I have written about the uncertainties of website traffic monitoring before; yesterday saw me actually write to Weebly (my site hosts) about some distinct anomalies I have recently observed in my visitor statistics.
Here’s what I wrote:
“Dear Team,
Please can you let me know if Weebly has changed the way it monitors/records website traffic. Over the last ten days or so I have noticed a significant difference in visit recording, not so much in terms page views but most definitely in terms of the number of visitors. I have monitored traffic constantly over the last three years and have not seen a change so dramatic. Thanks for your help. Kind regards Adrian”
Here’s what I got back:
“Sorry for the noticeable change in stats! We discovered we've been over counting Unique Visitors, sometimes accidentally counting the same person as multiple visitors. This means that going forward your Unique Visitor number will be lower than it was previously, though your Page View number should remain the same since we weren't over counting views, just the number of unique people who were making those views.
If you want to add tracking beyond our own (which is never a bad idea), we'd recommend Google Analytics. Just follow these instructions from our help center:”
I have to be honest, I am a bit disappointed, not only that Weebly could cock it up so badly (would WordPress make the same mistakes) but that my efforts are tangibly less rewarded. I am glad that I am not paying for enhanced Weebly statistics because if I was, I’d be demanding my money back.
It’s not all bad news though – whilst my overall level of visitors has dived in the last ten days (and has probably been wrong for three years), the engagement of those visitors that have arrived is much greater (the multiple of pages viewed per visit has shot up).
Outcomes:
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Here’s what I wrote:
“Dear Team,
Please can you let me know if Weebly has changed the way it monitors/records website traffic. Over the last ten days or so I have noticed a significant difference in visit recording, not so much in terms page views but most definitely in terms of the number of visitors. I have monitored traffic constantly over the last three years and have not seen a change so dramatic. Thanks for your help. Kind regards Adrian”
Here’s what I got back:
“Sorry for the noticeable change in stats! We discovered we've been over counting Unique Visitors, sometimes accidentally counting the same person as multiple visitors. This means that going forward your Unique Visitor number will be lower than it was previously, though your Page View number should remain the same since we weren't over counting views, just the number of unique people who were making those views.
If you want to add tracking beyond our own (which is never a bad idea), we'd recommend Google Analytics. Just follow these instructions from our help center:”
I have to be honest, I am a bit disappointed, not only that Weebly could cock it up so badly (would WordPress make the same mistakes) but that my efforts are tangibly less rewarded. I am glad that I am not paying for enhanced Weebly statistics because if I was, I’d be demanding my money back.
It’s not all bad news though – whilst my overall level of visitors has dived in the last ten days (and has probably been wrong for three years), the engagement of those visitors that have arrived is much greater (the multiple of pages viewed per visit has shot up).
Outcomes:
- My faith in Weebly reduced but my belief in Google (I already use Analytics) boosted
- The value of my efforts to be questioned in the run up to the third birthday of my site (more on that to follow). Do the outcomes justify the investment?
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