Web Server Logfile Analysis and Page Tagging
by Chubs
In web analytics, two basic technological approaches are used to gather data for web analytics:
• Web server logfile analysis - In this method, a program or a web log analysis software reads the logfiles (in which all web server transactions are recorded) in order to assess the popularity of the website. Page views and visits or sessions were once used as displayed metrics, but now, log analyzers use cookies to track visits.
• Page tagging - In page tagging (also known as “Web bugs”), JavaScript on each page is used to inform a third-party server whenever a page is rendered by a web browser. Page tagging was developed due to concerns on the accuracy of logfile analysis in caching and because of the need to perform web analytics as an outsourced service.
Filed under: General on May 30th, 2008