Website Monitoring - How to choose the right system
If you're driving a car, you look at the road signs to
see where you are going. Running a website involves a similar need.
Failure to design your website with the needs of search
engines in mind is the most common reason for those sites not living up to
expectation.
Failure to measure your web results is the most common
reason for Web Owners not knowing how to improve performance.
Effective goal-setting and consistent measurement of
results are standard good management practices. It is actually
easier to apply them to a Website than to many other areas of business,
because the digital record of use is there - you just have to analyse it.
In fact part of the problem is that there is so much
data available that the analysis system is quite as important as the data
collection. There are 2 potential data sources - either on your own
web server which can log all contact with the website or on an external
Hosted Service which can monitor your traffic via tags on your web pages
that relay the visitor information in real time.
Most web statistics reports are controlled by the ISP as
part of their hosting service. Unfortunately the ISP has no direct
interest in the use of the data and therefore tends to minimise the cost
so long as they can claim to the client that they do provide reports.
As a result the most useful reports for the Website
Owner and Marketer are likely to be provided by an external Hosted Service
that relies for their income on the willingness of the client to pay for
the useful information.
I have just changed my Partner for Website Statistics.
Previously I was recommending you to Hitslink - and they still provide an
excellent service.
Now I suggest you switch to
Net-Merit.net. There are 4
reasons:
- They are a UK-based service that can offer UK clients
personal support and advice
- The future of web promotion requires more complex
tracking for measuring results of such tactics as cost per click
advertising, shopping carts, affiliate marketing, comparisons of
alternative strategies etc.
- Installing the right links is therefore going to get
more complex and personal support is increasingly necessary.
- Different companies may have different needs so that
solutions must be flexible
For more information go to:
www.web4marketing.co.uk/website_statistics.htm
and gear up for more PROFIT!
Talk to you next month
Stephen Orr |
