How to Track a Website
Understand how Website growth and popularity is tracked., Check the website's stats on Alexa., Install Google Analytics to get accurate information on your website., Install a hit counter., Use a tag manager to see what is most popular., Write down...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Understand how Website growth and popularity is tracked.
While some of the words used to describe web traffic may seem complex, they are actually simple to break down.
Understanding how web traffic is tracked and computed will help you keep tabs on your site.
Visits:
Simply when someone comes to your site.
Each page they go to will register as a visit.
Unique Visitors:
A unique IP address that visits the sites.
For example, if you go to the same site 10 times in one day, you will get 10 visits but only 1 unique visit.
Time on Site per Page:
The amount of time visitors spend on a site or a particular page, regardless of whether or not they do anything.
You want this to be high.
Bounce Rate:
The percentage of visitors who leave after only reading one page.
The lower you can get this, the better.
Exit Rate:
The percentage of visits who leave when they are "done." This is only for sites that lead you through a bunch of pages on one theme, like a multiple page article.
If they leave after the 3rd page of a 3 page article, they count in your exit rate. -
Step 2: Check the website's stats on Alexa.
This will tell you the Alexa traffic rank, traffic rank in the US, and the number of sites linking in.
Write down all of these numbers and check back weekly to see how the numbers have changed.
Press the "Get Details" button for more detailed information.
Alexa helps you determine which parts of the site get the most views and figure out where your traffic is coming from.
Similar to Alexa, there is a program called SearchStatus that can easily track a website's whereabouts.
Just install the program and it should begin to process immediately.
QuarkBase also works well, but Alexa is the industry standard. , This will give you a very detailed dashboard of who is coming to your site, where they are coming from, how much time they are spending on the site, etc. , There are many available for free download if you search "website hit counter." This will show on your site how many time a particular page has been viewed.
You may have to copy and paste the code into your site's HTML code, but this is usually given in step-by-step instructions.
Many website design sites, like Weebly, SquareSpace, and WordPress have built in "apps" in the page customization screen that let you install hit counters. , Tag managers track which articles get the most traction, but only if you tag them.
Most blogging and website design sites allow you to add tags, which are relevant words connected to your post.
This article, for example, might have the tags, how-to, web traffic, analytics, wiki, etc.
A tag manager lets you see what topics get the most traffic.
You can download them for free online. , These numbers mean nothing if you don't have any context for them.
Record the numbers regularly and compare them every month to see how the site is growing, where you are most popular, and where you are losing viewers frequently. -
Step 3: Install Google Analytics to get accurate information on your website.
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Step 4: Install a hit counter.
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Step 5: Use a tag manager to see what is most popular.
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Step 6: Write down or save your numbers for constant comparison.
Detailed Guide
While some of the words used to describe web traffic may seem complex, they are actually simple to break down.
Understanding how web traffic is tracked and computed will help you keep tabs on your site.
Visits:
Simply when someone comes to your site.
Each page they go to will register as a visit.
Unique Visitors:
A unique IP address that visits the sites.
For example, if you go to the same site 10 times in one day, you will get 10 visits but only 1 unique visit.
Time on Site per Page:
The amount of time visitors spend on a site or a particular page, regardless of whether or not they do anything.
You want this to be high.
Bounce Rate:
The percentage of visitors who leave after only reading one page.
The lower you can get this, the better.
Exit Rate:
The percentage of visits who leave when they are "done." This is only for sites that lead you through a bunch of pages on one theme, like a multiple page article.
If they leave after the 3rd page of a 3 page article, they count in your exit rate.
This will tell you the Alexa traffic rank, traffic rank in the US, and the number of sites linking in.
Write down all of these numbers and check back weekly to see how the numbers have changed.
Press the "Get Details" button for more detailed information.
Alexa helps you determine which parts of the site get the most views and figure out where your traffic is coming from.
Similar to Alexa, there is a program called SearchStatus that can easily track a website's whereabouts.
Just install the program and it should begin to process immediately.
QuarkBase also works well, but Alexa is the industry standard. , This will give you a very detailed dashboard of who is coming to your site, where they are coming from, how much time they are spending on the site, etc. , There are many available for free download if you search "website hit counter." This will show on your site how many time a particular page has been viewed.
You may have to copy and paste the code into your site's HTML code, but this is usually given in step-by-step instructions.
Many website design sites, like Weebly, SquareSpace, and WordPress have built in "apps" in the page customization screen that let you install hit counters. , Tag managers track which articles get the most traction, but only if you tag them.
Most blogging and website design sites allow you to add tags, which are relevant words connected to your post.
This article, for example, might have the tags, how-to, web traffic, analytics, wiki, etc.
A tag manager lets you see what topics get the most traffic.
You can download them for free online. , These numbers mean nothing if you don't have any context for them.
Record the numbers regularly and compare them every month to see how the site is growing, where you are most popular, and where you are losing viewers frequently.
About the Author
Justin West
Brings years of experience writing about crafts and related subjects.
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