How can web tracking be used to help a site - especially one whose webmaster has joined various associate programs?
Thanks again Allan for the opportunity to share what we have learned at RivenGuild.com.
After four years of building sites, I was struggling with ways to increase traffic on my site and figure out what was going on on my web site. By this I mean, who was visiting, where were they coming from and how long were they staying. Counters told me little . . .
When I launched RivenGuild.com, I setup a bookstore using Amazon.com's associate program. Although they told me how many people clicked through and bought books, I needed to know more detail about how people were moving around on my site. Even knowing how they found my bookstore (i.e. what search words people used and what search engines were sending me business) would have been valuable.
After trying about 4 different programs, I settled on BellaCoola Software's Sniffer series. They were also written up in Danny Sullivan's Search Engine Watch and mentioned on the I-SALES mailing list.
Web Tracking helped our site out by:
- Increasing traffic (also tracking traffic patterns on the site)
- Modifying poorly perfoming pages that were not generating high click throughs
- Providing accurate cache corrected logs that reflected ALL the visitors coming into the site (this increased our banner revenue by about 11 - 17%).
- Tracking links OFF our site (and if they came back).
I've read that web tracking can be used to show webmasters weak spots on their web site. Can you explain that?
Our weak spots included:
- Pages with little traffic....compared to others with HUGE traffic
- Not getting paid what banners were really worth.
- Not having the right META tags and keywords on the right pages.
- HUGE log files that took hours to download and filter.
- Piles of time spent updating pages that didn't generate income.
How can web tracking be used to increase sales? Can you give specific examples?
Allan, I found that our sales increased based on three main areas:
Accurate Logs - the BellaCoola Sniffer series provided logs that showed actual traffic increase over my old logs. Banner contracts I had negotiated, based on impressions and click-throughs, increased cash flow as my numbers reflected TRUE impressions on my site.
Site Design - I actually rebuilt my site twice to reflect what the logs and Webtrends was telling me. After that I found people seemed to stay longer and buy more stuff. Click-throughs went up as visitors didn't seem too rushed from page to page. Even my email support went down as people seemed to better navigate the site.
Where my traffic was coming from - I started finding that my traffic from Europe and Australia was HUGE. I started providing more support for overseas visitors and even went so far as to make modifications to the wording on my titles on my sites and the meta tags. There were a few people linking to my site that were sending me 30% of my traffic and I didn't even know this. Once I started working out reciprocal links with the people ACTUALLY sending me business, my traffic blossomed (and the $$$ followed). I ended up linking to Virgin Records CD sales (landing me a banner advertising contract with one the world's largest music companies).
What other useful information can web tracking show me?
Here is just a few bits of info:
- Analyze what graphics work on a site (and those that don't).
- What banners get the better click-throughs.
- Tracking trends on your site . . . what new products or services on your web site are actually increasing how long people stay or how much they spend.
- Track VALUABLE demographics on people coming into your site
- When to update your site and when not to take a page or section down - I learned this the hard way. :+( .
- Web tracking can track what files people download off your site,
what REAL AUDIO they listen to, what newsgroup promotions work and
more.
- What search engines actually generate traffic. (TIP: Don't be in a hurry to register your site on 500 different search engines or directories . . . web tracking can tell you which ones are sending you business!)
Actually, that's a good question. I am not sure who all make web tracking products. When I set out looking for a better solution for my MYST & RIVEN sites, I wanted something I could afford and something that was more accurate.
I was looking for a product that would generate ACCURATE cache corrected figures. Seems few programs or services address this. I have seen mention of FREE products out there offering web tracking, but in all honesty I am not sure how long they will be around. My web site has grown huge and I can't afford to have a FREE service go bust on me. You can buy web tracking software (software that analyzes your logs such as Marketwave's Hitlist or WebTrends). These products basically generate reports but what about your logs? If they are unmanageable or not that accurate . . . what good are bogus reports? This was the main reason I ended up going with the Webhound product from BellaCoola. Their service generates a custom log that you can access quickly . . . without spending hundreds of dollars.
What type of web tracking do you recommend? I know you like the tracking provided by BellaCoola.com. How does that compare with WebTrends and other web tracking systems?
Actually, BellaCoola works with all web reporting programs. I actually tested about three companies/services. I used Hitlist and found the FREEWARE version was VERY buggy. When I called them and asked about buying the registered copy, I was looking at $900! I have heard they dropped their price but it is still quite pricey.
Webtrends is a software program that analyzes logs and generates some pretty cool reports. I checked it out but I was still facing the issue of the HUGE logs that I had on my server. I was getting a pile of traffic from AOL and GEOCITIES and both were using proxy servers. That meant that if someone came to visit my site and the proxy server had a copy of my page . . . it didn't show up as a hit. I lost traffic that hurt my banner advertising stats. You simply can't go to banner clients and tell them your traffic was two times higher than your regular logs was indicating . . . they wouldn't buy that. This was the main reason I ended up going to BellaCoola Software. The accuracy paid for the cost of their service in about two to three weeks.
The guy who runs BellaCoola Software (John) explained to me in an e-mail one day why my logs didn't reflect what was actually happening on my site. I joined his Beta program and tried the product out (he has since launched his product/service). Boom! All of a sudden I started getting a clearer picture what the !@#$ was going on. I also found that I could track people actually wandering through my web site.
What sort of sold me on John's product was the fact his Sniffer Series (that's what he calls his different products . . . they've got a cool picture of a bloodhound on their webpage) generated its own "custom" log. The logs are WAY SMALLER and I simply download them using CUTEFTP. You can also get them via a password protected code on their site.
One thing about the code that John's company had created was that it would actually tell you if someone was stealing it or playing games. It actually logged who was stealing the code. This little security feature was nice to see.
Do I need access to server logs?
No. I have access logs available via my ISP but they are HUGE and log every single image and item on my site. It takes days to download. With the Webhound service I am using now, I have access (via the web or FTP) to smaller more accurate logs - logs that record only the information I need. My experience in talking with other webmasters has been that most ISPs either don't provide logs or make it impossible to access. You end up trying to amalgamate three logs. Yikes!
Is it easy to install and use?
Yes. Once I setup the account with BellaCoola, they gave me access to my own password protected area on their site that I could access my "sniffer code" (simple HTML). I added it to some pages and five minutes later I am getting log entries.
One key area that I always struggled with was tracking banners on my RivenGuild site. BellaCoola offers a product (included with the Webhound) called ADIOS. It tracks people as they leave your site via a banner. The Adios code tracks click-throughs and the Webhound, page impressions. Now I simply have one log to download and no messing around.
What does it cost?
The price can vary based on your traffic. You can start as low as $15.95 a month and get a fair amount of traffic. My site generates over 4.5 million hits a month (about 700,000 page impressions) so I pay a higher rate (a base rate around $39.99 a month). Still . . . the cost is cheap and the results I have got using Webtrends coupled with the Webhound from BellaCoola have saved me hundreds of dollars . . . and LOADS of my time (which nowadays seems to be worth a great deal more!)
If you open an account with BellaCoola, you can get a discount on purchasing WebTrends (the program that generates the reports).
Thanks for your time, Allan. If you or your readers have any specific questions, drop me a note back and I can always send you some more tips for your newsletter.
Cheers.
Gordon Currie
Webmaster
RivenGuild.com
October, 1998.
PS. BellaCoola Software has a web site at http://www.bellacoola.com/?ap
Webtrends has a site at http://www.webtrends.com/
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