Web Terminology

[Jonesy_P]

Hi all,

I've recently launched my first website www dot teachingdisplays dot co uk and am a bit confused about the terminology used in the Google Analytics and web designer analytics tracking interest in the site. There's 'bounce rate %' and then there's 'hits' and 'visits'. The number Hits is much higher than Visits, can anyone tell me the difference?

In addition can anyone give me a good idea of the number of hits / visits I should be aiming for, I deal with a relatively small market (c. 500,000)?

[sysops]

I've recently launched my first website www dot teachingdisplays dot co uk and am a bit confused about the terminology used in the Google Analytics and web designer analytics tracking interest in the site. There's 'bounce rate %' and then there's 'hits' and 'visits'. The number Hits is much higher than Visits, can anyone tell me the difference?


Hits is the number of files requested from your server for that domain. If a page had 10 images on it, and a link to a css file, a single load of that page will result in 12 hits (1 for the page file, 1 for the css, 10 for the images).

Ignore the number of hits. It's only really useful for server load purposes.

Visits is the number of unique visitors your site has had. Focus on this number.

Bounce rate is the % of visitors who don't get past the landing page (the page they come to first). High bounce rate is bad.


In addition can anyone give me a good idea of the number of hits / visits I should be aiming for, I deal with a relatively small market (c. 500,000)?


There is no meaningful answer to this question. As many as possible.

[nsdesign]

Ignore the number of hits. It's only really useful for server load purposes.


As many in the industry belive...
HITS = How Idiots Track Success.... ;)

Gary

[nickpp]

Agree with the above post, ignore hits. If a web page contains 10 images, and a css file you will get 12 hits everytime the page is viewed. Unique users are the thing to look for.

[Jonesy_P]

Thanks for the help, I'll be measuring visits when analysing the success of marketing campaigns and bounce rates when testing website improvements.

There is no meaningful answer to this question. As many as possible.

Sysops - I see your point, just wondered as in other posts I have seen 'industry average conversion rates' i.e. one guy was on about the gift industry conversion rate being between 30 to 100, another was saying the first x number of visitors to a site = 1000:1 conversion, the next x amount = 10:1.

Just wondered where these numbers are coming from?

[sysops]

Sysops - I see your point, just wondered as in other posts I have seen 'industry average conversion rates' i.e. one guy was on about the gift industry conversion rate being between 30 to 100, another was saying the first x number of visitors to a site = 1000:1 conversion, the next x amount = 10:1.

Hmm, I'm thoroughly confused by that sentence.

Conversion rate is simply the percentage of visitors who do whatever it is your site is trying to get visitors to do, be it make a phone call, send an email, complete a form or place an order.

In online retail, a conversion is when a visitor places an order. Typical figures for a good retail site will be between 1% and 4%. That means for every hundred visitors, you will get 1-4 orders.

This relationship is largely linear, all else being equal. Double the number of visitors, you double the number of sales.

[fisicx]

This relationship is largely linear, all else being equal. Double the number of visitors, you double the number of sales.

Even better is to increase the conversion rate, in doing so you will make the sire more user friendly and by default more SE friendly which means better ranking which means more visitors which means more sales.