Web Site Traffic Reporting, Part 1: Visits and Page Views

by Elizabeth Mencke, FindLaw Account Manager

This is the first in a series of articles about your FindLaw Traffic Reports. This series will introduce you to the nomenclature and accurate interpretation of traffic data, so that your law firm’s Web site can make the greatest contribution possible 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 is powered by WebSideStory, an industry pioneer and leading provider of Web analytic software.

Your traffic reports give you information in real time and are available 24/7. To log on to your traffic reports please go to http://reports.findlaw.com. You will be prompted to enter your account number, username and password.* Once you have logged on to the reporting system you will notice several navigation buttons on the left-hand side. Each one of these navigation buttons allows you to view several different reports. Today I am going to talk about two of these reports Visits and Page Views, both of which are located under the Traffic navigation button.

• Visits - A visit is recorded when someone visits your Web site.
• Page Views - A page view, as the name implies, occurs each time a visitor views a page on your site. Ideally, your site should receive multiple page views during each visit.

At a minimum, you should expect to record at least two page views for each visit to your Web site. If the number of page views is less than double the number of visits, it may indicate that your home page should be modified to provide a more compelling design or content for visitors to browse. Or, depending on your marketing goals, it may show that your home page is doing an effective job of screening out unwanted prospects.

If your Web site’s page views are increasing over time, it may be due to more visitors, more pages viewed per visit, or both. Whatever the cause, an increase in page views usually means that you are doing things right. If your site’s page views are decreasing, you should examine other statistics to determine the cause and then respond accordingly. You may want to expand the exposure elements of your marketing to increase traffic to your site, or consider adding fresh content or updating the design to maintain the interest of returning/new visitors.

*Please contact your dedicated FindLaw Account Manager if you need your account number, username or password.

In next month’s issue of Perspectives Update, you’ll learn about two more important traffic reports, Top Paths and Most Requested Pages.  To learn more, visit the FindLaw Web Traffic Reporting System tutorial at http://trafficreports.findlaw.com/.