When a website decides to keep track and to analyze statistics
, they are hoping to discover which pages of the sited are visited the most often. Many believe that the homepage has the most hits, but in actuality that isnt always the case. In fact, an analysis might reveal that the most popular may be other pages on your website.
One report that is very useful is one that generates popular web pages. Names of these types of reports vary depending on which web traffic analysis tool you use. It is suggested to look for a report names something like Most Requested Pages or Most Popular Pages.
Another great report to look into is one that shows how much traffic each major area of your website receives. By using this type of report, a company can determine which pages or areas need additional attention versus which pages they may wish to further exploit by using viral and permission marketing techniques.
According to Increase Your Web Traffic in a Weekend by Jerry Lee Ford, Jr. and William R. Stanek, other types of reports that can tell a company about the popularity of their web pages include:
Most Downloaded Files
Most Downloaded File Types
Most Accessed Directories
Top Entry Pages
Top Exit Pages
Top Paths through the Site
The general reasoning behind generating all of these different types of reports is to gain an insight as to how people are visiting a website. Using this information often helps a company better understand what content their visitors appreciate the most and try to provide more of it.