Tuning Up Your Web Site - Tracking Traffic
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The number of search engine referrals you get is only one aspect of the traffic that you need to be tracking. Which sites and search engines provide you with the most traffic? Knowledge is power, and you can use this information to increase your traffic further. For example, if you're getting a lot of visitors from certain blogs or social sites, maybe it's time to browse those sites and see why.
In general, you should be tracking visitor statistics on a regular basis. Measure visitor sign-ups and conversions - not just once, but regularly, so you can see how your site performs over time. You can use this information to improve your site; for example, you can make changes to the content on your landing pages and track how that affects the length of visits and how many of your visitors convert.
Tracking what your visitors do after they arrive at your site can give you valuable information about whether your site design really works as intended. You may think your site navigation is "intuitive," but the paths your visitors take once they're on your site may prove otherwise. While you should never "force" your visitors to follow one particular path, web sites should be designed with some idea of the way visitors will navigate through the web site. If your visitors are veering from the paths you've planned, you need to figure out why.
In this case, it helps to remember that sometimes simplest is best. When considering user navigation, visitors benefit greatly from a visible, text-based site map. Ideally, they should be able to get to it from anywhere on your site in just one click.
When a site is easy to understand and navigate, visitors will feel welcome. They'll want to stay for a while. They'll also want to come back. This is why you should track how many repeat visitors you get, and how many visitors stay for more than 60 seconds on your web site. If more than 50 percent of your visitors are staying that long, and a significant percentage are repeat visitors, you're on the right track.
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