Website Stats – Basics You Should Know
By Bob Schwartz, CRS, GRI ©2003 Promotions Unlimited All rights reserved.
This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorized use, copying or mirroring is prohibited.
Many attorneys take a great amount of time seeing that their websites are created the way they envision. When it comes to learning how to access the traffic stats and the correct interpretation of them, many don’t. Other do not even realize that their site had such a feature.
When considering hosting for your site, an often, overlooked question should be what type of web statistics are provided in the hosting package? Many low cost hosting packages have very basic traffic statistics data. Others may provide only access to the raw traffic file, which you can download and run through your own analyzation software.
The best solution for the vast majority of law firms is to inquire if the potential hosting provider includes Webalizer. Webalizer is a more complex stats program, which produces a nice variety of charts and graphs about who visited your site. This is probably the most popular stats engine available today. The charts below are all produced directly from Webalizer,
Below is some basic information most attorneys will find useful:
#1. Monthly traffic.
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Here the most important data is the “Visits” column. Many believe the “Hits” data to be important. This is a false assumption. Various files and graphics load when a page is opened. Hits are showing the total of all these files. So, to keep it simple, if your page has 17 graphics, one visitor may show up as 17 hits.
It is far more productive to just look at the “Visits” column. These are the unique visitors. Most web stat programs will record one unique visitor per IP address in a 24-hour period.
Planning a print or broadcast campaign mentioning your website? If so, looking at your unique visitors here, and in your daily figures, will show you if your campaign has resulted in increased traffic to your site. Also the monthly and daily traffic can be used as a cross check for any pay-for-placement search engine campaigns.
Keep in mind, it’s not so much the increased traffic you are looking for, but the actual conversion you achieve from traffic to paying client, that is vital. You may see a lot of traffic from purchasing generic legal key-word phrases like “criminal defense lawyer” or “divorce lawyer.” Because these phrases are too general, you will find your actual conversion ratio will actually plummet.
Yes, it’s not just traffic that is important, but quality, focused traffic, you should be striving to achieve.
#2. Daily Stats:
Daily Statistics for May 2003 | ||||||||||||
Day | Hits | Files | Pages | Visits | Sites | KBytes | ||||||
1 | 4864 | 4.38% | 3701 | 4.53% | 511 | 4.98% | 189 | 4.55% | 343 | 5.38% | 26965 | 4.58% |
2 | 4260 | 3.84% | 2696 | 3.30% | 435 | 4.24% | 150 | 3.61% | 332 | 5.21% | 20114 | 3.42% |
3 | 1348 | 1.21% | 1015 | 1.24% | 207 | 2.02% | 99 | 2.39% | 150 | 2.35% | 7713 | 1.31% |
4 | 1868 | 1.68% | 1525 | 1.87% | 208 | 2.03% | 101 | 2.43% | 245 | 3.84% | 12639 | 2.15% |
5 | 4198 | 3.78% | 3277 | 4.01% | 528 | 5.15% | 154 | 3.71% | 424 | 6.65% | 24184 | 4.11% |
6 | 4366 | 3.93% | 3098 | 3.79% | 344 | 3.35% | 142 | 3.42% | 386 | 6.05% | 21538 | 3.66% |
7 | 5034 | 4.54% | 3861 | 4.73% | 314 | 3.06% | 164 | 3.95% | 491 | 7.70% | 25385 | 4.32% |
8 | 5142 | 4.63% | 3842 | 4.71% | 451 | 4.40% | 179 | 4.31% | 464 | 7.28% | 26324 | 4.48% |
9 | 4028 | 3.63% | 2911 | 3.57% | 382 | 3.73% | 130 | 3.13% | 369 | 5.79% | 23389 | 3.98% |
10 | 1740 | 1.57% | 1181 | 1.45% | 177 | 1.73% | 96 | 2.31% | 155 | 2.43% | 8842 | 1.50% |
11 | 1356 | 1.22% | 853 | 1.04% | 193 | 1.88% | 55 | 1.33% | 154 | 2.41% | 7119 | 1.21% |
12 | 4859 | 4.38% | 3808 | 4.66% | 383 | 3.74% | 173 | 4.17% | 513 | 8.04% | 25592 | 4.35% |
13 | 4382 | 3.95% | 3324 | 4.07% | 439 | 4.28% | 210 | 5.06% | 409 | 6.41% | 23436 | 3.98% |
14 | 3757 | 3.39% | 2836 | 3.47% | 337 | 3.29% | 172 | 4.14% | 373 | 5.85% | 20226 | 3.44% |
15 | 4960 | 4.47% | 4036 | 4.94% | 404 | 3.94% | 162 | 3.90% | 349 | 5.47% | 26020 | 4.42% |
16 | 4370 | 3.94% | 3182 | 3.90% | 400 | 3.90% | 136 | 3.28% | 316 | 4.96% | 23222 | 3.95% |
17 | 1072 | 0.97% | 627 | 0.77% | 130 | 1.27% | 75 | 1.81% | 134 | 2.10% | 5090 | 0.87% |
18 | 1407 | 1.27% | 1018 | 1.25% | 154 | 1.50% | 88 | 2.12% | 259 | 4.06% | 7209 | 1.23% |
19 | 4171 | 3.76% | 3262 | 4.00% | 391 | 3.81% | 177 | 4.27% | 428 | 6.71% | 24961 | 4.24% |
20 | 4825 | 4.35% | 3008 | 3.68% | 412 | 4.02% | 142 | 3.42% | 409 | 6.41% | 21780 | 3.70% |
21 | 5634 | 5.08% | 4217 | 5.16% | 419 | 4.09% | 153 | 3.69% | 424 | 6.65% | 29571 | 5.03% |
22 | 4848 | 4.37% | 3109 | 3.81% | 355 | 3.46% | 145 | 3.49% | 408 | 6.40% | 22211 | 3.78% |
23 | 4110 | 3.70% | 2757 | 3.38% | 410 | 4.00% | 113 | 2.72% | 364 | 5.71% | 20723 | 3.52% |
24 | 1618 | 1.46% | 1244 | 1.52% | 194 | 1.89% | 90 | 2.17% | 127 | 1.99% | 9109 | 1.55% |
25 | 1493 | 1.35% | 876 | 1.07% | 153 | 1.49% | 75 | 1.81% | 122 | 1.91% | 6271 | 1.07% |
26 | 3085 | 2.78% | 2083 | 2.55% | 350 | 3.41% | 106 | 2.55% | 152 | 2.38% | 14752 | 2.51% |
27 | 4642 | 4.18% | 3264 | 4.00% | 388 | 3.78% | 161 | 3.88% | 370 | 5.80% | 22689 | 3.86% |
28 | 4398 | 3.96% | 3610 | 4.42% | 289 | 2.82% | 128 | 3.08% | 382 | 5.99% | 25483 | 4.33% |
29 | 4707 | 4.24% | 3743 | 4.58% | 422 | 4.12% | 149 | 3.59% | 374 | 5.86% | 26600 | 4.52% |
30 | 3149 | 2.84% | 2733 | 3.35% | 347 | 3.38% | 157 | 3.78% | 322 | 5.05% | 21753 | 3.70% |
31 | 1274 | 1.15% | 952 | 1.17% | 127 | 1.24% | 82 | 1.98% | 232 | 3.64% | 7313 | 1.24% |
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A great way to track daily results from your ad campaigns allows you to try one version of a campaigns one week and compare your traffic to a revised copy in the same media or other media the following week.
#3 HOURLY STATS
Hourly Statistics for May 2003 | ||||||||||||
Hour | Hits | Files | Pages | KBytes | ||||||||
Avg | Total | Avg | Total | Avg | Total | Avg | Total | |||||
0 | 88 | 2744 | 2.47% | 62 | 1934 | 2.37% | 11 | 347 | 3.38% | 492 | 15266 | 2.60% |
1 | 95 | 2945 | 2.65% | 71 | 2219 | 2.72% | 12 | 372 | 3.63% | 530 | 16430 | 2.79% |
2 | 83 | 2603 | 2.35% | 63 | 1957 | 2.40% | 6 | 215 | 2.10% | 423 | 13100 | 2.23% |
3 | 43 | 1342 | 1.21% | 22 | 710 | 0.87% | 4 | 135 | 1.32% | 201 | 6237 | 1.06% |
4 | 36 | 1116 | 1.01% | 30 | 938 | 1.15% | 6 | 215 | 2.10% | 256 | 7936 | 1.35% |
5 | 19 | 618 | 0.56% | 14 | 458 | 0.56% | 4 | 143 | 1.39% | 152 | 4703 | 0.80% |
6 | 25 | 781 | 0.70% | 16 | 514 | 0.63% | 4 | 145 | 1.41% | 196 | 6081 | 1.03% |
7 | 43 | 1341 | 1.21% | 26 | 806 | 0.99% | 6 | 188 | 1.83% | 224 | 6955 | 1.18% |
8 | 37 | 1168 | 1.05% | 27 | 863 | 1.06% | 9 | 280 | 2.73% | 303 | 9408 | 1.60% |
9 | 81 | 2537 | 2.29% | 64 | 1984 | 2.43% | 16 | 511 | 4.98% | 622 | 19295 | 3.28% |
10 | 112 | 3485 | 3.14% | 72 | 2239 | 2.74% | 10 | 330 | 3.22% | 567 | 17564 | 2.99% |
11 | 183 | 5688 | 5.13% | 128 | 3970 | 4.86% | 32 | 1013 | 9.88% | 1036 | 32126 | 5.46% |
12 | 248 | 7691 | 6.93% | 200 | 6227 | 7.63% | 17 | 542 | 5.29% | 1308 | 40546 | 6.89% |
13 | 273 | 8475 | 7.64% | 229 | 7122 | 8.72% | 20 | 638 | 6.22% | 1592 | 49342 | 8.39% |
14 | 227 | 7052 | 6.36% | 176 | 5473 | 6.70% | 18 | 558 | 5.44% | 1280 | 39681 | 6.75% |
15 | 260 | 8069 | 7.27% | 203 | 6318 | 7.74% | 19 | 601 | 5.86% | 1422 | 44094 | 7.50% |
16 | 277 | 8592 | 7.74% | 188 | 5850 | 7.16% | 18 | 576 | 5.62% | 1305 | 40468 | 6.88% |
17 | 286 | 8895 | 8.02% | 203 | 6317 | 7.74% | 19 | 591 | 5.76% | 1382 | 42841 | 7.28% |
18 | 363 | 11255 | 10.14% | 249 | 7735 | 9.47% | 21 | 662 | 6.46% | 1605 | 49747 | 8.46% |
19 | 220 | 6846 | 6.17% | 158 | 4912 | 6.02% | 20 | 630 | 6.14% | 1131 | 35076 | 5.96% |
20 | 161 | 5007 | 4.51% | 116 | 3611 | 4.42% | 16 | 507 | 4.94% | 813 | 25211 | 4.29% |
21 | 171 | 5306 | 4.78% | 127 | 3948 | 4.84% | 13 | 417 | 4.07% | 869 | 26952 | 4.58% |
22 | 136 | 4221 | 3.80% | 107 | 3335 | 4.08% | 12 | 373 | 3.64% | 712 | 22073 | 3.75% |
23 | 102 | 3188 | 2.87% | 71 | 2209 | 2.71% | 8 | 265 | 2.58% | 551 | 17092 | 2.91% |
The only way to track broadcast media time slots to determine which is the most effective in your local area.
#4. WHERE TRAFFIC ENTERS YOUR SITE
Top 10 of 87 Total Entry Pages | |||||
# | Hits | Visits | URL | ||
1 | 1843 | 1.66% | 1080 | 30.60% | |
2 | 1528 | 1.38% | 475 | 13.46% | |
3 | 231 | 0.21% | 169 | 4.79% | |
4 | 259 | 0.23% | 147 | 4.17% | |
5 | 251 | 0.23% | 126 | 3.57% | |
6 | 114 | 0.10% | 108 | 3.06% | |
7 | 120 | 0.11% | 87 | 2.47% | |
8 | 173 | 0.16% | 79 | 2.24% | |
9 | 184 | 0.17% | 69 | 1.96% | |
10 | 200 | 0.18% | 63 | 1.79% | |
In most cases this will be your home page, usually shown as ‘/’. This is very useful in setting up a specific page for banner or pay-per-click keyword campaigns. Ex: If your site name was www. smith-law.com, you could duplicate your home page and call it criminal-defense. Than you could use the new page www. smith-law.com/criminal-defense.htm as your link in your banner or keyword campaigns. Since it would be a duplicate of your home page, visitors will believe they are on your home page when they are actually on your special test page. This is very simple to do and will provide direct proof of the traffic generated by each of your advertising campaigns.
#5. REFERRERS – Which site your visitor came from prior to entering your site.
Top 250 of 397 Total Referrers | |||
# | Hits | Referrer | |
1 | 68978 | 62.16% | http://www.sandiegolawyerforyou.com/san-diego-legal-services.htm |
2 | 10237 | 9.23% | - (Direct Request) |
3 | 9482 | 8.55% | |
4 | 2119 | 1.91% | http://sandiegolawyerforyou.com/san-diego-legal-services.htm |
5 | 1590 | 1.43% | |
6 | 1390 | 1.25% | |
7 | 1388 | 1.25% | http://www.sandiegolawyerforyou.com/san-diego-immigration-law.htm |
8 | 1004 | 0.90% | http://www.dallas-fort-worth-texas-lawyers-attorneys-directory.com/ |
9 | 904 | 0.81% | |
10 | 896 | 0.81% | |
11 | 822 | 0.74% | |
Another excellent tracking tool for tracking effectiveness of all Internet advertising programs and especially ads, banners and links on other sites.
#6. WHAT KEYWORDS ON THE SEARCH ENGINES BROUGHT TRAFFIC TO YOUR SITE?
Top 20 of 942 Total Search Strings | |||
# | Hits | Search String | |
1 | 21 | 1.56% | san diego lawyers |
2 | 19 | 1.41% | lawyers |
3 | 13 | 0.96% | immigration san diego |
4 | 13 | 0.96% | san diego small claims court |
5 | 12 | 0.89% | drunk driving |
6 | 12 | 0.89% | san diego attorneys |
7 | 9 | 0.67% | immigration lawyers in san diego |
8 | 8 | 0.59% | san diego bankruptcy |
9 | 8 | 0.59% | san diego immigration |
10 | 7 | 0.52% | dui san diego |
Experience has shown this to not be to reliable, but it still provides a valuable insight and can be used to emphasize certain practice areas more predominately than other areas.
#7. DOES YOUR FIRM HAVE A GLOBAL INTERNET PRESENCE?
Top 30 of 47 Total Countries | |||||||
# | Hits | Files | KBytes | Country | |||
1 | 54920 | 49.49% | 38102 | 46.67% | 265596 | 45.15% | Network |
2 | 30212 | 27.23% | 22819 | 27.95% | 164817 | 28.02% | US Commercial |
3 | 16210 | 14.61% | 12917 | 15.82% | 99633 | 16.94% | Unresolved/Unknown |
4 | 2368 | 2.13% | 1845 | 2.26% | 12240 | 2.08% | US Educational |
5 | 2072 | 1.87% | 1812 | 2.22% | 11144 | 1.89% | US Military |
6 | 1723 | 1.55% | 1614 | 1.98% | 10159 | 1.73% | United States |
7 | 635 | 0.57% | 630 | 0.77% | 3833 | 0.65% | US Government |
8 | 497 | 0.45% | 448 | 0.55% | 5290 | 0.90% | Non-Profit Organization |
9 | 481 | 0.43% | 458 | 0.56% | 2802 | 0.48% | Mexico |
10 | 357 | 0.32% | 349 | 0.43% | 2445 | 0.42% | Netherlands |
11 | 278 | 0.25% | 98 | 0.12% | 595 | 0.10% | Greece |
12 | 227 | 0.20% | 207 | 0.25% | 2948 | 0.50% | Canada |
13 | 212 | 0.19% | 169 | 0.21% | 1313 | 0.22% | United Kingdom |
14 | 117 | 0.11% | 30 | 0.04% | 369 | 0.06% | Japan |
15 | 113 | 0.10% | 113 | 0.14% | 751 | 0.13% | Philippines |
16 | 89 | 0.08% | 89 | 0.11% | 571 | 0.10% | New Zealand (Aotearoa) |
17 | 86 | 0.08% | 3 | 0.00% | 22 | 0.00% | Thailand |
18 | 62 | 0.06% | 58 | 0.07% | 1079 | 0.18% | Czech Republic |
19 | 56 | 0.05% | 47 | 0.06% | 280 | 0.05% | Argentina |
20 | 50 | 0.05% | 49 | 0.06% | 279 | 0.05% | Cocos (Keeling) Islands |
21 | 46 | 0.04% | 45 | 0.06% | 330 | 0.06% | Bulgaria |
22 | 22 | 0.02% | 12 | 0.01% | 105 | 0.02% | Cayman Islands |
23 | 18 | 0.02% | 17 | 0.02% | 187 | 0.03% | Denmark |
24 | 16 | 0.01% | 15 | 0.02% | 235 | 0.04% | Germany |
25 | 14 | 0.01% | 13 | 0.02% | 114 | 0.02% | Australia |
26 | 13 | 0.01% | 8 | 0.01% | 71 | 0.01% | Belgium |
27 | 13 | 0.01% | 3 | 0.00% | 77 | 0.01% | Poland |
28 | 8 | 0.01% | 8 | 0.01% | 44 | 0.01% | Austria |
29 | 5 | 0.00% | 4 | 0.00% | 91 | 0.02% | United Arab Emirates |
30 | 5 | 0.00% | 5 | 0.01% | 121 | 0.02% | Italy |
You may think this is only important for major firms, but any practice can benefit from worldwide exposure. We have had many attorneys sign up new clients for a wide variety of practice areas from Internet search engine exposure in other countries.
If you want to achieve the most benefit from your web presence, keeping close track of your website statistics is not just useful, it is mandatory!
©2003 Promotions Unlimited All rights reserved.
This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorized use, copying or mirroring is prohibited.
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