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Analyzing Your Site’s Traffic
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You can slap a hit counter on your website, and while that may tell you that people are actually visiting your site, it won't necessarily tell you who they are or give you any information about them. Here are some creative ways to track and analyze your website's traffic:
The Basics
Before you start delving into your own website's traffic, you may want to bone up on the facts and find out who exactly is using the Internet anyway. A good place to get that information is Georgia Institute of Technology's User Surveys page. The Institute has been surveying Internet users since 1994, and its reports provide insight into who is using the Internet.
CNET's excellent Analyze Your Web Site Traffic feature offers a great overview of understanding how people use your site. The article is targeted toward those who manage large or corporate websites, but there is still a wealth of valuable information here for the novice as well.
The slightly outdated but still informative Web Log Analysis article at WebDeveloper.com offers a comprehensive look at how to analyze visits to your website.
Low-Cost or Free Solutions
There are several utilities that you can download and use to analyze your website traffic. Web Tracker is a graphical utility that will help you chart such things as which countries your users are coming from and how often they visit. You can download WebTracker free for 30 days or purchase it for $495.
NetTracker is another utility that lets you find out things such as who is visiting your website, where they are coming from, how long they are staying, and what Web browsers they are using. If you aren't quite sure you want to purchase the $295 NetTracker 3.5, you can try the online demo here or download an evaluation copy.
For a quick and easy way to find out who is linking to your site, use either Alta Vista or HotBot. All you need to do is type "linkto:" in the search box before typing in your URL. To do this for NetGuide, for example, one would type linkto: www.netguide.com (note: make sure to put a space between the word "linkto:" and your URL).
Adding Cookies to Your Site
While the use of cookies can be a bit controversial, people do use cookies to collect information about their users. We aren't commenting on whether it's right or wrong -- just noting that it is standard practice at many websites (ironically enough, NetGuide does use cookies). If you would like to cook up a batch of your own cookies, check out Andy's Cookie Notes , which will tell you how to add cookies to your site.
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