Log File Transactions
|
|
|
This list comprises a fair example of what kinds of data a log
file will record.
Generally, you can view a summary of all
data, the bird's eye view and the specifics:
Executive Summary. Usually for the
month.
|
| Time |
when visitors came to your web
site |
|
|
|
|
- Monthly history:
- Days of the month, or dates
- Days of the week: (S, M, T, W, R, F, Sat, Sun)
- Hours of the day: Noted on military time, 100-2400
hours
|
|
GOOD TO KNOW
Finding out when users are visiting
your web site may also help you determine what days and
times to send out your email
campaigns. |
|
| Characteristics |
who visited your
web site |
|
|
|
|
- Countries: Top or "the majority of"
countries visitors came from
- Full list of countries: Accounting
for all visitors
- Hosts or ISP: Top entities that the majority of
visitors came from. This may come in the form of a domain or
IP address.
- Full list: Accounting for all IPs
- Last visit: Date
- Unresolved IP Address:
- Authenticated users: Top users logging into your site
- Full list: Accounting for all
visitors logged into your web site account
- Last visit: Date
- Robots/Spiders: Top search engines who have most
commonly spidered your web site.
- Full list: Accounting for all search engines
that have spidered your web site and catalogued your web
pages.
- Last visit: Date
|
|
GOOD TO KNOW
Domain example: yoursite.com
All domains are affiliated with an IP
address.
The IP address determines
location.
IP address example: 65.222.176.123
|
|
| Navigation |
what users did and found on
your web site. |
|
|
|
|
|
Hits / Requests: Any connection to an Internet site,
including inline image requests and errors.
Visitors: The number of times your web site was visited.
- Unique Visitors: The number of individuals. (One
individual may come to your web site more than once. This
number will be less than the "visitors" value.)
- Visits duration: Length of time any one visitor spent
on your web site.
Files: The type of files most commonly viewed
(ex. Html, jpg, gif, etc.)
- Files Viewed: Specific files most commonly viewed
(ex. index.htm)
- Full List: Complete list of viewed files and
number of times those files were requested.
|
|
GOOD TO KNOW
Hits tell you nothing useful about
how popular your web site is.
If you are looking for user
behavior, look at the "Unique Visits" value.
Hits are useful in evaluating
server loads.
|
|
| Important Locations |
where visitors came and
left your web site. |
|
|
|
|
|
Entry Page: the first page your visitor saw when coming
to your web site.
Exit Page: the last page your visitor saw before
leaving your web site.
Errors are also important locations for
you to know. They tell you what on your site needs repair.
|
|
GOOD TO KNOW
Visitors don't always meet your
home page first.
When you list your site on search
engines, the spider will catalogue and rank all of your
pages.
It is common that pages other than
the home page are entry pages because they contain relevant
keyword terms. |
|
| Systems & Software |
how visitors accessed your
web site. |
|
|
|
|
Operating Systems: The type of operating system visitors
have (e.g Windows, Linux, Mac, etc.)
- Versions: like 2000, XP, etc
- Unknown
Browsers
- Versions: (like 2.0, 3.6, etc.)
- Unknown
Errors
- HTTP Errors:
- 404 Errors: Pages not found when a user
clicked a link on your site or made a query.
|
|
GOOD TO KNOW
Visitors are loyal to their
software.
If most of your visitors are using
Netscape and your site was designed for Internet Explorer,
it's likely you are losing customers. This is why designing
and testing your site to be cross browser compatible is
critical. |
|
| Referrers |
why people
visited your web site. |
|
|
|
|
Origin
- Referring search engines: Yahoo! Google, AltaVista,
Hot Bot. etc
- Referring sites: Other sites that have links to yours
Search
- Key phrases: Terms users typed into search engines to
find your web site
- Keywords: Specific words users typed into search
engines to find your web site
|
|
GOOD TO KNOW
There are lots and lots of search
engines out there. |
|
