The importance of referrer logs

In the last issue we talked about submitting your site to the search engines.

In this issue we are going to go over the importance of referrer logs.

Referrer logging is used to allow web servers and websites to identify

where people are visiting them either for promotional or security purposes.

You can find out which search engine they used to find your site and

whether your customer has come from a ‘linked site’. It is basically the URL of the

previous webpage from which your link was followed.

By default, most hosting accounts don’t include referrer logs

but maybe subscribed for an extra monthly fee.

If your web host does not provide a graphic report of your log files,

you can still view the referrer logs for your website by logging into

the host server using free or low-cost FTP software, like these:

FTP Explorer:  http://www.ftpx.com/

SmartFTP: http://www.smartftp.com/

FTP Voyager: http://www.ftpvoyager.com/

Cute FTP: http://www.cuteftp.com

The log file is available on your web server, which can be download

into your computer later. You can use a log analysis tool, like

those mentioned below, to create a graphic report from your log

files so that the files are easier to understand.

Abacre Advanced Log Analyzer http://www.abacre.com/ala/

Referrer Soft http://www.softplatz.com/software/referrer/

Log Analyzer http://www.loganalyzer.net

You can view the files using Word, Word Perfect, txt or WordPad.

In addition to identifying the search engine or the site from where

your visitor arrived, referrer logs can also tell you what keywords

or keyword phrases that your visitors used to find your site.

You will find that once you are able to track the efforts of all your SEO,

advertising etc. you will be able to figure out which ones are working the best for you.

That way you can focus on improving them to try to maximize your results.

Make sure you look for your next issue soon.

We will be talking about reciprocal link building and how it will help your website ranking.