<i>>From: bob@textor.com (Bob Browning)</i>
<i>>Subject: Re: Web Site Statistical Software</i>
<i>>These techniques almost all come with a downside for a</i>
<i>>type B site. Whatever anyone tells you, registration</i>
<i>>must put off potential visitors. I am happy to register</i>
<i>>with a publisher for my trade mags. Would I register before</i>
<i>>I take a brochure from an exhibition stand?</i>
Hi!
In reply to Bob's comments, the statistical software we use, WebTrends, does
not require having viewers who visit our pages sign anything to gather a
whole lot of vital information about where they are located, which pages
they view, when they visit, and problems they had loading certain pages, or
forms.
Designed primarily to work hand in hand with WebSite server software, the
program works partially from the IP addresses that Bob mentioned, which are
unique a specific domain server. A WebSite log gives you a host of
information and that's where WebTrends draws it's stats, including location
by city, state, and country and tracks the user through a visit to get an
accurate user count. We don't get our visitor's e-mail address unless they
want to give it, though.
We are a definitely a type B site (by Bob's definition) and WebTrends is
invaluable to us. We need to know what the people who visit our site look
at. If no one ever looks at a given product category, we know there is no
point in looking for new sources for that type. If they don't visit a page
we feel is important, we can move it (this has already happened). If we find
that one page is causing problems, we can revise it. And if, for example, we
find that many people from Japan start to visit, we might consider offering
Japanese pages.
Perhaps after we have a number of years of sales under our belt, we will
know all this in any case from our sales stats, but until we do, the stats
from our visitors are vital to us. Knowing as much as you can about your
prospects, as well as your customers, is crucial whether you are type A or B.
IMHO anyhow<g>.
Ray Gabriel
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THE GABRIEL GALLERY fine crafts & photography for the global village
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