Exploring the Numbers: Pageviews & Time
For the past two weeks in this column we’ve been looking at website statistics. First we looked at Hits and Visitors and last week we looked at Bounce Rate. Continuing the look at statistics there is a grouping called Pageviews and Average Pageviews.
The basic concept of pageviews is fairly straight forward. This is the total number of pages on the entire website that people have looked at during the date range you are counting.
Average Pageviews is the total number of visitors during that time period divided by the total number of pageviews.
Be careful because these two measurements don’t necessarily track everything.
For example, Flash or fancy XML pages might change content while not counting as a change in pages. A flash picture album is a good example. A visitor might go though 100 pages in a flash picture album, but the web server will only count that as a single pageview.
Also RSS feeds can mess with the pageview count. If a customer reads pages using RSS reader software some statistics-collecting software will not count them as page views. This is because RSS readers are viewed by some search engines as a computer spider and not counted as a human looking at the page. It is not clear if Google Analytics counts RSS feeds or not.
This just goes to show that one should not take any single statistic and build a profile around it. Each set of numbers shows only a fraction of the total picture.
When I look at pageviews I also like to look at the statistic of Time on the Site. The time setting is just what it sounds like; it tracks how long someone sticks around looking at the information on your site.
On a side note, I once told a manager about Time on the Site statistic and the manager looked at me with shock. He responded: They have a stopwatch that keeps track of your time? I was able to keep a straight face and explain that they just subtracted the entry-time statistics from the exit-time statistics. I let myself laugh later when I told my co-workers this story.
Of course the “catch” with Time on the Site statistics is that your visitors may not be actively looking at the site for the entire time they are there. They could take a phone call or just wander off for a few minutes.
Still, even without complete accuracy, these statistics provide some valuable information. Together the these two things, pageviews and the time information, can clearly tell you what people look at on your site, what is popular and what makes them stop and take notice. Because a website should always be a work in progress this information will help you decide what can stay and what needs to be replaced or at least updated.
Both Google Analytics and web server information can generate a lot of sometimes-confusing information. However, by careful review it is possible to gain a clear picture of how people are using your website.
Don’t get freaked out by the numbers. They are there to help.
[tags] web analytics, website stats, traffic [/tags]
This article was first published January 29, 2009 on the Tatum Marketing blog
For the past two weeks in this column we’ve been looking at website statistics. First we looked at Hits and Visitors and last week we looked at Bounce Rate. Continuing the look at statistics there is a grouping called Pageviews and Average Pageviews.
The basic concept of pageviews is fairly straight forward. This is the total number of pages on the entire website that people have looked at during the date range you are counting.
Average Pageviews is the total number of visitors during that time period divided by the total number of pageviews.
Be careful because these two measurements don’t necessarily track everything.
For example, Flash or fancy XML pages might change content while not counting as a change in pages. A flash picture album is a good example. A visitor might go though 100 pages in a flash picture album, but the web server will only count that as a single pageview.
Also RSS feeds can mess with the pageview count. If a customer reads pages using RSS reader software some statistics-collecting software will not count them as page views. This is because RSS readers are viewed by some search engines as a computer spider and not counted as a human looking at the page. It is not clear if Google Analytics counts RSS feeds or not.
This just goes to show that one should not take any single statistic and build a profile around it. Each set of numbers shows only a fraction of the total picture.
When I look at pageviews I also like to look at the statistic of Time on the Site. The time setting is just what it sounds like; it tracks how long someone sticks around looking at the information on your site.
On a side note, I once told a manager about Time on the Site statistic and the manager looked at me with shock. He responded: They have a stopwatch that keeps track of your time? I was able to keep a straight face and explain that they just subtracted the entry-time statistics from the exit-time statistics. I let myself laugh later when I told my co-workers this story.
Of course the “catch” with Time on the Site statistics is that your visitors may not be actively looking at the site for the entire time they are there. They could take a phone call or just wander off for a few minutes.
Still, even without complete accuracy, these statistics provide some valuable information. Together the these two things, pageviews and the time information, can clearly tell you what people look at on your site, what is popular and what makes them stop and take notice. Because a website should always be a work in progress this information will help you decide what can stay and what needs to be replaced or at least updated.
Both Google Analytics and web server information can generate a lot of sometimes-confusing information. However, by careful review it is possible to gain a clear picture of how people are using your website.
Don’t get freaked out by the numbers. They are there to help.
January 3rd, 2010 at 3:01 pm
My brother in law would be amazed this website. We were not too long ago discussing about this. lol