A key component to every web site is traffic analysis. When analyzing traffic, it is important to understand the difference between hits and visitorsand why both are important.
Be One With The Log
To analyze traffic to a site, you should be looking at your server logs. Server logs come in very raw data, but most hosting companies have interpreting programs that summarize the information into readable form. From these programs, you should be able to analyze who is sending you traffic, the number of hits and visitors among other information.
Hits v. Visitors The Game Is On
Many people, myself included, are lazy when it comes to discussing traffic results. We tend to use hits as a catch phrase for traffic hitting a web site. This isnt entirely true. Traffic should always be analyzed in two categories, hits and visitors.
A visitor is a click from someplace on the net to your site. In your server logs, a visitor will be credited with visiting the site one time regardless of the number of pages the visitor views. For example, a person entering a brick n mortar bookstore is only one potential customer regardless of the number of books the person...