If you own or manage a website, you are probably already aware of the
importance of your log files or site statistics. Such data can give you insights
about your site’s usability, errors in your HTML code, the popularity of your
site pages and the type of visitors your site attracts. But did you know it can
also highlight the success or failure of your search engine optimization
campaign?
There is specific data about your web site that you should be looking at in
your log files on a regular basis. Several variables should be examined monthly
or even weekly to ensure your site design and page optimization is on the right
track:

1. Entry Paths
Most sites can be developed and analysed around the concept of visitor
pathways. If, for example, your site is a Business to Business (B2B) site and
you service small, medium and large businesses, there should be pathways through
your site designed for each class of visitor. An extremely simplified example
would be:

Clients coming to the site through an optimized home page:
home page —> small business page —> order page —> order confirmation
page home page —> medium business page —> order page —> order confirmation page
home page —> large business page —> order page —> order confirmation page

The site entry pages for these pathways are often optimized home pages or
optimized content pages. The final page of this route is often the action that
you want clients to take on your site (e.g., sign up for your newsletter, buy
your products online or contact you for further information). You can easily
determine how effective your pathways are by tracking the entry paths on a
regular basis via your site stats.

You should have some idea of the main pathways that clients take through your
site, both for monitoring the effectiveness of your page optimization and
conversions, and for the purpose of subsequent site redesign(s). A good starting
point to track the pathways through your site is via the graph or chart called
“Entry Paths” in your log files / site statistics.
2. Top Exit Pages

These are pages from which most visitors click away from your site. Why is it
useful to track these? Because exit pages can tell you:

a. If there is a technical problem with the page that is causing visitors to
leave your site. For example, if there are broken links, or the form on the page
is not working properly etc.

b. If your site design is breaking the strategic pathway, for example, you
may have links to external sites that are inducing clients to click away before
buying your product or signing up for your newsletter.

c. If there is something on these pages that is encouraging visitors to leave
your site. For example, an unprofessional design or confusing layout.
In your log files / site statistics, the graph or chart called “Top Exit
Pages” is the place to learn why visitors are leaving your site.

3. Single Access Pages
These are entry pages that are viewed once before the visitor clicks away
from your site. Similar to Top Exit Pages, Single Access Pages can tell you a
lot about why people are not staying on your site for long.
Have a close look at the search terms used to find your site.Single Access
Pages can often indicate that your target search terms are too broad. For
example, you may be getting a lot of traffic by targeting “printer cartridges”
but if you only stock a particular brand of cartridge, then people seeking other
brands are not going to find what they truly seek when they arrive at your site
so they will leave immediately. This can be resolved by narrowing down your
search terms to be more targeted and focused on your niche products and
services, for example, by changing “printer cartridges” to “HP printer
cartridges” and so on.
To see what pages of your site are viewed once, look for the graph or chart
called “Single Access Pages” in your log files / site statistics.