The server that hosts your website knows exactly how many pages it served, when they were served and many details about the person that requested them. The web server can save this kind of data in a what is commonly known as a raw logs file. The data in these logs files is written in a certain format, according to some standards.
The raw logs files are basically a text file which can be viewed with an application such as Notepad. Raw logs are a standard feature in the hosting packages now, but you should make sure nevertheless. Raw logs are important if you plan to use advanced client based software to analyze the traffic your website receives.
For smaller sites, web based software such as Analog, Webalizer or Awstats are usually enough. These programs are run on the server and they are most of the time included in the hosting package. Analog is the most basic of the three, but it's quite popular -- perhaps because it's been around for a while. Webalizer offers similar information but in a different format and somewhat more detailed. Awstats is quite nice and it's the better looking of the three.
Because we tend to be so concerned with numbers, the first thing we want to know is the number of visitors the site has received. More important however is what we learn about those visitors. Which pages do they prefer? Where did they came from? From the search engines? Which search engine? What were they searching for in that search engine? From a link exchange page? On what website? From a directory? From a message board? etc.
Raw logs are very useful indeed. Once you download them you can use all kinds of software to analyze them. A nice program that I've used is WeblogExpert. I like that it's easy to understand and it has nice graphics and stats. I also noticed that it develops very fast! It even has a lite free version which is quite good! Sure, there are lots of other programs out there and this is just one piece of software that I happened to like.
For a reasonably successful website, making decisions based on simple raw logs, Analog or Webalizer, is not very smart. There are advanced solutions out there that can track with pinpoint accuracy the path of the visitors, the visits that have resulted in sales etc. Implementing such advanced tracking is a good decision once your website can afford it. Here are some of the competitors in this field: Clicktracks, WebSideStory, Webtrends and Urchin.
PS:
I am running some blogs on JustHost, a
WordPress Web Hosting recommended by WordPress. You can visit my
JustHost Review for reference.
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