Increase Conversions by Analyzing Your Server Logs

Most people now understand the "front end" of search engine optimization (SEO): compiling keywords and optimizing content, page titles and meta descriptions in order to increase rankings on search engines.

Yet, judging from my experience with clients, few people pay much attention to the "back end" -- analyzing their server logs. Either they don't look at them at all -- or worse yet, they don't have any!

Effective SEO is based on real data: number of unique visitors, the keywords and phrases people used to find your site, the pages that are downloaded most frequently, and that all-important metric-- conversions.

The easiest place to get that information is from your server logs. If you haven't looked at your logs and don't know where to begin, the first step is to contact your hosting company. Many ISPs and Web hosts such as Earthlink, Readyhosting and GoDaddy offer Web analytics as
part of their monthly hosting fee -- all you do is log on to your server's control panel and type in your account password.

If your site sits on your own server and you don't have server logs, purchase a Web analytics program such as Urchin or WebTrends, pronto!

Once you have your server logs in hand, you want to pay particular attention to the following data:

Number of Unique Visitors and Page Views

Don't be swayed by the number of "hits" to your site. This is a misleading indicator as it is simply a measurement of every downloaded image and file on your site.

Instead, pay attention to the number of unique visitors and conversion rates. To determine simple conversion rates, take the number of unique visitors and divide by the number of people who took the desired action, e.g., downloaded a brochure, submitted your contact form,
signed up for a newsletter, purchased your e-book, etc.

Top Pages

The "Top Pages" metric can give you a wealth of detailed information. You'll see which pages are most popular on your site, which in turn can help you plan future content. Pay particular attention to the page or pages you want people to click on -- for example, I want people to
click on my newsletter sign-up page. Using the number of "unique visitors" to my site, I can determine how many actually went to that page, and then measure that against how many actually signed up for my newsletter. I can also quickly see how many click through from my
newsletter to special offers or landing pages.

Top Keywords

Analyzing your keywords will show you which phrases people are using to find you, and which ones they aren't using. Remember, just because you think your prospects should use specific words to find you doesn't mean they are using them. I learned this the hard way a couple of years ago. I had always assumed my top keyword phrase was "freelance copywriter." It's what others and I used to describe what I do. But, it wasn't until I started analyzing my server logs -- and purchasing
Overture search phrases -- that I learned with a jolt that my number-one keyword phrase was "marketing communications." I have since revised my page titles and content using variations on this phrase -- significantly increasing traffic and conversions.

Top Referrals

Sites that rank highly in search engines also have a number of sites that link to them. You can quickly see which sites are sending you traffic by looking at your "Top Referrals" metric. Most of these referring sites will be search engines -- but if you drill deep enough, you'll get some meaty information. For example, I paid $250 last year to be in a marketing database. Not one person has clicked through from this database to my site, which means I won't be
purchasing a listing this year.

Top Domains or Robots/Spiders

While you're reading your logs, do a quick check to make sure the top search engines are visiting your site. Some programs will show this information as "Top Domains" or "Robots/Spiders." Make sure you see listings from "googlebot," "MSIECrawler," "Inktomi Slurp" and other
spiders or bots.

Good search engine optimization practices include regularly analyzing your server logs and giving visitors the content they want by:

* analyzing top downloaded pages,
* researching and continually tweaking keyword phrases,
* building a solid external link structure (and making sure it's
working).

If you are continuously doing these things, you'll see a steady rise
of site traffic and conversions over time.

Dianna Huff
25 Ways To Grow Your E-Newsletter List
http://www.growalist.com