You can invest huge amounts of money and time in promoting your web site, but you need to know where your traffic and sales are coming from to make it effective. Many webmasters just place a counter onto their web site. All this does is tell you how many people have seen your site. It doesn't tell you where they came from, what browsers they were using, what keywords they searched for at a search engine, etc. To be able to effectively market your web site and to receive the greatest amount of results, you must track your visitors.
There are many ways this can be done. There are programs available like WebTrends, Web Site Reporter, etc. Many hosting providers have a program like this or something similar, but you are probable going to have to buy their higher service plans to receive it. If your hosting provider doesn't offer a statistics program that you like, or you just want to use something else, then there are many other ways to track your web site.
There are many free services available online that will tell you a great detail of information. The catch is you have to place their banner on your web site so their software is able to track your visitors. This is one reason why I do not suggest this way of tracking your web site. It not only looks unprofessional, it also gives your visitors another chance to leave your web site. Why give someone else your business? If you would rather use an online service, then the one I suggest is: http://www.extreme-dm.com/tracking/ That one is probable the best one available and you only have to put a small button on your web site.
The best and most cost effective way to track your web site is you can install a CGI script onto your web site's server. This is how I track my web site and the only way I recommend doing. You will need to have a CGI-BIN and to be able to add scripts to it. If you are not sure if you have full access to your CGI-BIN, then you need to ask your web hosting provider. There are many free CGI scripts available online that can do as many features as the top software programs that sell for 600 dollars. You can get access to over 50 CGI scripts here: http://cgi.resourceindex.com/Programs_and_Scripts/Perl/Logging_Accesses_and_Statistics/ The best script I have seen is the AXS. It is the very first script at the above web site. It will probable take you about 30 minutes to read all the information and to install the script, but it is well worth the time. Here are some of the features that this script tells you:
Abbreviated Browser (Netscape 3.X)
Operating System (Windows95)
First Level Domains (imsnewsletter.com)
Hits from Other Sites (Full URL)
Hyperlinks Followed From Your Site
Hits to Your Web Pages
Average Number of Hits Per Visitor
Hits By Day of Year
Hits By Day of the Week
Much Much More!
Now you can start tracking your web site and found out where your visitors are coming from and what is most effective.
One thing you might want to do is ask your customers a few questions when they place an order. For example, you can ask them how they found your web site and what was their main decision for choosing you. This will also help you know what is most effective for your business and what exactly your customers want and expect.
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