What statistics systems are on the market?
 There are a multitude of programmes, some are paid and some free, some more intuitive than others, some work on Apache servers and others only on Windows. Amongst the most popular statistics programmes are Webstats, Urchin, Webtrends and, above all, Webalizer.
What statistics system does latevaweb use for its hosting products and clients?
Latevaweb uses the Webalizer in all its web projects due to its versatility and robustness. For many, Webalizer is the most complete visits analysis system on the market, a tool which provides you with all the information you need about the users who visit your website or server. Amongst the main characteristics of Webalizer is the capacity to process 1GB of log archives in 10 minutes, it can run on your web server or any remote server and with a tracking module which provides more specific information about visits.
To obtain reports on web traffic, log files on Unix web servers are used as they register everything. The log archive captures a history of activities carried out on the server and includes user parameters, such as the reference (where the visitor was prior to landing on each page), the IP address, information about cookies which is sent via the browser, the status of the codes, and the bandwidth transferred.
Interpreting web statistics
Accesses: This term is sometimes confused with visits, but it must be emphasized that Accesses and visits are not, by any means, the same thing. A hit is an access, a request to an Archive server; for example, if on this page as well as the htm file, I use an external javascript archive, another css, and also the heading and a small image, we then have 5 accesses, five Archive requests. It is clear that a hit is not a visit and that the number of Accesses, will always be greater than the number of visits. We will define it as the number of Archive requests made to the server during a given period of time.
Archives: The total number of requests (Accesses) that return something to the user; it is not the same as Accesses as not always will something be sent by way of return to the request, on occasions, the result is already in the cache or an error is produced so there is no return.
Visit: A surfer enters our website; basically, this is a visit. All the time he/she is browsing our site will count as that one visit, just one; the first request this remote client makes is what counts as a visit, thereafter he/she can spend however long they wish on our website, downloading something, reading content, all this forms part of the same visit. If a user returns to our website, and if thirty minutes have passed, this will be counted as a new visit. For example, if someone visits your website at 14h, and returns at 14:15h, it will only be counted as one visit. However, if he/she returns at 15h it will be counted as 2 visits in total. Only accesses to "Pages" will be taken into account. We could define it as the number of entries to our website, whether from the same surfer (respecting the minimum inactivity interval established) or not. This is what is commonly understood to constitute a visit.
Clients: Together with visits these are the most important elements of web statistics. Clients are the number of visits which are not repeated, users who return over time are not counted. This is one the most reliable means of knowing the amount of visits; although it tends to be less than the real number, it does not show us inflated web statistics. It is not the number of people, as it may be that various people might access from the same IP address.
Kbytes: Amount of data transferred from your website.
Total de Kbytes: Shows the total amount of data that the server transferred to the clients. It is useful to supervise the maximum monthly transfer that our hosting service provides us with.
Pages viewed: Any type of HTML file, or any generated by HTML. Other files that form part of the document are not included, such as images, audio, flash, etc.
Entry page: In web statistics these are the pages via which the user accesses our website; they do not always enter on the home page.
Exit page: The last web page visited by the user.
Referrals: Those sites from which our website is accessed whether they be search engines or other pages that link to us.
Search Chains: The words or keywords used in search engines to arrive at our web page or website.
Common Response Codes
Response codes the server delivers are:
Code 200: Everything is working perfectly; the client receives what he/she has requested in the correct way.
Code 206: When only partial content of the requested site is delivered. This happens with over-loaded sites, and is more common in slower connections.
Code 301: Is the correct way to inform a search engine that we have changed www. address.
Code 304: Is the correct way to inform a search engine that we have changed www. address.
Code 400: Erroneous request. If an error is produced in the transmission of the request.
Code 401: Access to unauthorised areas.
Code 404: When a file or page cannot be found, the typical Not Found.
|
