What is web analytics? It is the study of any website visitor’s behavior. For any business website a detailed study of the traffic that gets into the website is very essential and can be of great commercial value. All the relevant data is well analyzed and the behavior of the visitor is understood. What is the real purpose of doing web analysis? Well it is basically to find as to which aspects of the website works best and supports a website’s business mission and objectives. What are the different types of visitor data that gets collected? They may include data like,
E-mail response Direct mail data results Traffic reports Sales/purchases lead results Click heat mapping Response by audience
What is the technology that is used to collect all these web analytics? There are two main technological methods to collect the web analytics data. The two methods are,
Log file analysis Page tagging
The logfile analysis method reads the logfiles where all the web server transactions are recorded. A special software called Web log analysis software (also called a web log analyzer) is software that parses a log file from a web server, and thus records as to who, when and how a web server was visited. The page tagging method uses JavaScript on each page to notify a third-party server when a page is rendered by a web browser. Each of these above methods has its distinct advantages and disadvantages.
What is the preferred method used by companies these days? Remember that the Logfile analysis is usually performed in-house. Page tagging can be performed in-house, but it is more often provided as a third-party service. The economic difference between these two models can also be a consideration for a company deciding which to purchase. While the logfile analysis typically involves a one-off software purchase page tagging involves a monthly fee. Decisions in choosing the analytical method is done depending on the expertise of the company, the amount of activity, number of websites, the needed information etc.
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