Web analytics are used by search engine optimisation consults and companies to show clients the results of their work by producing reports which have tangible evidence of the analysis which has been carried out, the collected data.

There are two basic forms of Web analytics both of which study the behaviour of a website in order to improve its performance. It is possible for the data to be collected and tracked by individuals who own websites and also have their own server, however, the majority of businesses simply do not have the time or staff availability to carry this out effectively.

Off-site web analytics is used to measure and analyse the performance of a website which incorporates the measurement of potential audience opportunity and, the visibility of the site and comments which are occurring on the Internet as a whole.

On-site web analytics are used to measure what is happening on a website from each visitor. The collected data is analysed against key performance indicators (KPIs) and used to improve the performance of a website or used to indicate a marketing campaign’s results.

Traditionally, web analytics were used to measure on-site visitor behaviours, however, many search engine marketing campaigns incorporate both types to keep abreast of emerging and current trends within the market.

The data can be collected by mainly two different methods, logfiles and page-tagging. A logfile analysis collects and reads the data from the server which records all of its transactions. Page-tagging uses JavaScript to inform a third party server when a web-page is used by a web browser.

The advantages of using logfiles includes the fact that the majority of web servers already produce logfiles by recording records for every transaction, page-tagging relies heavily on the visitor’s web browser not having JavaScript disabled with disabled browsers not providing data. Logfiles also contain information on visits from search engine spiders. While these are not accurate human activity, they do provide useful information for search engine optimisation.

The use of page-tagging has its own advantages including capabilities to report on interactions with Flash videos and, more complex activities such as mouse events like onClick, onMouseover, onBlur etc. Page-tagging services also manage the assignment of cookies to visitors and while logfile analysis can also do this, the server has to be re-configured which is not possible if the website does not have access to its own server.

Other Web analytics such as e-mail responses, direct mail data, sales information and click heat mapping are also used to compile comprehensive tracking and statical reports by search engine optimisation consultants and search engine marketing companies.

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