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Any marketing guru worth their salt will say you need to understand web statistics. Raise your hand if this instantly
makes you feel inadequate. You’re not alone! Web analytics can be confusing and misleading so why should you even care about them?
Here are 3 important reasons why understanding even a little bit about web stats should matter to you:
1. They can save you money
2. They can make you money
3. They can help you impact more people
You won’t become an expert by reading what follows but you will learn a few things to help you make more informed decisions about your own web site and where to direct online advertising dollars.
Statistical Legerdemain (It's a good vocabulary word and worth looking up :)
First of all, Hits are useless as a measure of web site traffic and here’s why
A single click on a single web page can generate a couple of hits or a couple dozen hits, depending on the design of the page.
That’s because a web page is comprised of words and pictures. Pictures include photos, navigation menu graphics, advertising banners and things like “submit” buttons. As each one of these things loads onto a computer screen it counts as a hit.
The next time someone tries to sell you advertising based on boasts of billions of hits, you’ll know they are either uneducated or unethical and you’ll want to get some additional info before opening your wallet.
If hits don’t help as a measure of web traffic, then what does? Good question. And the answer has 2 parts:
1. There is no single, perfect measure of web site traffic
2. Some stats are more useful than others for gauging web site traffic
For layman purposes, the two most valuable statistics are Pages or Page Views and Unique Visitors. Purists may disagree with me and tell you that there’s a lot more stuff you should evaluate and consider and they’d be right. For starters, I say, “keep it simple!”
What are Pages or Page Views?
This statistic tells you every time a page on a web site is loaded. It only counts the page once, unlike hits which count lots of stuff on the page. It’s usually a much more realistic indicator of website activity.
What about Unique Visitors?
You’ve probably heard of cookies (web cookies not the Nabisco version.) Cookies help analytic programs tell if someone is visiting a site for the first time or has been there before. Through the use of cookies, the unique visitor stat can give you a pretty good idea of how much fresh traffic a site is attracting.
Analyzing is as much art as it is science. Paying attention to the indicators discussed here can arm you with some basic information to help you make important marketing and advertising decisions with confidence.