How to Routinely Review Web Stats and Traffic Sources for Business Success

If your business is web-based, you’ve likely spent a lot of time and energy creating a web presence that reflects your message and provides a virtual storefront for your audience. Once you launch your website, it’s time to keep track of what’s happening when people engage. Nearly every activity that happens on your site is collected and the data, or analytics, can be reviewed to see what’s working.

Review Your Web Stats to See What’s Working

Website statistics are the data collected about the user and user experience on your site. Analytics are the insights the data provides, which are key to your success. Statistics are great for indicating what is working and what may not be. Your data reflects pain points on your site as well as the highlights. What posts are getting great engagement, what key words are boosting your ranking and what goods and products are selling the most. Your insights into the data will help you make more effective decisions for your business.

Reviewing your web stats regularly can help you do more of what is working and address what isnít. Here are some of the most common and important stats to pay attention to:

Pageviews– tracks the total number of times a page was viewed on your site
New users– tracks the number of first-time visits to your site
Returning visitors– track the users who have visited prior
Traffic sources– track where your site visits originate from
Bounce rate– tracks the number of users who leave after landing on your site

Develop Strategies Based on What’s Working

While you donít want to ignore data that indicates something is not working well, you can make improvements while also capitalizing on what is working at the same time. Here is an example:

Pay Attention to Traffic Sources-Traffic sources show you where your users came from. Your analytics tools can help you determine how someone landed on your site. Typical traffic sources include:

• • Direct traffic
  • Organic searches
  • Referrals
  • Paid advertising
  • Social media (including paid social media)
  • Email marketing

Knowing where your traffic originates from can help you make strategic decisions about engagement and marketing. If you see a spike in traffic from referrals, it makes sense to increase collaborations. If you see an uptake in traffic from social media, it makes sense to boost your time on that social media platform.

Routinely reviewing your web stats can help you keep doing more of what is working rather than trying to re-invent the wheel. Don’t get overwhelmed by the data, pay attention to the stats that make the most sense for your business and align with your current goals.