For a long time I used Google Analytics to provide webstats for me and for my clients - and it worked. Great stats, pretty graphs, nice figures - everything I needed.The problem I had was that I couldn’t get real time stats - I had to wait until the next day, by which time in some cases it was too late to react to surges in traffic.
I needed something that showed me what my visitors were doing and where they were coming from NOW, not yesterday!
A quick insight into the sites I visit on a daily basis:
1) Search Engine Watch - the first site dedicated to search engines, and still the best. Originally started by Danny Sullivan in 1996 (he resigned in 2006), this is a great site to find out the latest search engine stats, search engine news and more.
Looking at your analytics or web stats, there will always be pages that are both entry and exit points – meaning that they are the single only page viewed in a session by your visitor.
Look at these pages closely – what is it about them that means that people are coming to them and then leaving almost immediately?
Is there something you could do to try and get people to click somewhere else rather than just leave?
A lead in to another page, a call to action, asking them to sign up for your newsletter…
299 Steps to Website Heaven is an invaluable guide full of hints, tips and advice for the SME business website owner.
Whether you want more traffic to your site, more leads and sales from it, or just to better understand the world of Google and Internet Marketing, 299 Steps is the book (and ebook) for you.