Visitor

Visitor tells you that how many unique visitors have visited the website. Unique visitors rule out hits that have come from search engines or proxy servers and they are are not counted. This prevents the visitor numbers from being exaggerated. The visitor count is primarily based on cookies, which the Snoobi software installs into the Internet browser(s) of the visitors. With these cookies, it is possible to identify those visitors that have made prior visits to the site (within the chosen interval in the report) and are now returning to the site. A secondary method of visitor recognition is based on IP addresses, browser information and the combination thereof. This secondary method is used in cases where the visitors has disabled cookies from his/her browser.

Using IP addresses only is not reliable enough because IP addresses are like houses: many people can share the same house and the same address. Cookie-based tracking is therefore more accurate, but cookies are still limited to one computer or browser. Iif, say a laptop is used in addition to the primary computer, will both produce their separate cookies and visitors. In similar fashion, if several people use the same computer to browse the Internet, they will all be considered as one visitor.

If in the middle of a visit, a visitor removes the cookie that Snoobi has left behind, that visitor will no longer be counted as a returning visitor when he/she open up a new page, but instead they will be register as a new visitor. Visitor numbers may also become distorted by visits from the company’s own employees, especially if the company website is also the default home page on company computers. To counter this, the company IP address can be filtered out of the report.

By keeping track of total the number of visitors the website receives, it is possible to monitor traffic fluctuations caused by marketing and avertisement campaings. But what about the quality of the visitors?

Visit

Visit is a more technical term and directly connected to the length of the browser session. The duration of a Snoobi session is 30 minutes. This means the session is valid 30 minutes after the browser has been closed. If a particular visitor returns to the website within this 30 minute window, he will be counted as a returning visitor, which in effect allows Snoobi to tie this visit together with the earlier visit. On the other hand, if the browser window with the page opened up is not closed for three hours, then the length of the session will increase respectively to three hours.

A single user may have multiple visits during a day, hour or other time frame. However, the proportion of passive surfing cannot be determined from the length of the visit (i.e. the user may have had the window opened up in the background while he was doing something else).

Image 1. The difference between a visitor and a visit

Page view

Page view refers to the opening of a single page in the user's Internet browser. Every link within the website, that is clicked by the visitor, registers as a page view. Pressing refresh will also result in a page view.  

Page views / visit

Page views / visit is an indicator of the quality of the visitors. Plain total number of visitors does not reveal all the necessary information about the visitors, especially in terms of quality. Was the site relevant for the needs of the visitor? What is the proportion of visitors who leave the site after a click or two, because the content of the site was not what they were looking for?

Page views / visit tells an average, which can be used to measure how effectively the primary target group is able to find the site. However, the absolute value of this category has to be put in perspective with the size of the site, in order to gain meaningful results.

Generally speaking, low page views / visit means that the visitors have not been satisfied with the content of the site, and as a result have left the site relatively quickly. Alternatively, a low page views/ visit count  could mean that the design of the page is so clear that visitors immediately find what they have been looking for.

High page views / visit is often a sign of quality visitors coming to the site. These visitors have probably found that the content of the site is relevant and useful. A large proportion of the visitors have probably been browsing the site extensively and with genuine interest. Again, it could also be speculated that a high page views / visit could also be the result of poor site design, resulting in needlessly long endeavours to find what one is looking for.

Target Group report

More accurate information about the visits can be found from the Target Group report. In addition to the entry methods, the Target Group report displays the time of visit, duration of visit, route and opened pages. If organizational tracking is in use, the report displays the name of the  visiting organization and the frequency of the visits from that particular domain.

The Target Group report can be accessed by clicking an organization from the report header Visitors by organization. Alternatively it can be accessed by clicking Target Group report for X », found in the top left of any of the other report headers.

            

                

                    

                        

                        
Search parameters for the Target Group report

                        
The search parameters form an internal search function of the report, which enables collection and regrouping of desired information. It enables cross-referencing variables, so that it suits the needs of the user as efficiently as possible. Search parameters offers roughly the same functions that of List settings in the old version of the report.

The available search parameters are based on the received hits on one's own website. If a visitor has arrived to the website through Altavista once one year ago, Altavista will always show up as an available search option. On the other hand, if no visitor has ever come through the Yahoo engine, then Yahoo will not be displayed as a search option.

AutoCorrect helps in completing the information to the text boxes. After writing the first three characters or letters, the report displays all the options starting with these particular tree characters. By adding a percentage sign in front of the characters, you can search for this combination of characters from anywhere. This might be necessary if you are not certain about the name of the company, section, page etc.

                        
Example 1: An ad's effectiveness in terms of sales increase. 
If we are interested in how many visitors who have arrived to the site through an ad also ordered something from the website, it is possible to search for this information in the same way that is displayed in Image 2. The Page name or URL address of the page to which visitors are redirected after placing an order, is written into the Page textbox. Next, from the dropdown menu we select the Ad that we wish to inspect and hit Search.
                        


                        
Image 2. The search parameters of the Target Group Report

                                                
                        
Respectively, by filling in a natural search word and a section into the search parameters, it can be tested whether the use of this search word brings visitors to the section we hope that they will visit. This may also help in the design of the website, since we can see the routes the visitors have been using.

                        
Example 2: The functionality of online directories as a contact channel.
Online directories are often used in the later stages of the purchasing process than search engines. Usually directories step in when people start asking for offers, or when they are ready to place an order and are browsing around for the best suppliers. The functionality of directories can be measured by looking at how many of the visitors who come through directories, end up opening the "contact"- or "thanks for contacting" –type pages. This can be done by filling the Page Name or URL address of the contact page into the Page parameter, and choosing a directory from the Directory list.

                        
                                                 
                    
                
            
            
            
            

Entries

The Entries reports only enlist the visits, which have begun from the selected page or in the case of sections, a page belonging to that section. If the selected page or directory has not been the first page to which the visitor has arrived, the visit will not be listed in Entries.

Pages: Entries reveals if it is possible to enter a certain website through a search engine, and if so, then by using which search words. If the there are important, key words missing from the search term list, then website optimization could be considered in order to improve the site's visibility within search engines. The report's search terms will help you determine which search terms need a lift.

Visitors by country: Entries reveal the differences between the network channels of different countries. For example: in which countries is the search engine A better than the search engine B, in terms of hits to the company website.

Saving a spreadsheet of a report header

Every graph-free headline in the report is also available in Excel and CSV file formats. These spreadsheets can be used as basis to create extra material or graphs for company presentations. These files can also be sent to members of the company personnel or company partners, in case that they need the information from a certain portion of the report. For example, a spreadsheet of the Visitors by Organization can be forwarded to the sales team and they in turn can start contacting the companies listed.

The selected interval affects the content of the the Excel file. If your objective is to save and archive all your tracking history, the "all time" interval must first be chosen. Tables, however, do not include any sortings made to the report, nor any pictures that might be on the report.

In addition, a pdf file is available of the main report.

INTERVAL

Interval affects every aspect of the report, since the content on the report is built up based based on the selected timeframe. The interval is changeable from the beginning of the report. Changes to the interval can be made either by selecting a pre-defined interval (day, week, fortnight, month or the entire time of operation of the Snoobi report) or by inputting the desired dates manually, as was done in the example.

If some link seems to be missing or the visitor numbers are suspiciously low, it is worth checking whether the interval is long enough to register relevant changes or not.

Intervals can be changed at any point. Interval changes, or any other changes made in the report, are not permanent nor will they cause a loss of any relevant information. Information on the report Snoobi has collected, is saved and accessible for at least a year, or as long as the partnership lasts.