One of the most crucial things about running a website is directing traffic to it. Without visitors and readers, your website will have little meaning or influence. A website with low traffic will only be able to turn over low levels of sales, or receive only small amounts in advertising and other kickbacks. Fortunately, today's technology allows website owners to track their website stats and use them to their advantage.
Website stats basically comprise information collected about the visitors to your site. They can range from very simple to extremely detailed and complex. The complexity of the stats that you can generate through your website depends partly on the stat counter that you are using, as well as on your website itself. Some sites are constructed in a way that makes it difficult to easily break down stats, while others make this a much easier task.
One of the most important pieces of information collected as part of your website stats is a keyword analysis. Key words are the words that people typed in a search box, which then led them to your site. These key words show what people are looking for when they come to your site. If the keywords match the type of topic that you are targeting, this is a good sign that you've positioned your website well. If the keywords don't seem to match what you think of as the theme of your site, perhaps you need to refocus your content, or move it in a direction to match these identified interests.
Website stats also let you know who is visiting your website. They can tell you where each visitor comes from, which can be a good way of helping you redirect the focus or topic of your website as necessary. If you run a company that only services a local audience, but you are receiving a large proportion of hits from overseas, then you may wish to consider expanding your operations to target this audience.
Another useful series of data that website stats can provide is the number of returning visitors, as well as your bounce rate. Returning visitors are those viewers who have previously come to your site, and who have returned. If you have a high number of returning visitors, this means that you have a loyal audience who is interested in your product or website. If not, you may need to rethink your website in order to entice people to come back. In contrast, the bounce rate measure the people who have left your website after coming to the home page. If you have high bounce rate numbers, you might need to analyze why this is, and respond accordingly. You may need to improve your content quality, or provide more frequent updates. It may mean that your site is too difficult to navigate.
Website stats are an essential tool for assessing the success of your website. By keeping track of your analytics, you can improve your website to keep people coming back time and time again.
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