Yes, general statistics really do give you pertinent information 
about the typical website surfer. It’s not rocket science, so 
just brush off your brain for a moment and listen to the common 
sense statistics definitions that you can use to increase your 
website sales.

I mentioned in my last article that you need to make a plan 
of action. In this edition, we will breakdown your General 
Statistics and ask you multiple questions so you can start 
analyzing.


General Website Visitor Statistics are:

 - Total Page Views 
 - Unique Visitors 
 - Total Visits 
 - Return Visitors
 - Average Page Views 
 - Average Returns per Visitor 
 - Average length per visit


Below  are definitions of  for each term above and what they 
were meant to do. All of the general stats actually pertain to 
your entire site. They are not specific and are a compilation 
of most all major statistic programs. 

Total Page Views

This is the total amount of web traffic that you have received.
Actually, this really is the total amount of times that one of
your web pages was opened by a user. This is all of your web
pages, not just your home page. People always get confused
thinking this is the stats of a user surfing to your domain 
name which drops them at your index page. Remember, this is
everything, repeats, refreshes, first times, on ALL pages. Use
this stat to look for the volume and quantity of information
being accessed. If this number is low, your goal should be to
get users to your site. Otherwise there will be no stats to
analyze.

Unique Visitors

Your unique visitors are your first time visitors. Refreshes or
revisits do not apply here. This actually is an important one
since this will help you understand if any of your advertising
or marketing efforts are working. Unique visitors give you a
total of how many different people found your site.

Total Visits

The total amount of visitors including first time visits,
second, third, etc. Keep in mind, one visitor could have viewed
30 pages two times. This indicates why the totals are different
between unique and total visitors.

Return Visitors

This number gives the total of the amount of unique visitors
that actually came back for more information. Use this statistic
to understand your sites *Stickiness*. The stickier your site 
is the better. You use this stat to realize how valuable your 
content is. Hence, people keep coming back for more; they are 
*stuck* to your site.

Average Page Views per visitor
 Average Returns & Average length

Your APV, ARV, & ALV also relate to how sticky your site is. 

Charge up your marketing and once visitors starting heading to
your site, watch the above numbers. Of course, your goal is to
get as much targeted traffic as you can, but that’s not all. You
want them to come back over and over if possible. Watch to see
especially, how many times each visitor returns and how long
they stay.

Then ask yourself and find the answer to these questions:

 - Does a user have a reason to come back to my web site?
 - What content do I have that will keep them there?
 - Am I adding or updating my content often enough? 
 - How many pages are my visitors going to? 
 - How many pages do I want them to visit? 
 - Which specific page do I want them to visit?
 - Are enough of my visitors actually visiting the *buy* page?


By now you should be thinking...

The fact is that most web hosts may have the above information 
available to you. These basic statistics will give you enough 
intelligence to keep you interested in this subject. However, 
let's face it, most website owners never look at their stats. 
If they do,typically it is for some sort of self-gratification 
that their site is being seen. But if that is all you are using 
your statistics for, then you are leaving alot of money on the 
table.

Understand your stats and begin to develop your own theories as
to how many and what type of users are visiting.

After you understand and have formulated basic opinions on 
what's happening,  you should develop more sophisticated tracking
systems to help you understand the details. General statistics 
will get you started in the right direction, but the *details* 
are where you can increase your sales and make a real difference.


David Jackson 
ImageLink Incorporated 


Webmaster Intelligence Tools
http://www.imagelink.us

Hit Inspector Software
Website Sergeant Monitor