web analytics 101: measuring web traffic

Web Analytics 101  MEASURING WEB TRAFFIC

Four common techniques you need to understand.

HistorySince the dawn of the World Wide Web, site owners have been trying to quantify Web Traffic.

Stage 1: 1995-2002Server-side measurement – count the number of server requests generated.

Stage 2: 2002-PresentClient (browser)-side “tagging” is adopted.

Stage 3: 2008-PresentClient and server hybrid measurement and Tag Management develop.

SERVER-SIDE MEASUREMENT

Browser makes requests of web server to render page, web server ‘logs’ number of requests.

1

Advantages• Easy/cheap to implement

• Best option available at the time

Disadvantages

• “Hits” not equivalent to “pages”

• No concept of the User, Visit, etc. at the log

level, must be processed to be useful

• Also captures non-human traffic

• Content Caching can skew web log numbers

CLIENT-SIDE MEASUREMENT

Browser makes requests of web server to render page, upon rendering the

page activates a ‘tag’. Tag sends data to measurement server.

2

Advantages

• Tags tend to be more reflective of actual “human” behavior

• Caching not an issue

• Back-end processing is typically more sophisticated &

scalable

• Can have multiple tags per page

• Rich JS information can be collected

Disadvantages

• Each page must be tagged

• Some tags increase Page Load Time

• Cost of tagging and processing (getting

better)

CLIENT-SERVER HYBRID MEASUREMENT

Web logs and page tracking are enabled, data is combined after collection in a central storage and processing environment.

3

Advantages

• Useful when the content you’re serving is

different for each customer (only the server

knows the differences)

• Enables “whole page unification” across Ads &

Content

• Very powerful when combined with

Experimentation & Targeting

Disadvantages

• More expensive

• Requires excellent data “mastering”

• Lots of storage needed!

• Lots of data skill needed!

TAG MANAGEMENT

Tag management puts a ‘container’ on the page, manage tags from a central server.

4

BeforeWithout centralized tag management systems.

Disadvantages

• Putting a Page Tag on every URL is a tedious

job. Many sites have thousands (or more) URLs.

• Adding, changing, or removing tags typically

requires modifying the HTML of each page…

this is time consuming.

• If you’re manually editing tags, mistakes can

tend to pile up over time, requiring regular

“audits”

NowWith centralized tag management systems.

Advantages

• Companies such as Adobe, Ensighten, Tealium offer

Centralized Tag Management Solutions.

• Instead of putting code on the page, the TMS puts a

“container” on the page, which calls the tags you

wish to invoke. You manage the tags from a central

server.

• If you have lots of URLs and lots of Tags, leveraging a

TMS can drive tremendous efficiency and fewer

mistakes.

Every great analyst needs a solid foundation of the basic web traffic measurement systems that exist.

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