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Web Counts – Do Visitors Matter?
By admin | June 25, 2008
By The Numbers: Web Counts – Do Visitors Matter?
Web statistics can overload you with information about site visitors – where they live, how long they spent on your site, what Web browser they are using and more. The challenge is realizing how that information is relevant to your nonprofit, according to Jordan Dossett, creative director and principal of Antharia, LLC., in Lanham, Md.
Dossett roots around the statistics to evaluate site visitors. So, finding out that someone in Lubbock, Texas spent 20 seconds on your homepage using Linux may help you – if you know what to look for.
- Self-inflation. Float your own boat. Misleading yourself. No matter what you call it, not blocking your own IP address from your Web site can skew your visitor numbers, especially if you check your own site a dozen times everyday. Dossett recommended blocking your own IP or at least identifying it to make sure that doesn’t happen. “All they really want is how many people are coming here – and, no, Bob in the cubicle next door should not count,” said Dossett.
- Visited pages. Seeing what pages received the most hits and time can help you develop your site further. Figuring out what gets more audience attention – volunteering versus vision, personal stories against event listings – you may be able to expand on areas that work and tweak ones that don’t.
- Monitor resolution and color bit depth. What to know how much disposable income your visitor has? Dossett said how much they put into their computer can give you a clue. Higher monitor resolutions can be a sign that the person is using a laptop or a LCD screen. Even though laptops are the norm nowadays, the information still gives you a little insight into the user. A large color bit map requires an upgrade – showing that the user didn’t skimp when it came to tech toys.
- Duration. If your mission page is several paragraphs long, people shouldn’t be on for just two seconds. And if that’s the case, you may want to ask why. Duration can show if the page engaged the visitor. Having too little or two much information can influence a visitor’s experience. But sometimes the low duration times are fine – you don’t want someone staring at the donation page for 40 minutes.
- Know your visitors. Dossett recommended sitting down to analyze one person’s path as much as possible. Try to find someone who spent a considerable amount of time on the site and trace the click path. That will help you understand that person and give you some insight about how your site is used and viewed. Dossett said your site you have some “Web site mind control vehicle that drives them” to channels – like your donation page.
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This article is from NPT TechnoBuzz, a publication of The NonProfit Times. or any of our other enewsletters and get the latest nonprofit news and stories delivered to your inbox..
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