In recent years, the importance of the internet grew steadily. As a result an effective analysis of customer behavior is necessary. It is clear, that business models based on the internet are not in the position to enforce business principles aside. Also more and more money is spent on online advertising. This made web controlling necessary.
Web controlling does not only mean to measure the impact of online activities, but it also means to support the entire control process. Measures are planned carefully to reach the targets, for example visitors or inquiries. After implementing these actions, the targets response will be monitored and analyzed. The strategy to achieve the planned goals can be optimized due to the results of the analysis. This creates a cycle of planning, analysis and control, through which the online activities are constantly improved.
There are different methods of web analytics. One way is analyzing the log files. Every time a user enters a web side there will be an entry in the so called log file. Collected data includes time of log on, IP address and the requested element. After the visitor left the web side the data can be analyzed. Another method is the so called “web beacons method”. Using this method the web page is loaded as a small, transparent image of a corresponding analysis server every time. So it is possible to determine what screen resolution is set by the visitor or any special techniques, as well as supporting plug-ins using the browser. This analysis can be done in real time, so an accurate analysis of the behavior of the visitor is possible.
The data for the web controlling must be processed by appropriate analytical tools and must also be presented in an appropriate manner. A source of errors is the IP address, because visitors who access a company network to the internet always have the same IP address of the corporate firewall. So the data collected can be false. To solve this problem web analytics creates the “unique visitor”, which is a single, natural person, which is observed over a long term period. But the problem here is that different people can use the same PC, which also leads to errors in the data.
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