Website statistics explained
Taking the mystery out of the numbers and clearing up some myths.
The web is one of the most measurable mediums in existence. Provided your website is set up with the right reporting systems, the way we do it, masses of data are available.
Unfortunately, website statistics are often misunderstood. Here are some of the concepts we often explain to clients.
Trends
Look at trends over weeks or months rather than just focusing on what happens on a single day. Trends are valuable because they tell you about patterns and changes, which may be more important than raw numbers.
Hits
A meaningless number that simply indicates the number of time the server has been “hit” with requests for individual elements on your website. If you want to increase your hits, just add more images to your site.
Unique visitors
A reasonably accurate indicator of the number of people who visit your website in a given period. One person using two different computers to view your website will count as two visitors. Two people using the same connection to view your website may count as one visitor.
Referring site
A site that contains a link to your website. Web statistics report a referring site when someone uses the link. Links are important traffic source and the backbone of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
Keywords & key phrases
Keywords and key phrases are the terms that people enter into search engines to find your website. Another important source of traffic, so we emphasise the importance of Keyword Analysis.
Bounce rate
The lower this is the better. A bounce is when a visitor arrives at your website then leaves without looking at any more pages. One way to reduce your bounce rate is to work on your website copy.