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Understanding website visitor behaviour

In this guide, Derek Stockley explains the importance of understanding site visitor behaviour and how website statistics can provide useful and meaningful information.

Website visitor behaviour

As search engine marketing has become more sophisticated, more and more webmasters are realising the importance of understanding the behaviour and actions of website visitors.

Obtaining, installing and monitoring a website traffic analysis system is an important and key site management responsibility of all webmasters (see: Website Statistics and Website Statistics Package).

Measurement of search engine success is now more than analysing keyword phrases and page views. You need to obtain information that gives you an insight into how the visitor is thinking and why particular search engine phrases are more effective than others.

Conversion rates are more important than pure visitor numbers. High visitor numbers are important, but the numbers you convert to an action is more important. You may wish visitors to contact you. You may be contented if they enrol for your regular newsletter. Conversion is the true measure of a web page’s success.

What behaviour leads to a successful interaction? What types of visitors generate the major sales? Which webpages achieve the "sale"? Why?

PPC (Pay per Click) programs like Google Adwords offer conversion tracking information. But what about your referrals from organic search results (the ones based on keyword phrases and search engine ranking)?

What about the origin of the visitor - are they local or from a location that is too far away?

Measuring and assessing visitor behaviour is a complicated process. It operates at two levels:

Website performance at the broad and high level. Factors include visitor numbers, search engine referrals, page views, keyword phrases and the like.

Website performance at the detailed level. Factors include the geographic location of the visitor, particularly "local" visitors, as well as the track taken by each visitor.

As you become more sophisticated in your website measurement activities, the detail level of analysis becomes more important.

If you do not have access to the above information, you should review your web statistics sources, see: Website Statistics and Website Statistics Package.

For more information on SEO training, see Search Engine Optimisation Training Information.

Website statistics package and further SEO/SEM information

I personally use and recommend the Web-Stat Statistics software.

Apart from providing the broad level information, a number of the detailed reports allow me to analyse the behaviour of typical website visitors. For example, if a visitor leaves my website after reviewing my service offering, Web-Stat provides detailed information that helps me to understand why.

You can sign up for a 30 day free trial or purchase at 30 Day free trial or sign up - Web-Stat Traffic Analysis.

After the free trial, the service only costs between $5 and $10 per month (US dollars). The quality and extent of the information available means the ROI (return on investment) is very high. The insight gained allows you to focus on the key website marketing activities that produce the most results.

The broader topic of search engine optimisation is discussed in detail at: Search Engine Optimization or view the SEO/SEM portal page at: Search Engine Optimisation and Search Engine Marketing - covers key SEO/SEM information resources provided by this site.

For more information on SEO training, see Search Engine Optimisation Training Information.

This page was last updated on 10 February 2007.