your own effective measurement strategies.

Sherman, Chris. Search Engine Watch (2005). Articles>Web Design>Assessment>Log Analysis

Measuring Website Performance: Part 3

Your web server archives the information needed to generate these numbers and many others. The raw data is stored on the server in what is known as a log file. The statistics referenced above are best accumulated through the use of a log analysis program to convert your hard-to-read server log files into an understandable format.

Shreves, Ric. Water and Stone (2004). Articles>Web Design>Assessment>Log Analysis