Another dumb question

Winterchase · 09-07-2005, 04:34 PM

I put a counter on my page a few days ago. When I make changes and upload to the account, it resets to zero but, I've gotten about 125-130 hits a day so far and to me that seems very high considering it ain't all that good of a site and two, I'm certainly not a household name and three, all my ex wives have already checked in with threatening e-mails.

Some of the hits, say, 25-30 are caused by me and surely some are from crawlers doing their thing. About how many would you estimate are from crawlers? 80? 90? I can not believe there are more than five or at best ten hits a day from people with nothing better to do out there.

There has to be some expaination - and a way to find out who these people are, which would be very nice to know (in case one of them can write me a check)!

***ian*** · 09-08-2005, 10:01 AM

Does your web hosting have webalizer stats or some other stats program. Thats what I check to see where traffic is coming from. But it is not possible to find out the exact identity of the people who visit, with the normal tools available to the average webmaster.

Winterchase · 09-08-2005, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian

... with the normal tools available to the average webmaster.

Average webmaster(!)? Me? You're calling me maybe an "average webmaster?" Friend, I ain't even a beginner.

But I'm learning to like messing with it.

RAJO · 09-21-2005, 12:55 PM

your hosting should provide you with some tools to analyse this

StephanieCordray · 09-21-2005, 01:32 PM

Winterchase... with your current web site, you won't get really accurate stats. Web counters are not very good stats because all they do is count clicks and visits... with some of them just going from one page back to the page where the counter is located will cause it to go up for each and every instance.

Oh, and one more thing... There is no such thing as a dumb question. If people don't ask questions how would be know what questioner knows or doesn't know. Not everybody can start off at the same level.

SiteExpress · 09-21-2005, 04:08 PM

Exactly what Steph said. Counters are very unreliable.You can find stat tracking software free on the net, but sorting out the good from the bad is usually a problem.

One of the best ways to reliably monitor your traffic is to keep track of your contacts from the site. This may seem brash, but if they are not contacting you or getting anything from you, then either your audience is not finding what they want, or there is just simply not much audience yet.

It takes a long time before visitors begin to find your site through search engines alone. My business site was built in March, and was not even Indexed by Google for about 2 months. Even then, Google would only visit it about every 3 weeks. Now Google visits daily.

It just takes time.

Kiwiberry · 09-21-2005, 06:12 PM

When I started my site, I also tried some free counters. I learned quickly that the stats where unreliable, but it did lead me to find better alternatives. so far, my favorite stats is Awstats. It seems to be the most complete stats software I've seen. I've tried webalizer as well, but I wasn't impressed.

SiteExpress · 09-21-2005, 06:29 PM

i also use Awstats. I really like it.

StephanieCordray · 09-21-2005, 06:51 PM

Webalizer is not much better than a counter to be perfectly honest, lol. But it's better than nothing.

09-07-2005, 04:34 PM	#1 (permalink)
Winterchase Silver Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: 34.59'.46.94"N -83.42'.42.41"W Posts: 151	Another dumb question I put a counter on my page a few days ago. When I make changes and upload to the account, it resets to zero but, I've gotten about 125-130 hits a day so far and to me that seems very high considering it ain't all that good of a site and two, I'm certainly not a household name and three, all my ex wives have already checked in with threatening e-mails. Some of the hits, say, 25-30 are caused by me and surely some are from crawlers doing their thing. About how many would you estimate are from crawlers? 80? 90? I can not believe there are more than five or at best ten hits a day from people with nothing better to do out there. There has to be some expaination - and a way to find out who these people are, which would be very nice to know (in case one of them can write me a check)! __________________ I kill people, break things and tell whopping big lies!

09-08-2005, 10:01 AM	#2 (permalink)
*ian* Administrator Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 1,639	Does your web hosting have webalizer stats or some other stats program. Thats what I check to see where traffic is coming from. But it is not possible to find out the exact identity of the people who visit, with the normal tools available to the average webmaster. __________________ Computer Forum

09-21-2005, 12:55 PM	#4 (permalink)
RAJO Silver Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 136	your hosting should provide you with some tools to analyse this __________________ Thank You GAG-IS WEB SITE Design

09-21-2005, 04:08 PM	#6 (permalink)
SiteExpress Gold Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 280	Exactly what Steph said. Counters are very unreliable.You can find stat tracking software free on the net, but sorting out the good from the bad is usually a problem. One of the best ways to reliably monitor your traffic is to keep track of your contacts from the site. This may seem brash, but if they are not contacting you or getting anything from you, then either your audience is not finding what they want, or there is just simply not much audience yet. It takes a long time before visitors begin to find your site through search engines alone. My business site was built in March, and was not even Indexed by Google for about 2 months. Even then, Google would only visit it about every 3 weeks. Now Google visits daily. It just takes time. __________________ Blog - Directory

09-21-2005, 06:12 PM	#7 (permalink)
Kiwiberry Silver Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Madison, WI, USA Posts: 123	When I started my site, I also tried some free counters. I learned quickly that the stats where unreliable, but it did lead me to find better alternatives. so far, my favorite stats is Awstats. It seems to be the most complete stats software I've seen. I've tried webalizer as well, but I wasn't impressed. __________________ - http://www.ProjectPCs.com -

09-21-2005, 01:32 PM	#5 (permalink)
StephanieCordray Diamond Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Nashville TN Posts: 1,017	Winterchase... with your current web site, you won't get really accurate stats. Web counters are not very good stats because all they do is count clicks and visits... with some of them just going from one page back to the page where the counter is located will cause it to go up for each and every instance. Oh, and one more thing... There is no such thing as a dumb question. If people don't ask questions how would be know what questioner knows or doesn't know. Not everybody can start off at the same level.

09-21-2005, 06:29 PM	#8 (permalink)
SiteExpress Gold Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 280	i also use Awstats. I really like it. __________________ Blog - Directory

09-21-2005, 06:51 PM	#9 (permalink)
StephanieCordray Diamond Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Nashville TN Posts: 1,017	Webalizer is not much better than a counter to be perfectly honest, lol. But it's better than nothing.

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