| If you have a website, you really need to be running | | | | You can also track how long a typical visitor stays on |
| some website traffic analytics program. | | | | your site and how many of your visitors are new |
| Fortunately, just about any hosting company will | | | | visitors vs returning visitors (called Bounce Rate). |
| provide you will some type of analytics of web stats | | | | You can also use this kind of software to see if |
| program for free. They're not the greatest programs in | | | | people are trying to access pages that don't exist. This |
| the world, but they do get the job done. | | | | typically happens (and I know I've done it) when you |
| But here's why it's important. First of all, web analytics | | | | create a link to a page and make an error in the URL |
| software can tell you where your visitors are coming | | | | so that when anybody clicks on it, they go to an error |
| from. Whether its coming directly to your website, | | | | page. Web statistics software will show that people |
| from people searching in Google, or from other | | | | are trying to access that page but are getting an error |
| websites that may have linked to yours. | | | | message, which will allow you to fix it. |
| Some web analysis can track not only where the | | | | As far as the best website analytics software to run |
| visitor came from but also where they go once they | | | | on your site, you have a whole host of choices. |
| visit your site. You can see if they're reading your | | | | Honestly, for most businesses, the free tools provided |
| content and leaving immediately, if they're staying and | | | | at Google Analytics will provide you with more than |
| browsing more of your content and products, or if | | | | enough information to start making improvements to |
| they're actually making purchases based on your | | | | your website based on what your stats are telling you. |
| information. | | | | |