When a visitor comes to a website, site has just a few seconds to grab visitor's interest. Slow-loading pages or broken graphics will send visitors and potential customers looking elsewhere. In order to make sense of web statistics, consider using a log analysis program. These programs tend to format information in an easy-to-understand way, often providing graphs or visual representations that make understanding and seeing patterns that much easier. The downside to using software for web log analysis is that webmasters can easily be confused about what actual results mean and which results matter most. The information contained in log file should be analyzed in conjunction with other information.

Let's take a look at some of critical areas. How many unique visitors visit site each day? This statistic, by itself, is not terribly important, but when compared to a previous week's or month's logs, patterns will generally emerge. Sudden declines in site visitors might be indicative of downtime or dropped links, while sudden increases might be indicative of a successful ad campaign or improved search engine ranking. This assumption can only be made if sales for corresponding time period have increased as well. Traffic alone is not goal; qualified website traffic that converts a visitor into a buyer is generally goal of most webmasters. Web statistics on their own do not always paint a true picture. Webmasters need to use logs to validate advertising campaigns and track where traffic is coming from. While details in a log file alone are not conclusive proof of an ad campaign's success or failure, general assumptions can be made based on patterns. General statistics will help determine who your visitors are and what habits they have.

Specific areas to take a close look at: