So, I run pretty decent statistics packages on my servers. You can get unique visitors and overall hits, average hits, etc. But, that’s always been a bit vague to me. I always wanted to know what’s happening to a certain page . . .
. . . and in walks Google. I had heard of Google Analytics for a while, but never really cared to look into it. A client wanted to use it, so he needed me to insert some simple code into pages to track things. My curiosity kicked in and I had to grab it (it’s free, don’t ya know!).
All you need is a Google account and a website. Google will give you the code to insert into your pages. Then, just sit back and watch the stats come in.
You might ask, “What does that mean to the average web surfer?”. Well, let me just tell you . . .
Let’s take my homepage at www.mooresites.com. I have the code in the end of that page. So, when I go to Google tomorrow it’ll give me some information. I’ve just scratched the surface, but it gives info like:
- Page visits – how many folks accessed the page
- Locations – right down to how many folks from a certain state visited that day
- First time visitors
- Returning visitors
- Who referred them to your site
- And the list goes on . . .
So, if you have a site with some traffic . . . this is cool stuff. Just grab a Google account and go for it. Thanks again, Google.
Did I mention all of the stats can be emailed daily, weekly, etc. in a number of formats?
Nice . . .
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