They saw your web site ... but, how did the REALLY find you?

Perhaps the biggest advertising mistake I see wedding professionals make is overestimating the amount of "free" traffic their web sites receive. Each year, I hear from at least one panicked wedding vendor facing a dramatic drop in business because he assumed no longer needed to advertise -- because he thought he was "getting all his business from his web site."

It is true that the majority of brides will look at your web site to decide whether or not to contact you. And many will then say "I saw your web site" when they do. And that's where the confusion begins -- because what you don't know is, how did they find your site in the first place?

Odds are, much more of your web traffic is coming from offline (and/or paid) sources than you think. For example, if you are advertising in print, brides responding to your print ad will likely visit your web site, and, if they eventually call you, they will likely say "I saw your site." They may even forget that it was a magazine ad that prompted them to look at your site in the first place! Similarly, if you handed out brochures or business cards at a show, interested brides will visit your web site to see more of your work.

We all know that brides aren't terribly concerned with the accuracy of your tracking. They want to get done with your questions (and on to theirs) as quickly as possible. Faced with brides' poor memories and lack of interest in your tracking, is it possible to get a handle on where the business is really coming from?

Fortunately, there is a very useful source of objective data that can help you: your web server traffic logs, which track all the visitors to your site and the pages they access. To understand what's bringing brides to your site, your first step should be to analyze these logs.

Sound intimidating? It can be at first. But, the good news is, most web hosting services offer free analysis tools -- and it's usually very easy to get started using them.

And, even if your host doesn't offer a traffic analyzer, there are good, cheap (even free) software programs available that you can download to your computer and use to analyze your logs. (One good one is Web Log Expert Lite -- it's free at weblogexpert.com.) To use it, you'll just need to be able to download your monthly log files from your web site (or have your host email them to you). Then follow the instructions on the analysis program.

Once you're able to analyze your log files, what should you be looking for? Here are some helpful statistics to start with:

• To understand how much of your web traffic comes from your offline marketing, review the "no refer" visits. This statistic shows how many visitors typed your web address directly into a browser -- rather than linking from a search engine or other site. Visitors who typed your web address in directly had to have been exposed to it from an offline source -- your print advertising, brochures, business cards, etc.
  
  
• Check the number of referrals from web sites on which you advertise -- e.g., links you receive as part of print advertising contracts. This traffic can be significant, and should be factored into your analysis of these advertising programs.
  
  
• Check -- and monitor -- your average page views per visit. Are people coming and looking at one or two pages and leaving? Or, are they poking around all the sections of your site, and seeing most of what you have to offer online? If visitors are leaving without exploring much of your site, odds are you are losing them. You need to improve your web site to grow your business. (Another useful check: how many times was your "Contact" page viewed? Only people interested in getting in touch with you will load that page.)