All those numbers, all those graphs, all that "techno speak". Web sites often brag about how many "hits" they have,their "page views", and "click throughs". We don't want to brag, but we are very proud of the success you, our site visitor, have made of our site! Since we first went online in May of 2000 we have had over:
2,220,932 Hits
208,148 Page Views
118,561 Visitors
We thought we would share our monthly statistics report with you, and
provide you with a little primer (if you are so inclined) on what all
that "techno speak" means. If you have a suggestion or comment
on how we can improve our site, please let us know by contacting us here.
Your feedback is essential and important to us!
Yes and no. Here's the difference between a "hit",a "visit" and a "Page View":
Hit
A single action on the Web server as it appears in the log file. A visitor
downloading a single file is logged as a single hit, while a visitor requesting
a Web page including two images registers as three hits on the server;
one hit is the request for the .html page, and two additional hits are
requests for the downloaded image files. While the volume of hits is an
indicator of Web server traffic, it is not an accurate reflection of how
many pages are being looked at.
Visits
Number of times a visitor came to the site. If a visitor is idle
longer than the idle-time limit, it is assumed the visit was voluntarily
terminated. If the visitor continues to browse your site after they reach
the idle-time limit, a new visit is counted. The default idle-time limit
is thirty minutes.
Page Views
Hits to files designated as pages. Supporting graphics and other non-page
files are not counted.
Based on these definitions, a site could have a LOT of hits, if the page has a LOT of graphics on it. For example, if a home page has 9 graphics each time someone accesses the page it is counted as 10 "hits". Continuing with this example, 100 "hits" means only 10 visitors were on the home page, not 100. Hits are good PR, but not a valid measure of site traffic.
A true measure of site traffic is by examining your Visits. This will tell you how may visitors came to a site. While looking at these numbers, also take a look at "unique" visitors and visitors who came back more than once. If a site owner updates a site often and provides content that visitors want, you will see the returning visitors number increase over time.
While Visits tells you how many people visited the site, Page Views tells you how many pages those visitors are looking at. If the average per visitor is 2 or 3, it means people are hitting a couple of pages to see what the site has, and then jumping off. If however, the average page view is 6, 7, 8 or more, chances are that visitors are going "deep" into a site and spending some time viewing what is there. That tells you that the content is fairly well on target and the site owner is doing a decent job of updating your site on a regular basis.
If nothing else, take the time to look at the Visits and Page Views. These provide critical information in determining how well a site is doing once someone arrives.
Where does all that information come from?
The statistical reports we generate are taken from the web server log files. Server log files are records of Web server activity. They provide details about file requests to a server and the server response to those requests. Collecting and analyzing these files can provide:
- Information about who is coming to your Web site
- What information they're requesting
- Their navigation and behavior
What types of data collected on a server depends on how it has been set up and defined by the technical staff. The ideal log file for performance and traffic analysis contains the following data:
- Who is visiting the site. You want unique visitor identification
so you know whether a visitor is returning to your site.
- The path visitors take through your pages. With knowledge of each page a visitor viewed and the order, you can identify trends in how visitors navigate through pages. You also want to know what element (link, icon) a visitor clicked on each page to go to the next page.
- How much time visitors spend on each page. A pattern of lengthy viewing time on a page might lead you to deduce the page is very interesting or very confusing.
- Where visitors are leaving your site. The last page a visitor viewed before leaving your site might be a logical place to end the visit, or it might be a place where the visitor bailed out.
- The success of users’ experiences at your site. Downloads completed, and information viewed are concrete indicators of tasks accomplished.
Here is what a log file actually looks like:
#Fields: date time c-ip cs-username s-ip s-port cs-method
cs-uri-stem cs-uri-query sc-status sc-bytes cs-bytes cs(User-Agent) cs(Cookie)
cs(Referer)
2002-07-02 14:04:40 216.162.100.196 - 66.201.86.190 80 GET /index.html - 200 42086 322 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+5.5;+Windows+98) - -
2002-07-02 14:04:40 216.162.100.196 - 66.201.86.190 80 GET /images/spacer.gif - 200 267 241 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+5.5;+Windows+98) - http://66.201.86.190/
2002-07-02 14:04:45 216.162.100.196 - 66.201.86.190 80 GET /images/index2_r1_c1.gif - 200 12492 247 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+5.5;+Windows+98) - http://66.201.86.190/
2002-07-02 14:04:45 216.162.100.196 - 66.201.86.190 80 GET /images/index2_r2_c1.gif - 200 1262 247 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+5.5;+Windows+98) - http://66.201.86.190/
2002-07-02 14:04:45 216.162.100.196 - 66.201.86.190 80 GET /images/index2_r2_c3.gif - 200 1423 247 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+5.5;+Windows+98) - http://66.201.86.190/
2002-07-02 14:04:45 216.162.100.196 - 66.201.86.190 80 GET /images/index2_r2_c5.gif - 200 1336 247 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+5.5;+Windows+98) - http://66.201.86.190/
2002-07-02 14:04:46 216.162.100.196 - 66.201.86.190 80 GET /images/index2_r2_c6.gif - 200 1203 247 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+5.5;+Windows+98) - http://66.201.86.190/
2002-07-02 14:04:46 216.162.100.196 - 66.201.86.190 80 GET /images/index2_r3_c1.gif - 200 1938 247 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+5.5;+Windows+98) - http://66.201.86.190/
What do we do with the information we get from our log files?
We look for problems, trends, and areas where we might need to add more content based on the traffic we are getting. It's nothing more than a tool used to help us constantly improve our site's navigation, usability, and content. Getting important information out to you is our goal.
We DO NOT collect any personal or private information. We do not use cookies on our website. Our concern is with the overall performance of our site and the general trends we can determine from a statistical review of our site visitors.
Thanks for taking the time to review all this "techno speak". It can be dry at times but often fascinating the way technology works. And most important, thank you for visiting our site!
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GLOSSARY |
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Average Hits per Day
Average Page Views per Day - Number of page views divided by the total number of days in the log. Average Page Views per Unique Visitor - Number of page views divided by the total number of unique visitors. Average Visits per Day - Number of visits divided by the total number of days in the log. Average Visit Length - Average of non-zero length visits in the log. Document Views - Number of hits to pages that are considered documents--not dynamic pages or forms. Hit - A single action on the Web server as it appears in the log file. A visitor downloading a single file is logged as a single hit, while a visitor requesting a Web page including two images registers as three hits on the server; one hit is the request for the .html page, and two additional hits are requests for the downloaded image files. While the volume of hits is an indicator of Web server traffic, it is not an accurate reflection of how many pages are being looked at. Hits: Entire Site (Successful) - Number of hits that had a "success" status code. Hits: Home Page
- Number of times the home page was viewed. Home Page Hits - Number of times the home page was visited. Median Visit Length - Median of non-zero length visits in the log. Half the visit lengths are longer than the median, and half are shorter. This number is often closer to the "typical" visit length than the average visit length. Numbers that are wildly atypical can skew the average, but will not skew the median so much. Page - Any document, dynamic page, or form. Documents typically include all static content, such as complete html pages. Dynamic pages are created with variables and do not exist anywhere in a static form. Forms are scripted pages which get information from a visitor and pass it back to the server. Page Views - Hits to files designated as pages. Supporting graphics and other non-page files are not counted. Page Views: Document Views - Hits to pages that are defined as documents. This entry excludes hits to dynamic pages and forms. Unique Visitors- Individuals who visited the site during the report period. If someone visits more than once, they are counted only the first time they visit. Visits - Number of times a visitor came to your site. If a visitor is idle longer than the idle-time limit, it is assumed the visit was voluntarily terminated. If the visitor continues to browse your site after they reach the idle-time limit, a new visit is counted. The default idle-time limit is thirty minutes. Visits from Spiders - Number of visits from any site classified as a spider. Visits from Your Country - Percentage of visits from the United States. Visits of Unknown Origin - Percentage of visitors from an origin that could not be determined. Visits Referred by Search Engines - Number of visits that began with a referral from any site classified as a search engine. Visitors Who Visited
More Than Once - Number of individual visitors who appear
more than once in the log file. Individuals can be tracked by IP
addresses, domain names, and cookies. Cookies however, are not used
for this purpose on our website to protect your privacy. Visitors Who Visited Once - Number of individual visitors who appear only once in the log file. Individuals can be tracked by IP addresses, domain names, and cookies. Cookies however, are not used for this purpose on our website to protect your privacy. |