Web Site Traffic Reporting, Part 2: Top Paths & Most Requested Pages

by Elizabeth Mencke, FindLaw Account Manager

This is the second in a series of articles about FindLaw Traffic Reports. This series introduces you to the nomenclature and interpretation of traffic data, so that your law firm’s Web site can make the greatest possible contribution to the marketing of your law practice.

If your law firm’s Web site is a FirmSite from FindLaw, you have access to one of the very best Web-traffic monitoring systems available. The FindLaw Traffic Reporting System gives you information in real time and is available 24/7.

To log in to your traffic reports, go to http://reports.findlaw.com. You will be prompted to enter your account number, username and password.* Once you have logged in, you will notice several navigation buttons on the left-hand side. Each one of these navigation buttons allows you to view several different reports.

In my last article I talked about Page Views & Visits. Today I will talk to you about Top Paths and Most Requested Pages. Top Paths is located under the “Navigation” navigation button and Most Requested Pages is located under the “Pages” navigation button.

• Top Paths - the most frequent routes visitors take through your Web site.
• Most Requested Pages - the most frequently viewed pages of your Web site.

Would you like to see your site’s potential strengths and weaknesses? The Most Requested Pages statistic allows you to do this. As the name suggests, the Most Requested Pages report shows you which pages the visitors to your site go to most often. If there are certain pages on your site where you would like to draw more traffic, a careful look at the pages that are already popular may provide guidance as to what modifications will be successful. The success of a page may be due to the ease of navigation, or the content, depending on what is relevant to you’re your visitors may be searching for. You may also want to evaluate your Web site’s Top Paths for further insight into what is working well on your site and why. 

The Top Paths statistic allows you to walk in your visitors’ shoes. If your visitors have one more commonly followed path it may be due to the subject matter, the quality of the content, or the clarity of the navigation. If there are sections of the Web site that are less traveled or visited, you might want to consider refreshing your content or updating your design to encourage these visitors to visit the less traveled sections.

*Please contact your Account Manager if you need your account #, username and password.

In next month’s issue of Perspectives Update, you’ll learn about three more important traffic reports, Referring URLs, Search Engines and Search Keywords.   To learn more, visit the FindLaw Web Traffic Reporting System tutorial at http://trafficreports.findlaw.com/.