THS Articles

A Web Host's One-Two Punch: Search Engine Marketing & ROI Tracking

By Shari Thurow and Grant Crowell

A hit is a single request made to a Web server for an object on a Web page. The object can be an HTML file (i.e. a Web page), a graphic image, or any other embedded object in your Web pages, such as a sound file. So if a Web page contains 10 graphic images, it will register as 11 hits (10 graphic images plus the HTML file). Hit counters are an inaccurate means of measuring the effectiveness of a site.

A unique visit is one unique viewer who has visited one or multiple pages on a site. What Web site owners want to know is the number of visitors who arrive at their sites site: new visitors, unique visitors, and returning visitors.

Clients also want to know the query terms, also known as keyword phrases, that visitors type into search engines to find their sites. Hit counters do not provide that level of detail. "Free versions are very substandard for business purposes," says Marshall. "Some may not offer essential data like 2+ search term statistics."

In addition, offering a hit counter, without clarification, can make a Web host appear deceptive to a search engine marketing expert, who will always recommend to their client to NOT host with that host.

Web hosting solutions
Web hosts must spend their own resources setting up and maintaining the ROI tracking software to run properly with their servers and for many users. They must also provide technical support. This may not be feasible for companies with inexpensive hosting packages. "Simple site statistics are the only kinds of reports offered by most hosting companies," says Marshall. "Customers don't want to pay additional hosting fees for simple statistics."

The good news is that low-cost hosting packages do not need to contain ROI tracking. Sites with less than 10 pages or brochure sites do not need it because site owners are not likely to track page conversions, sales leads, and usability.

However, if clients plan track sales leads and sales conversions from their sites, better ROI tracking should be a part of hosting packages.

If Web hosts cannot offer ROI tracking software, they should support the most commonly used analytics software, which include WebTrends (www.netiq.com), ClickTracks (www.clicktracks.com), WebSideStory (www.websidestory.com), Omniture (www.omniture.com), and Urchin (www.urchin.com).

Hosting companies should always host the most recent version of the analytics software. "Older versions may not have ample support," explains Marshall. "Databases of analytics partners may not be updated as regularly (or at all) for older versions of the software, leaving you with useless data. Also, an older version of your software may leave clients without any technical support altogether by the company which provides the Web analytics software to the host!"

Allowing visitors to download log files is also an excellent solution.

"At a minimum, it's essential for Web site owners to make sure their hosting company offers access to a site's log files," states Peter Hershberg. "Log files are the key to understanding where a site's traffic is coming from, what users do when they get there - everything. Once you get your hands on the log files, third-party tools like ClickTracks and WebTrends can take over, using them to provide complex analysis on your site's visitors."

"Web hosts can commonly overlook the importance of setting up referrer logs," continues Sean Bolton, National Sales Director for Intrapromote.

"Not only can referrer logs tell a Web site owner where their traffic and sales are coming from, but also show potential problem areas of the site that can be remedied by further analysis and tweaking."