| Many Webmasters have never bothered to view their | | | | percent compatible with every operating system and |
| website's server log. Ignoring your server log is like | | | | web browser in use today. That would require either |
| flying with a blind pilot. You may still be cruising along, | | | | using only plain html (version 3) or using browser |
| but you have no idea where you are or where you're | | | | detection code and creating a dozen variations of |
| headed. If your website is on a free host, you probably | | | | each webpage. Use your server log's platform and |
| don't have access to the server log. However, if you | | | | user agent data to decide which browser your web |
| pay for your web host, or if you own the server, you | | | | pages should to be designed to be compatible with. |
| almost always have some access to the server log. | | | | Your statistics will probably show that 90 percent of |
| In this article, you'll learn what kind of information a | | | | your website's visitors are using the latest or the |
| typical server log provides, how to analyze that | | | | previous version of Internet Explorer. |
| information, and how to use that information to steer | | | | Country Information |
| your website in a direction for growth and success. | | | | Good server log analysis software will tell you which |
| The actual data in the server log is just that, data. Data | | | | countries your website visitors are located in. Analysis |
| is of little use without an application to compile, | | | | of the server logs shows that visitors are located in |
| categorize, analyze, and turn it into useful information. | | | | every country, village, and hamlet on the planet. This |
| The power of server log analysis software varies | | | | leads to the question, should you create multiple |
| depending upon the web host, and it's not related to | | | | variations of each webpage to accomodate visitors |
| how much you pay for hosting service. I have seen | | | | from other nations? It depends upon your business and |
| some very low budget web hosts with powerful | | | | your resources. The fact is that the language of |
| server log analysis software, and some expensive | | | | business and commerce across the planet is English, |
| web hosts that provide only a limited utility. | | | | and I receive frequent email, in English, from all over the |
| The importance of the server log analysis software is | | | | planet. |
| second only to up-time reliabilty when it comes to web | | | | Important Ways to Use Server Log Information |
| hosts. A web server log can tell you who is visiting | | | | Website Design |
| your web site, where they're coming from, what | | | | Remember when the typical website had a gray |
| operating system and web browser they're using, | | | | background and a single image in the middle of the |
| what pages of your website they are viewing, and | | | | page? Today, that would be below the standard for a |
| much more. A smart webmaster performs a regular | | | | kids website on AOL. Does your server log "platform" |
| monthly analysis of the valuable information contained | | | | and "user agent" statistics tell you that most of the |
| in the server log. | | | | visitors to your website are using Windows XP with |
| Hits | | | | Internet Explorer Version 6, while your website is |
| Some webmasters brag about the number of "hits" | | | | designed for Windows 95 and Internet Explorer |
| their website receives, but hits themselves are not | | | | Version 4? Can you afford to be presenting a website |
| important. For example, when a search engine spiders | | | | that looks outdated? |
| your website, it generates a hit for every page it visits. | | | | I think it's a mistake to design a website that requires |
| There are ways to generate millions of hits on a | | | | your visitors to have the latest bleeding-edge |
| website without anyone ever actually viewing a single | | | | technology. On the other hand, if the rest of the web is |
| page. | | | | using ASP (Active Server Pages) to generate custom |
| The important statistics are "page view hits" and | | | | webpages on-the-fly that use CSS (Cascading Style |
| "unique visitors". Server log analysis software should | | | | Sheets) to create webpages that resemble slick |
| tell you how many times each page was viewed. | | | | magazine pages and DHTML (Dynamic HTML) to |
| Anaylyzing the popularity of individual pages tells you | | | | provide interactivity, it might be time for you to |
| where to place your most important advertisements, | | | | investigate those technologies. |
| and what kind of new content you should add to your | | | | If your website is a business site or E-commerce site, |
| website. | | | | the visual style and technical level of your website |
| The king of all statistics is the number of unique visitors | | | | reflects the quality of your business or service. To |
| your web site receives. When it comes to selling | | | | determine the proper visual style and technology level |
| advertising or joining the most exclusive affiliate | | | | of your website requires you to monitor three things. |
| programs, a high number of unique visitors each month | | | | 1. Your competitors. You want to look as in-style as |
| is the statistic that gets respect. | | | | they do, but avoid following them down the road to |
| Good analysis software will tell you how many pages | | | | bloated plugins (Macromedia Flash). 2. The portion of |
| each visitor viewed and how long they stayed on your | | | | your audience using broad band Internet Access. Less |
| website. The goal is to develop content that gets your | | | | than half of U.S. Make sure your webpages load within |
| visitors to stay longer, a quality sometimes referred to | | | | 20 seconds over a 56kbps modem connection. 2. |
| as "stickiness". | | | | Your server log platform and user agent statistics. |
| A statistic related to hits is "bandwidth". This is a | | | | Your web pages need to be designed to be |
| complicated statistic because you want more visitors | | | | compatible with the current most popular operating |
| and that causes bandwidth to go up. On the other | | | | system and web browser version. |
| hand, high bandwidth consumption makes your website | | | | Webhost Performance |
| repond slower (and most web hosts charge extra for | | | | Web hosts provide two basic kinds of service, shared |
| bandwidth beyond a certain limit). What you want is to | | | | hosting and dedicated hosting. If your website is on a |
| design your web pages so they use bandwidth | | | | shared host, there may be hundreds of other websites |
| efficiently, and you want to be on the lookout for | | | | sharing the same computer as your website. This limits |
| people who are stealing your bandwidth (usually by | | | | the performance of your website. Many web host |
| linking to images on your web site). | | | | providers use "bandwidth throttling" to prevent one |
| Referrers | | | | website from hogging all the available bandwidth. |
| Good server log analysis software will provide you | | | | As your website grows and attracts increasing traffic, |
| with the URLs of the webpages that people clicked on | | | | it will need more of the host computers processor time |
| to get to your website. This is extremely valuable | | | | and more bandwidth. Monitor your server log hits, and |
| information. If you are receiving a high volume of traffic | | | | bandwidth statistics. At some point, your website may |
| from another website, you can almost consider that | | | | hit a performance wall and you may need to move to |
| website to be your business partner. It would be to | | | | a higher grade of hosting, or a different web host |
| your advantage to find ways to make your website | | | | company to continue growth. |
| more useful to the referring website. For example, | | | | When moving to a different web host company, don't |
| learn what the topic of the referring website is and | | | | trust the specifications they provide. Check several |
| place more related content on your website. | | | | different web host directories that let visitors rate web |
| One common method of aiding referrers is to place a | | | | hosts. If several different web host directories have |
| reciprocal link on your website. However, don't bother | | | | many users that give a web host company a high |
| placing the reciprocal link on a "links" page with | | | | rating, that's the company you want to trust with your |
| hundreds of other links (a link farm). If you can't provide | | | | website. |
| an honest reciprocal link, it's better to do nothing. An | | | | Website Topic |
| honest reciprocal link might be a page containing a | | | | As you analyze certain website server statistics (for |
| review of the referrer's website, and that page should | | | | example, "page view hits", and "top search engine |
| contain only a few other links. | | | | keywords") and make adjustments, you may find the |
| Search Strings | | | | content of your website drifting away from your |
| Good server log analysis software will provide you | | | | original intent. At some point, you may have to decide, |
| with the keywords and search strings people entered | | | | Am I going to chase traffic and change the topic of |
| at a search site to find your website. One way to get | | | | my website, or am I more interested in focusing on the |
| more traffic to your website is to provide more | | | | topic of my choice? |
| content related to the top keywords. If getting more | | | | If the original objective of your website was to make |
| traffic is your single goal, there are websites that will | | | | money above all else, then let your visitors steer your |
| provide you with a list of the current most popular | | | | website's content. There's nothing wrong with that. |
| keywords entered into search engines. Then you can | | | | Everybody's got to make a living. But, if the original |
| provide more content related to those keywords. This | | | | objective of your website was to be a resource on a |
| gets involved with the subject of "Search Engine | | | | subject that you are passionate about, then you may |
| Optimization" (SEO). | | | | need to reassess the content of your website. |
| SEO is a science in itself, covered in other articles, but I | | | | I would reccommend having the best of both worlds. |
| will reveal a secret trick as an example of SEO | | | | Stick to content related to the subject of your website, |
| tactics. Starting with a top keyword, generate every | | | | but delineate a wide enough scope of the topic so that |
| possible misspelling of that keyword and place those | | | | when your server statistics point out an opportunity to |
| at the top of your webpage with the text color the | | | | increase traffic, you have rules to guide you. |
| same as the webpage background. (Note: I don't use | | | | In this article you learned some of the types of |
| that trick or any other SEO tricks myself because if | | | | information you can mine from your web server log |
| you get caught the search engines will penalize your | | | | and some powerful ways to use that information to |
| website.) | | | | steer your website in a direction for growth and |
| Platform and User Agent Good server log analysis | | | | success. If you are one of those webmasters who |
| software will tell you which operating systems and | | | | has never bothered to view their website's server log, |
| which browser brands and versions people are using | | | | you now know that you have been overlooking some |
| to access your website. At the time of this writing, the | | | | gold nuggets. |
| most common operating system is Windows XP and | | | | Permission is granted for the below article to forward, |
| the most common browser is Internet Explorer version | | | | reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website, |
| 6. However, you will find a wide range of operating | | | | offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as |
| systems and browsers accessing you website. | | | | long as no changes are made and the byline, copyright, |
| Unfortunately, they are not all compatible. | | | | and the resource box below is included. |
| The fact is, you can't design your website to be 100 | | | | Copyright(C) Bucaro TecHelp. |