How did they find my website?

It is extremely useful to know how your visitors found your website. You want to know where to spend your advertising dollars. You may ask your visitors to email you or fill out a form on your site to tell you. You may ask them by mail, phone or in person. There is a better way to know and keep track of this information.

Check your web site statitistics report generated online for you. Most reputable web hosting companies include a web stats program like Webalizer. If yours doesn't, you can get download the program and install it yourself. You can check your monthly, daily and hourly number of hits, what keywords were used to find your site, who referred the visitors to your site, and much more.

Go to your web host members page to turn on your web stats. In a few days, check your stats to see who visited and when. Click on the month to get to that month's stats. I know I get a lot of direct hits, which means the visitors either typed the web address, because they read it from a business card or advertisement or just plain knew it OR they revisited my site after bookmarking it (adding it to their list of favorites). I also get hits referred from searches such as Google and MSN. I have some hits referred from web designer directories and link exchanges.

Not only do I know where I do get referrals, but I notice where I don't. Though I paid for inclusion in Ask Jeeves search, I don't think I got a single referral. When that comes up for renewal, I may spend the advertising dollars elsewhere. Of course, you have to give things time. And that one referral may lead to a satisfied customer who refers me by email who will directly enter my site. Be patient, but when the budget is tight, keep your money with your top referrers.

Online polls are fun for visitors, but unfortunately, only some of the visitors actually answer them. The results are not accurate. View my poll stats. I get almost a thousand hits a day and only 20 people actually answered the poll to tell me which search engine they used most! The results do compare with my web stats, but this information is not enough. When I receive calls, I ask where they found me. Many people found me in the online Yellow Pages. NO ONE found me in the printed telephone book!

Knowing how your visitors found your website will help you plan your advertising budget. Stay informed and use that knowledge. Use your web stats, online polls, forms or just ask each person that contacts you how they found you or your website. You will be surprised.

Yvette Kuhns, Power Pages Web Design, August 3, 2002

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