Real-time tracking, also called browser-based tracking, is sold as a monthly service.
Instead of reading a log file, you include JavaScript tracking code on each page of
your site. Each time a visitor comes to your site, the JavaScript code sends
information to the service provider where it is stored. Information can be accessed in
near real-time and usually the quality of information is better (more accurate visitor
and page view counts) than with a log-file analyzer. However you are paying a
monthly recurring expense and you are charged by how much traffic you receive on
your site – this can be very expensive for high-traffic sites.
More popular service providers include WebTrends Live and HitBox, which start at
around $30/mo for low-traffic sites. There are also a couple of even lower-cost
vendors that I recommend – Webstat.com (http://www.webstat.com) and IndexTools
(http://www.indextools.com). Both are excellent choices for the value.
What to Monitor?
At a minimum you should check your traffic stats weekly as they are a goldmine of
information. Of particular importance is tracking the following for your web site:
Keywords: This lists the actual keywords people typed into search engines to find
your site. Also listed is the percentage of the total traffic each keyword brought in.
There will probably be an entry called “other”, “no keyword” or something similar.
This represents people that either directly typed your site into their browser or that
have bookmarked your site in their Favorites list.
Spend time determining which search terms visitors used to find your site. You may
uncover some new keyword combinations that you didn’t think of using. If this is the
case, tweak your site or create a new page around this phrase accordingly.
Search Engines: This lists the search engines that visitors used to find your site.
Also listed is the percentage of the total traffic each search engine brought to your
site. Usually Google is at the top of the list.
Referrals: This lists the websites that brought traffic to your site and what
percentage of the total traffic each “referral” site brought in. Over time, you should
start seeing referral traffic from websites you've exchanged links with. There will
probably be an entry called “direct”, “no referral” or something similar. This
represents people that either directly typed your site into their browser or that have
bookmarked your site.
Instead of reading a log file, you include JavaScript tracking code on each page of
your site. Each time a visitor comes to your site, the JavaScript code sends
information to the service provider where it is stored. Information can be accessed in
near real-time and usually the quality of information is better (more accurate visitor
and page view counts) than with a log-file analyzer. However you are paying a
monthly recurring expense and you are charged by how much traffic you receive on
your site – this can be very expensive for high-traffic sites.
More popular service providers include WebTrends Live and HitBox, which start at
around $30/mo for low-traffic sites. There are also a couple of even lower-cost
vendors that I recommend – Webstat.com (http://www.webstat.com) and IndexTools
(http://www.indextools.com). Both are excellent choices for the value.
What to Monitor?
At a minimum you should check your traffic stats weekly as they are a goldmine of
information. Of particular importance is tracking the following for your web site:
Keywords: This lists the actual keywords people typed into search engines to find
your site. Also listed is the percentage of the total traffic each keyword brought in.
There will probably be an entry called “other”, “no keyword” or something similar.
This represents people that either directly typed your site into their browser or that
have bookmarked your site in their Favorites list.
Spend time determining which search terms visitors used to find your site. You may
uncover some new keyword combinations that you didn’t think of using. If this is the
case, tweak your site or create a new page around this phrase accordingly.
Search Engines: This lists the search engines that visitors used to find your site.
Also listed is the percentage of the total traffic each search engine brought to your
site. Usually Google is at the top of the list.
Referrals: This lists the websites that brought traffic to your site and what
percentage of the total traffic each “referral” site brought in. Over time, you should
start seeing referral traffic from websites you've exchanged links with. There will
probably be an entry called “direct”, “no referral” or something similar. This
represents people that either directly typed your site into their browser or that have
bookmarked your site.
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