Web Marketing Today
Issue 65, December 1, 1999
Theme: Learning about Your Visitors (part 3)
Dear Friends,
Last month we examined using surveys to learn about visitors. Now, we're going to examine logfiles, and the kind of information you can learn about your visitors without even asking them, just by analyzing your logfiles -- scary thought, I know, but I'll comfort you along the way.
Next week, I'll be sending out another issue of Web Marketing Today. It'll contain an article entitled, "Dot.Com Countdown: 7 Steps to Launch," which puts some flesh on the bones of e-business launches, using as an example my new JesusWalk.com site (http://www.jesuswalk.com). I'll also review the extremely popular book Customers.com, by Patricia Seybold, that has remained near the top of Amazon.com's hot list of business books for many months. By the way, we don't have an advertiser yet for this special issue. Here's your company's chance to make a "deal" . Especially if you need to get your message out to 80,000 Web marketers immediately.
This issue of Web Marketing Today goes out to 79,825 of my Web marketing friends around the world. I want to wish you a very meaningful Christmas this season of the year. Let my gift to you be one of my favorites among all the Christmas articles and stories I've written: "The Cradle: A Christmas Story" (http://joyfulheart.com/xmas/cradle.htm). When I get the time, I enjoy woodworking, and this short story sort of emerged from that hobby.
God bless you,
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, Editor
Unmasking the Dreaded Traffic Logfile
You may not even know they exist in the dark tombs of your webserver, but these files have dark tales to tell -- if you dare. Off-limits to children under 12 years of age. Every time someone visits a page on your site, a record is made. This articles explains what information is logged. Read the Article. See the log file example.
Golden Marketing Intelligence Mined from Traffic Logs
You may have read features of various analysis programs, but here's what they can do for you. You'll be surprised to find there are 9 ways that intelligence gleaned from logfiles can make a difference in your Web marketing. Read the Article.
Articles, Reviews, and Resources
Here are a couple of older articles I've written about traffic log analysis, as well as the section of our site that has links to dozens of articles on the topic.- Review: WebTrends Log Analyzer 4.0, reviewed by Ralph F. Wilson, Web Marketing Today, 2/1/98 http://www.wilsonweb.com/reviews/webtrends.htm
- "Analyzing Your Website Traffic," by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, Web Marketing Today, 11/4/1996 http://www.wilsonweb.com/articles/traffic.htm
- Analyzing Website Traffic section of Web Marketing Info Center http://www.wilsonweb.com/webmarket/traffic.htm
E-Mail to the Editor
In the last issue I told you how I was billed as a speaker at the Billion Dollar Internet Strategy Setting Super Summit in Los Angeles, January 20-23, 2000. Audri Lanford described me as "the pinball wizard of Web marketing," and I played with the phrase a bit, and never did quite figure it out.
I got some letters, of which this is representative:
"As someone has probably told you now, the Pinball Wizard is Tommy, the main character of a rock opera by The Who from about 1969. He's multiply handicapped and becomes a pinball champion, then regains his sight, hearing and speech, becomes a guru, and then gets rejected by his followers. Doesn't seem to fit you, somehow." -- Shel Horowitz, www.frugalfun.com
Audri, now I really wonder what you meant? :-) Just kidding.
Anyway, you won't want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime multi-speaker event in Los Angeles -- the Billion Dollar Internet Strategy Setting Super Summit. But you'd better sign up right away. There are only 500 seats total.
Odds 'n' Ends
We were mentioned in the November 12, 1999 issue of Web Review (http://webreview.com)
in
an article on 
"E-Commerce Building Blocks: Web Merchandising and
Marketing" and in the section on "E-Commerce Resources" as
"an excellent collection of links to articles about web advertising and
marketing." Thanks.
We also received the Web Feet Seal of Approval, and will be listed in Web Feet: The Internet Traveler's Desk Reference, the "premier subject guide to the best Web sites for students." We appreciate that, too. http://www.rockhillpress.com/webfeet/wfseal.htm
