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Vol. 1, Issue 4
September 1998 

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border.gif (871 bytes) Managing and Monitoring your Web Investment, p 6.
by Cay Villars, President, Market Value Concepts.
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Tip # 6.  

Monitor your web's activity
and modify to improve performance

There are several ways to track how your web site is doing:

  1. Server Logs.  The most valuable information you'll ever get on web visitors is tracked by ISP in their server logs. The information that is captured about your web visitors depends on your web server and the type of coding you have on your pages.  This is a key reason why you want a techno- genius running your web, so that they know every way possible to track the activity of your visitors. That way you can delete sections of your web that are not that interesting to customers, redesign areas to increase traffic and/or add to those sections that have the most value.  At a minimum you should be able to find out which pages were visited most often, the source of the page request (where the visitor came from... a search engine or another web page), the country of the visitor and the name of the ISP that the visitor uses.   Ask your webmaster what additional information that can be gained about your visitors by using "cookies".    

    If you're going to track visitor information, you need to make sure your web and/or your server is set up to do so. Software can be purchased that will process the server logs (file on the server that tracks activity). If you want to evaluate your server logs yourself and you do not have software for tracking activity at your web, you can download a free software called Hit List Standard, from Marketwave.   It's very easy to use and can generate basic reports about activity on your web with the touch of a button.  All you have to do is get a copy of your server logs from your ISP.

    You can also pay a service to track this information for you. For instance, you can use the Web Site Garage

    Here's the quick connection for your URL:

    Web Site Garage provides "Hit-o-Meter" for ~$5 per month. A very inexpensive way to keep track of the activity at your web. Here's a sample report. 

  2. Online Survey Software.  One of the most valuable ways is to monitor web activity is install a software called Pop-up Survey Software. (View the demo at the web site!) at your web site.  The software is a Java applet that will generate a pop-up survey at preset intervals (e.g.every 10th customer that visits your site will be asked if they would like to participate in a survey on your site).  Your customer can choose to participate in the survey or decline and continue to browse your site.  This is a great way to get DIRECT, unbiased, and timely feedback from your customers as they browse your site.

  3. Primary Market Research. Market research companies that monitor web usage. Pay money for a good market research study of your site! One of the best decisions you can make is to hire a company that can develop a study of your web site's effectiveness in winning sales. Here's a list of market research firms that may  provide you some assistance with evaluating your site (from the June Issue of BioTactics In Action).  If you'd like a recommendation you can contact us at Market Value Concepts.§


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