Why Redesigns are Necessary

I’m currently in the early stages of redesigning a local newspaper’s website. I’ve been compiling statistical information such as the most trafficked pages and what time of day is the busiest and also where users are clicking on each page. Crazyegg.com allows me to log click activity and compile that information into something useful.
What I’ve noticed is that while the home page has links to almost all of the current edition’s articles, very few people users are venturing past the page fold. Also, over 60% of the clicks occurring on the home page are on four links. Continue reading »

Is There a Standard for Tracking Website Visits?

At work I’ve been asked numerous times “How man unique visits do we get?”. To which I reply, “It depends who you talk to.”

We run a handful of traffic software packages to help get a handle on all the different statistics incorporated with running a successful website. Google Analytics, Mint and a very simple page view counter I developed in house. Each package takes a different approach to computing unique visits: Continue reading »