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When numbers lie: The
hidden danger of growing web site traffic
by Claudie Clot, CEO of advancis.com
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1.
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Identifying the problem
- Taking a closer look at your web site statistics reports
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How do you know if you are
experiencing this problem? It's quite easy. You simply need to
compare two key web site traffic statistics to determine whether
your site is at risk.
The trick is to measure the
number of user sessions that initiated at the top entry page
(usually the home page). Then, you need to subtract the number
of user sessions which included only that page. The larger the
resulting number, the more serious the problem.
To illustrate the problem,
let's look at a real life example. Company A develops and markets
advanced communications systems to a variety of small vertical
markets including governmental agencies, universities, and airports.
A recent web site statistics report shows the following picture:
1. Top entry pages:
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Number
1 - Home page - 582 user sessions |
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2. Top single access pages:
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Number
1: Home page - 228 user sessions |
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Based on these data, we can
see that 582 user sessions have originated at the Home page.
And 228 sessions have included only the Home page. Hence, during
354 sessions, visitors left the site as soon as they reached
the Home page. That's more than 39% of the traffic that entered
through the front door.
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