How to Put Your Website to Work for You

Website owners often think that if their website is receiving a lot of traffic, then it must be performing well. As a result, website owners spend countless hours trying to boost their traffic numbers. However, the reality is that targeted traffic, although it may equate to fewer hits, will bring more sales than untargeted volume traffic.   

If you want to know where your web traffic is coming from, and how well your website is working, you will need a good website traffic analyzer. Many web hosting services offer free web statistics to their customers. 

Google Analytics

We recommend Google Analytics, which is free from Google.  With this tool, you can easily track all your web traffic from any source.  All it takes is a Google Account, and FTP access to your website to insert a small amount of HTML code, and you will be ready to start.

Tips for Analyzing Your Website Traffic:

The following tips will help you successfully analyze your web traffic with Google Analyzer or other programs.

Who is Visiting?
It is important to know the average number of people that visit your website every day. While every business owner welcomes new visitors, your website should also be attractive to returning visitors.

Length of Visit
It is important to determine how long your website visitors stay, and more importantly, how many pages of your site they view before they leave. I f your visitors aren’t staying long, or if they are only visiting your homepage,  it could be time to think about redesigning your site for user-friendliness.

Content and Keywords
Many traffic analyzers will help you determine which words potential customers are using to find you on the web. The keywords used should be a good match with what you are actually offering. If your product or service does not match the keywords potential customers are using, you should consider a rewrite of the content on your website.

Referral  and Navigation Reports
Like most website owners, you have probably exchanged links with others, or created links to your site from press releases or other public relations sources. Many traffic analyzers will allow you to measure how effective these items are by comparing them to your other traffic sources. Navigation reports will allow you to determine which navigation paths resulted in sales. These reports are valuable tools when determining layout changes for your site.

Watch for Common Exits
Traffic analyzers provide exit reports that will allow you to determine which pages of your site visitors most commonly exit from.  If one page if receiving a disproportionate amount of exit traffic, then you should consider re-working the page, as it may not be meeting the needs of your customers.

Conversion Data
Google Analytics will allow you set benchmarks for conversions, such as how many sales or inquiries you are receiving. Set your goals carefully when determining which items you want to track. Conversion data will help you determine which of your marketing efforts is the most successful.

Organic or Pay-Per-Clíck Traffic- Which if Better?
With a traffic analyzer such as Google Analytics you will be able to determine if your PPC campaigns are performing as well as your organic listings or vice-versa. 

Analyzing Date Ranges
Comparing your website traffic within specific spans of time can be helpful in determining which days of the week or months of the year are the most successful for your website.

In Conclusion
Remember to make careful and well-calculated decisions when mapping your marketing strategies based on your website’s traffic patterns. Do not make drastic decisions based on single day reports, or the occasional dip or jump in traffic, both of which are very normal. With a steady and concentrated effort, you’ll be sure to improve the performance of your website.