Statistics, Statistics, Statistics.
By Rik Tairea

Before becoming a webmaster, statistics weren't a priority in my life and that was around 5 years ago (way back in the old 20th century). Now it seems I can't live with out them and I have now become a stats addict (I know, admitting it is the first step).

One of the first things I do when I get up in the morning is check my e-mail and various website and affiliate related stats. I can't help it because it's just become apart of my daily routine, so much so that I plan my day "after" I've checked what's been happening in the online world.

Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about and some of you are wondering what the big deal is? Let me tell you something, I can't live without statistics and I realized that statistical analysis has been the reason for my increase in website traffic and revenue.

For example, website log files that detail everything I want and need to know about my visitors provide a wealth of very valuable information. I know how they found the site, where they came from, what they were looking for, etc, etc, etc.

Why would I want to know this stuff? Simple, if I know what people are looking for then I can make it easier for them to find it. This is great, especially if you're trying to promote or sell a product or service.

For another example, I found out that some webmasters were looking for a certain product so I found a product that did the job that they wanted, did some research on it and produced a review page for it. I made sure it was easily found on the website (from the front page) and I made sure the page was optimized for search engines (mainly Google). That page now receives some good traffic.

Since I was also selling said product I had to make sure I analyzed statistics on the affiliate marketing side of things as well. This includes keeping an eye on click thru and conversion rates and ratios, because if the product wasn't being purchased at a satisfactory rate then I could redirect my promotion efforts else where.

That's just a very small sample of what statistical analyzes can accomplish. I could (and did) analyze where my traffic was coming from so that I could see what promotion methods were working the best, the list is endless.

Oh how I love statistics.

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The above article was written solely for Groundzero and may not be reproduced in anyway on print or other media. This article was written by the webmaster, creator and owner of this site.
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