Understanding Web Analytics Definition of Terms

Websites which offers web analytics services are:

Google Analytics, Sentiment Metrics, Compete, Clicktale,WebTrends, eLogic, Statcounter, Shinystats

Web Analytics Glossary of Terms 

Here is an  excerpt from  webtrends.com  glossary of terms to better understand web analytics:
Acquisition: The process of gaining customers through the means of different marketing strategies. For the purposes of web analytics, it often refers specifically to the process of attracting visitors to a web site.

Ad Click: A click on an advertisement on a website which takes a user to another site. 

Algorithm: A mathematical formula used by search engines to determine which web sites in their database to present in search results, in which order. While search engine algorithms change regularly, primary on-page factors include keyword density and source code optimization. The primary off-page factor is link popularity.

Ad Click: A click on an advertisement on a website which takes a user to another site.

Bounce Rate: The percentage of entrances on a web page that result in an immediate exit from the web site.


Conversion: An action that signifies a completion of a specified activity. 

Conversion Rate: The relationship between visitors to a web site and actions considered to be a "conversion," such as a sale or request to receive more information. This metric is often expressed as a percentage. 

Crawler/Spider/Robot: Component of search engine that indexes web sites automatically. A search engine’s crawler (also called a spider or robot), copies web page source code into its index database and follows links to other web pages.

Spider: An automated software program that gathers pages from the Internet.

Traffic: On the web, traffic refers to the amount of data sent and received by visitors to a website. 

User Session: A period of activity (all hits) for one user of a website. A unique user is determined by the IP address or cookie. Typically, a user session is terminated when a user is inactive for more than 30 minutes.

Visit: A visit is an interaction a unique visitor has with a website over a specified period of time or activity. In most cases, if a visitor has left a site or has not executed a click within 30 minutes, the visit session will terminate. 

Visitor Session: Interaction by a site visitor. The session ends when the visitor leaves the site.
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